FEDERAL GEOGRAPHIC DATA COMMITTEE

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, 590 NATIONAL CENTER

RESTON, VIRGINIA 20192 HTTP:// WWW.FGDC.GOV

PHONE: 703-648-5514

FAX: 703-648-5755

EMAIL: GDC@USGS.GOV

April 2000

The Biological Data Working Group of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) was created in

1997 to promote activities and standards that improve collection, use, sharing, and dissemination of

biological resources data among government agencies and other interested parties. Working under the

auspices of the FGDC, the Working Group helps to increase understanding of and participation in the

National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)

among individuals and organizations involved in research, inventory and monitoring, and management of

biological resources.

The Working Group includes members from several different Federal agencies (including the U.S.

Geological Survey, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation

Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution),

as well as from non-government organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, the Long-Term Ecological

Research (LTER) Network, and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis. Each of the

member agencies and organizations of the Working Group is responsible for programs and activities that

focus on various aspects of the collection, use, sharing, and/or dissemination of biological resources data.

Brief descriptions and key examples of several of these biological data programs and activities are provided

below.

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

(NCEAS): (NCEAS): NCEAS embodies a national effort to

synthesize existing ecological information and use it in

new and innovative ways to advance ecology and allied

sciences while simultaneously serving to inform policy and decision makers. Over its brief existence since

1995, almost 1700 scientists from 49 states and 39 countries have participated in NCEAS research activities.

This intense collaboration at a single site is unique in the ecological community, and consequently it raises

new issues pertaining to the management and utilization of ecological and environmental data for scientific

research. Broad-scale and synthetic research is stymied because ecological data are largely inaccessible due

to their spatial dispersion across many field stations and universities, extreme structural and semantic

heterogeneity, and complexity. Consequently, the focus of development activities at NCEAS is to improve

discovery, access, interpretation, integration, and analysis of ecological data by minimizing these problems

of dispersion and heterogeneity through software tools and infrastructure.

Biological Data Working Group

Descriptions of Selected Biological Data Programs and Activities

of Individual Member Agencies and Organizations
The principal vehicle for tackling these problems is a recent NSF grant to build a knowledge network for

ecological information <http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/kdi>. The research involves a consortium of

institutions including NCEAS, LTER, the University of Kansas, Texas Tech University, and the San Diego

Supercomputer Center. This consortium has proposed to integrate distributed and heterogeneous ecological

information into a standards-based, open architecture, knowledge network. This network will extend

metadata use to provide conceptually sophisticated access to integrated data products drawn from

distributed, autonomous data repositories. Our initial prototype test sites include the LTER network of sites,

sites from the Organization of Biological Field Stations, and from the University of California Natural

Reserve System.

NCEAS researchers are also conducting projects to create software tools and infrastructure that facilitate

data exchange by the Multi-Agency Rocky Intertidal Network. Data in this project are drawn from a diverse

set of agencies that maintain long-term monitoring efforts along the California coast. In addition, NCEAS is

collaborating with the Ecological Society of America’s Vegetation Classification Panel to create a suite of

integrated databases to support the emerging National Vegetation Classification (another FGDC standard),

and the UC Natural Reserve System to create an advanced management infrastructure for data collected at

each of the participating reserves.

Cumulatively, we expect that these projects will produce a new class of integrated ecological data that is

easily accessible and interpretable, and thereby will facilitate the type of synthetic advances in ecology that

are at the core of NCEAS’ mission.

National Oceanic and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Administration (NOAA): Besides the weather,

climate, oceanographic, and satellite data, NOAA <http://www.noaa.gov> collects and

archives a variety of biological data. The data are maintained in a variety of media and

current concern is the stewardship of the data for use in the future.

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) <http://www.nmfs.gov> administers

NOAA’s programs which support the domestic and international conservation and

management of living marine resources. NMFS provides services and products to support

domestic and international fisheries management operations, fisheries development, trade and industry

assistance activities, enforcement, protected species and habitat conservation operations, and the scientific

and technical aspects of NOAA’s marine fisheries program. NMFS maintains fishery data ranging from

taxonomy and biology to statistics and fishing fleet information.

