How well are we protecting common plants and animals?
Gap Analysis is the science of answering this question. Developing the data and tools to
support that science is the mission of the USGS Gap Analysis Program (GAP).
Improving the Nations Data on Natural Resources and Parklands
The PAD-US section of the website describes the land inventory database and efforts to improve how we track U.S. lands set aside for conservation, open space, recreation and other natural resource uses.
The Data Portal section of the web site contains a wide range of information on protected land inventories maintained by indivdual states, federal agencies and national non-profits. You are invited to help improve this information by directly contributing information about available protected areas data.
The Atlantic Flyway Sea Duck Survey, conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was established in 1991 to record sea duck numbers using near shore (within 700 m of shore) habitats from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia to Jacksonville, Florida. Existing breeding population surveys for North American waterfowl do not cover the core ranges of about half of North American sea duck species. Many species of North American sea ducks breed across vast Arctic regions that are difficult and costly to survey.
The Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey has been conducted every year since 1955. The primary purpose of the survey is to provide information on spring population size and trajectory for certain North American duck species.
The BBS is a long-term, large-scale, international avian monitoring program initiated in 1966 to track the status and trends of North American bird populations. Each year during the height of the avian breeding season, (June), thousands of dedicated participants skilled in avian identification follow a rigorous protocol, to collect bird population data along 4100 roadside survey routes located across the continental U.S. and Canada. Trend estimates and all raw data are currently available for more than 420 bird species.
The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center (PWRC) and American Bird Conservancy (ABC) have been working together to build a repository for storing Partners in Flight point count data as well as other point count datasets. The web-based Bird Point Count Database is now ready for use by anyone conducting monitoring programs using point counts. This includes bird point count data collected using standard protocols anywhere in North America (U.S., Canada, and U.S. Territories).
Eleven out of 15 species of sea ducks appear to have declining populations within some portion of their range (exceptions are common goldeneyes, buffleheads, red-breasted mergansers and common mergansers). Furthermore, two species (Steller's eider and spectacled eider) are listed as threatened. Thus, waterfowl managers need current, science-based models to establish sustainable harvest strategies for sea ducks, and they need it now.
Bird conservation plans are organized by taxa, with comprehensive 'all birds' conservation plans now available in a number of BCRs. Landbird conservation plans in the west were done by state, whereas those in the rest of the country were done by Partners in Flight (PIF) physiographic area. Shorebird plans were done by shorebird planning regions, which generally represent amalgams of BCRs. Waterbird plans were done by waterbird conservation planning regions, which also represent amalgams of BCRs. Waterfowl plans were done by joint venture area based on waterfowl areas of importance.
This map of ecoregions has been produced for Alaska as a framework for organizing and interpreting environmental data for State, national, and international level inventory, monitoring, and research efforts. The map and descriptions for 20 ecological regions were derived by synthesizing information on the geographic distribution of environmental factors such as climate, physiography, geology, permafrost, soils, and vegetation. A qualitative assessment was used to interpret the distributional patterns and relative importance of these factors from place to place (Gallant and others, 1995).
Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas.