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National Activities

The mission of the Biological Resources Discipline involves working with others to provide the scientific understanding and technologies needed to support the sound management and conservation of our Nation's biological resources.  

This approach has resulted in a number of activities which have a national orientation. Key partners in many of these endeavors include Interior bureaus, other Federal agencies, States, and private organizations with regional and ecosystem-specific interests.

National Activities

• (External) Biomonitoring of Environmental Status and Trends (BEST)
  A program designed to identify and understand the effects of environmental contaminants on biological resources.
   
• (External) Bird Banding Laboratory (BBL)
  The North American Bird Banding Program is jointly administered by the USGS Biological Resources Division and the Canadian Wildlife Service to study the movement, survival, and behavior of birds.
   
• (External) Gap Analysis Program (GAP)
  A geographic approach for assessing the current protection of biological diversity over large geographic areas.
   
• (External) Global Change Research Program
  The U.S. Global Change Research Program contributes to an understanding of the processes and impacts of global climate change.
   
• (External) Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS)
  A standard reference on nomenclature and taxonomy of plants and animals.
   
• Land Use History of North America (LUHNA)
  A multi-year project to prepare a scientifically based "history" of land use change across North America, from prehistoric times to the present.
   
• National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)
  A Web-based system that provides information on the nation's biological resources. 
   
• (External) National Water-Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA) Designed to describe the status and trends in the quality of the Nation's ground- and surface-water resources and to provide a sound understanding of the natural and human factors that affect the quality of these resources. 
   
• (External) North American Breeding Bird Survey
  A source of population trend and distribution information for most species of North American birds.
   
• (External) Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Program
  A national information resource for accurate and spatially referenced biogeographic accounts of nonindigenous aquatic species.
   
• (External) NPFlora and NPFauna databases
  Databases of vertebrate and vascular plant occurrences in the National Parks.
   
• (External) Science.gov
  A gateway to authoritative selected science information provided by U.S. Government agencies, including research and development results.
   
• USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program
  A cooperative effort by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service to classify, describe, and map vegetation communities in more than 250 national park units across the United States.

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