The National Ocean Service (NOS) <http://www.nos.noaa.gov> is the primary Federal agency working on

the observation, measurement, assessment, and management of the Nation’s coastal and ocean areas, as well

as conducting response and restoration activities to protect vital coastal resources. As a national leader for

coastal stewardship, NOS promotes a wide range of research activities to build the strong science foundation

required to advance the sustainable use of our coastal systems. NOS contributes significantly to achieving

three of NOAA’s seven Strategic Plan Goals; Sustain Healthy Coasts, Promote Safe Navigation, and Build

Sustainable Fisheries. NOS provides improvements in the quality, quantity, geographic distribution, and

timeliness of ocean and coastal observations. NOS also develops and manages marine sanctuaries and, in

partnership with the coastal states, helps manage the Nation’s valuable coastal zones and nationally

significant estuarine reserves. Understanding of the coastal environment is enhanced through coastal ocean

activities which support science and resource management programs. NOAA produces and maintains

numerous biological data sets such as the Harmful Algal Blooms and National Status and Trends data bases.

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The Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) <http://www.oar.noaa.gov>, as the primary

research arm of NOAA, conducts and directs research in atmospheric, coastal, marine, and space sciences

through its own laboratories and programs, and through networks of university-based programs. An

example of biological data in OAR: the OAR Environmental Research Laboratory funds the Cooperative

Institute for Limnology and Ecosystems Research (CILER) <http://www.engin.umich.edu/center/ciler>.

Established in 1989, CILER is the only institute of the current nine NOAA joint/cooperative institutes with

direct responsibilities for research in fresh water. CILER activities are not limited to the limnetic

environment; they also support research in estuarine and coastal marine environments. CILER research in

coastal and nearshore processes has focused on both the marine and limnetic nearshore environments. To

date, CILER projects have studied coastal processes in the Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Florida Bay, and

the northwestern coast of the United States. A particular emphasis of CILER studies has been the

investigation of exchanges of materials from tributaries into the nearshore zone. Those investigations have

covered a wide variety of disciplines including physical, chemical, and biological oceanography and

limnology, and in many cases have combined all three fields. This variety of research is viewed as a major

strength for CILER, because comparison among different coastal environments provides unique

opportunities for insight into ecosystem structure and function.

The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) <http://www.nodc.noaa.gov> is one of the national

data centers within the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS)

<http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov>. The National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC) is the U.S. repository

and distribution facility for global ocean data. The NODC ensures that oceanographic data collected at great

cost are preserved and maintained in a permanent archive where they are available for use by scientists,

engineers, resource managers and planners, and others.

The NODC is one of the discipline-oriented components within the family of the NOAA

National Data Centers. The other members are the: National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)

<http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov>, in Asheville, North Carolina and National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC)

<http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov> in Boulder, Colorado. These centers work cooperatively to make the vast

environmental data and information holdings of NOAA more easily accessible and useful. The NODC holds

physical, chemical, and biological oceanographic data collected by U.S. Federal agencies, including the

Department of Defense (primarily the U.S. Navy); State, and local government agencies; universities and

research institutions; and private industry. NODC does not conduct any data collection programs of its own;

it serves solely as a repository and dissemination facility for data collected by others.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS): The

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly

the Soil Conservation Service, was born of adversity, a

national response to the Dust Bowl catastrophe of the mid1930’s. The NRCS mission is to provide leadership in a voluntary partnership effort to help conserve,

improve, and sustain our natural resources and environment.

NRCS relies on many partners to help set conservation goals, work with people on the land, and provide

assistance. The Nation’s 3,000 conservation districts—virtually one in every county—are the heart of the

conservation delivery system. These units of local government, organized by citizens under state law,

operate on the premise that local people know the most about local needs. They link NRCS with their

neighbors and with local priorities for soil and water conservation. They also augment the work of NRCS

conservationists with district programs and with their own technical and support staff.

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The NRCS relies upon access to a broad spectrum of biological information to provide assistance to

landowners. Generally, biological information utilized is related to the following areas: Agroecology,

Agronomy, Biology, Climate, Engineering (Bioengineering), Forestry, Natural Resource Inventory (NRI),

Plant Materials, Range, Soils, Watersheds, and Wetlands. Information is acquired from a multitude of

sources. Within the agency, the principal databases containing biological data are PLANTS, Soils,

Water and Climate, and NRI. The NRCS National Cartography and Geospatial Center

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ncg/ncg.html> provides assistance to all agency disciplines in the

development of geospatial data.

Plant information sources include the following; PLANTS <http://plants.usda.gov>, Ecological Site

Information System <http://plants.usda.gov/plantproj/esis/index.html>, and Plant Materials

<http://Plant-Materials.nrcs.usda.gov/>. Plant information from PLANTS is contributed to the Integrated

Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). NRI data, the collection of which is mandated by Congress, is

collected on non-Federal lands <www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/NRI/intro.html> o.html> nationwide.

The NRCS is involved with the mapping of soils throughout the U.S. Soils data sources include the

following: MapUnit Interpretation Database <http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/muir>, Official Soil

Series Descriptions <http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/osd>, Soil Series Classification

<http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/sc>, National Soil Characterization Database

<http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/ssl/natch_data.html>, State Soil Geographic Database (STATSGO)

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/stat_data.html>, Soil Survey Geographic Database (SURGO)

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ssur_data.html>, National Soils Information System (NASIS)

<http://www.itc.nrcs.usda.gov/nasis/index.html>.

Nature Conservancy (TNC) Nature Conservancy (TNC): For the past 25 years, The Nature Conservancy

(TNC) <http://www.tnc.org> has been cooperating with an international network

of locally operated programs to assemble data on the fauna, flora, and ecological

communities within their respective jurisdictions. Using a standardized

methodology, the members of the Network of Natural Heritage Programs and

Conservation Data Centers, which currently comprises 82 data centers operating

in 15 different countries and territories of the Western Hemisphere, have gathered

and organized data on over 84,000 vertebrate and invertebrate animals, vascular and nonvascular plants,

fungi, and terrestrial and freshwater communities, each one a distinct “element of biological diversity.”

These data include scientific names, local and global conservation status, basic biological and ecological

characteristics, management requirements, and the location and condition of populations (for species) or

patches (for communities). Detailed information on managed and protected areas is also tracked by each

data center. The data are housed in customized database systems within the local programs. In addition,

range-wide information and certain locally collected data are compiled in central databases at The Nature

Conservancy. A regular, voluntary data exchange procedure enables the central and local levels to maintain

the most up-to-date information in their database systems.

The large majority of heritage data centers are operated by public sector institutions, mostly state/provincial

natural resource or wildlife agencies. They have a close working relationship with TNC, both individually

and through the Association for Biodiversity Information (ABI) <http://www.abi.org>, the Network’s

formal representative. Network information is used by national, state/provincial, and local government

agencies, corporations, conservation organizations (including The Nature Conservancy), researchers,

consultants, and private landowners. Data are often shared with partner agencies through scheduled data

distributions. In addition, members of the Network respond to over 80,000 ad hoc requests for information

each year, both general and project- or site-specific.

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A number of heritage data centers have begun to deliver a subset of their data over the Internet. The Nature

Conservancy’s public web site currently offers some information from the central databases on vertebrates

and selected invertebrates of the United States and on selected rare vascular plants of Latin America and the

Caribbean. A new public web site sponsored by TNC and ABI will soon provide expanded access to central

databases information on U.S. and Canadian plants, animals, and communities. In addition, the heritage

data centers, TNC, and ABI have embarked on a project to aggregate a national multi-jurisdictional data set

for Canada and the United States that includes data on the location of elements on the landscape (known as

“element occurrences”), which previously were not compiled at the central level. Summarized locational

information will eventually be available through the new public web site, while finer-level information will

be available to certain partner organizations through limited-access web sites.

A significant recent data product developed by The Nature Conservancy, in conjunction with the Natural

Heritage Network, is the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (USNVC) system for natural and seminatural terrestrial ecological communities of the United States. The classification framework has won broad

acceptance inside and outside the Network and, with minor modifications, was endorsed in 1997 by the

FGDC as the U.S. Federal standard. Information on USNVC communities is being compiled and managed in

a pilot database system and is being used by federal and state agencies as the basis for community inventory

and mapping, monitoring, trends tracking, and management needs assessment.

TNC has also developed an ecoregional classification scheme for the contiguous United States to serve as

the bases for assessing, planning, monitoring, and performing conservation actions. TNC is identifying

portfolios of conservation sites in each ecoregion that collectively could protect the entire suite of native

species and community types.

Smithsonian Institution: The Smithsonian

Institution (SI) is dedicated to “the increase and

diffusion of knowledge.” The National Collections of

SI are both vast and diverse. The total number of objects and specimens that are preserved on behalf of the

public is currently estimated at more than 140 million. When the holdings of SI libraries and archives are

added to that number, the estimate increases to over 268 million.

The National Museum of Natural History is dedicated to the understanding of the natural world and

humankind’s place in it. To fulfill its mission, the Museum undertakes and presents research and

educational programs, and develops, preserves, and provides access to the National Collections and

associated information so that the integrity and beauty of our natural and cultural heritage can be valued,

sustained and enjoyed. Supplemental collections are curated by staff of several Federal agencies who are

duty stationed at SI facilities, including: the USDA Systematic Entomology Lab (Entomology Department),

the Biological Resources Division of the USGS (Vertebrate and Invertebrate Zoology Departments), the

Geologic Division of the USGS (Paleobiology and Mineral Sciences Departments), and the National Marine

Fisheries Service (Vertebrate Zoology Department). The Museum's current programs are focused in five

areas of emphasis: 1) Collections as World Resources; 2) Biological Diversity: Systematics, Evolution, and

Ecology; 3) Ecosystem History and Global Change; 4) Earth and Planetary Processes; and 5) Human

Cultural and Biological Diversity.

In support of these areas of emphases, the Museum has undertaken a program to develop a modern,

integrated Collections and Research Information System (CRIS) and foster similar efforts within the

international collections community. CRIS is a distributed, multimedia system supporting the

documentation, management, analysis, and delivery of the collections and research resources held and

produced by the Museum. The foundation of the system is a series of databases describing specimens and

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their current and past uses; observations taken in the field; collecting sites and habitats; geographic areas;

species and higher taxa; cultural groups; and, relevant literature. The system is based on a multi-server

architecture, integrating text databases, digital image and sound recordings, files containing results of

scientific analyses, geographic information, and data thesauri.

The primary goals of the CRIS development program are to:

(1) Develop a CRIS target architecture that will ensure adequate performance and ease of use; be

expandable to enable integration of new data types, system modules, and technologies over time; and enable

collaborations, interoperability, and shared biological and cultural information across Museum departments

and within the external collections and scientific communities;

(2) Increase the comprehensiveness and quality of the CRIS automated information;

(3) Develop and maintain museum and biological informatics tools and procedures useful to the entire

collections community; and

(4) Address the issues involved in electronic outreach, including rights management, cost recovery, and

ethical matters related to making museum collections data accessible.

For more information, contact cris@smithson.si.edu

U.S. Environmental Protection U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Agency: President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and

EPA Administrator Carol Browner have proposed an ambitious agenda to reinvent

environmental protection. This agenda highlighted a need for standard ways to record

and report common information across the EPA. One of six areas selected for

standardization efforts was biological taxonomy. A staff team, reviewing Agency

programs, found that species of interest had been given various names among

different information systems; this inconsistency made relating information from

several sources difficult. Development of an Agency biological nomenclature and

taxonomy standard would make such information more accessible.

The basis for EPA’s new biological nomenclature and taxonomy standard is the Integrated

Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) <http://www.itis.usda.gov>. EPA’s interim data standard consists of

an ITIS Number (or an alternate EPA Biological Identification Number, if an ITIS Number is unavailable)

and a Name (a systematic name, a vernacular name, or a group name) for identifying a biological substance.

More information about the EPA Biological Taxonomy data standard can be found in the Agency’s

Environmental Data Registry (EDR) <http://www.epa.gov/edr/ibiology.htm>.

U.S. Fish and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS): ildlife Service (FWS): The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Service is to conserve, protect, and enhance fish and wildlife and their habitats for the

continuing benefit of the American people. The Service’s trust responsibilities are for

migratory birds, endangered species, national wildlife refuges, certain marine mammals,

and anadromous and interjurisdictional fish.

The FWS Ecological Services Program, in cooperation with the USGS Biological

Resources Division's Midcontinent Ecological Science Center, is developing the

Environmental Conservation Online System (ECOS). This new, integrated web-based system <http:// <http://

ecos.fws.gov> will provide single point access to spatial and tabular data, information, reports, web pages,

and documents related to Ecological Services activities, including Endangered Species, Habitat

Conservation, and Environmental Contaminants. Two basic capabilities of the system are (1) the ability to

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conduct user-specified queries within a data system, and (2) the capability to map data from cross-program

areas into one comprehensive online map using Geotract, the online mapping tool of ECOS. Once the

prototype system is fully functional, users will have the ability to access, query, and analyze spatial and

tabular data on individual species, current habitat conservation plans, the contaminant status of a particular

refuge, and contaminant-related data for Service trust lands and species. In addition, the system will permit

authorized users to add and update data on the Internet for real-time reporting of the most current data

available. The only tools needed are Internet access and an Internet web browser, such as Internet Explorer

4.01 or Netscape Navigator 4.05 or later. A modified version of Geotract that focuses on mapping wetlands

is also available from the FWS National Wetlands Inventory <http://wetlands.fws.gov>.

The FWS and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are responsible for providing the guidance

necessary to expedite the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) process under the Endangered Species Act. The

HCP program provides for conservation of endangered species during development on privately owned

lands. At its best, the program can integrate development activities with endangered species conservation,

provide a framework for broad-based conservation planning, and foster a climate of cooperation between the

public and private sectors. Non-Federal agencies and the private sector throughout the country are turning

increasingly to the HCP process as an innovative means of conserving endangered species habitat in their

areas while meeting their growing social and economic needs. Reports on individual HCP’s are available on

the ECOS web site <http://ecos.fws.gov>; select the Report-Endangered Species menu options on the

ECOS home page.

The HCP handbook, developed jointly by the FWS and NMFS, contains guidelines designed to streamline

and expedite the HCP permit process. A draft addendum to the handbook, published in the Federal Register

on March 9, 1999, incorporates five conservation tools that are already components of the HCP program:

biological goals, adaptive management, monitoring, permit duration, and public participation. Copies of the

HCP Handbook and draft addendum may be viewed and printed from the HCP web site at

<http://endangered.fws.gov/hcp/index.html>.

U.S. Forest Service (USFS) U.S. Forest Service (USFS): Biological data are the life blood of the USFS. Movement

towards improved consistency for what is collected, how it is collected, and the

corresponding management of information is leading the agency to greater standardization.

Active participation in and support of FGDC has accelerated this movement. Here are

some of the myriad USFS activities pertinent to the goals of the Biological Data Working

Group:

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) <http://www.srsfia.usfs.msstate.edu/wo/wofia.htm> .srsfia.usfs.msstate.edu/wo/wofia.htm> provides

information on the status and trends of forest resources for the U.S. National standards exist for plot

design, variables to be measured or estimated, analytical applications, sampling errors, data base

tables, and reporting formats. A closely related program, Forest Health Monitoring (FHM)

<http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/fhm/fhm_hp.htm>, .ncfes.umn.edu/fhm/fhm_hp.htm>, addresses productivity, ecosystem health and

vitality, biodiversity, carbon cycle, and soil conservation. FHM has national uniformity of core

indicators, standardized field protocols, and a centralized information management system.

The Inventory and Monitoring Institute (IMI) <http://www.fs.fed.us/institute> facilitates and supports the

collection and management of compatible, scientifically reliable resource information at multiple levels to

support natural resource management. One of its functions is to standardize protocols, eliminate

redundancy and inconsistency, and promote quality assurance.

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A history of inconsistent standards, different approaches, and lack of reliable data on the status and trends of

the nation’s rangelands led to a 1997 memorandum of understanding among USFS, Bureau of Land

Management (BLM), and NRCS to develop, standardize, and implement methods to inventory, monitor, and

assess the status of rangeland health.

The USFS is moving forward with corporate standards for inventory and monitoring data needed to meet

agency business requirements and customer needs <http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/rig/iim>. The Natural

Resource Information System (NRIS) <http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nris> is designed to corporately manage

USFS resource information collected in the field. The exchange of such information freely between land

management agencies is essential, which has led to collaboration with a wide variety of partners. Another

standardization effort identified core GIS data layers, which includes biological attributes.

The Remote Sensing Applications Center <http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/remsense/rem/index.htm> helps set

standards for consistent products from remotely sensed data (such as vegetation mapping, change detection,

and consistent use of digital imagery). Vertical consistency is needed to meet simultaneously needs for a

variety of scales (e.g., from small project to large river basin assessment). Horizontal consistency is needed

to permit integration across administrative boundaries and ecological units.

USFS botanists are using a protocol (described in Bioscience 45(5):339-345) as a standard to compile floras

(i.e., inventory of the plants of a definite area) in diverse ecosystems. These are useful in managing lands

for biological diversity and well as conserving threatened and endangered species.

The USFS is structuring many of its business functions on the criteria and indicators (C&I) for the

conservation and sustainable management of temperate and boreal forests

<http://www.fs.fed.us/land/sustain_dev/sd/sfmsd.htm> in an endeavor to report on the status and trends of

the sustainability of the nation’s forests. Within this context, actions are underway to standardize biological

indicators.

U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): As the nation’s largest water, earth

and biological science and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in

cooperation with more than 2,000 organizations across the country to

provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers,

planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize

the loss of life and property from natural disasters, contribute to the sound conservation, economic and

physical development of the nation’s natural resources, and enhance the quality of life by monitoring water,

biological, energy and mineral resources.

The USGS Biological Resources Division <http://biology.usgs.gov> is leading the collaborative

development of the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII). Because much biological

resources data is also geospatially referenced, the NBII and NSDI programs collaborate in many ways,

including use of common standards and protocols, cooperative funding of selected projects, and reliance on

a network of public and private partners and collaborators. USGS has led the development of the FGDC's

Biological Data Profile of the FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM) and

cooperates extensively with the FGDC to provide metadata training at sites around the U.S. The USGS

operates the NBII Metadata Clearinghouse <http://www.nbii.gov/clearinghouse.html> as a participating

node of the NSDI Clearinghouse that provides online searchable descriptions (metadata) on thousands of

different biological data sets and information products. The USGS works with several other Federal

agencies, and with non-Federal taxonomic scientists around the world to develop and maintain the

Integrated Taxonomic Information System <http://www.itis.usda.gov>, and is an active participant in the

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development of a proposed FGDC data standard for biological nomenclature and taxonomy. The USGS also

administers several national level biological data collection and management programs including the

National Gap Analysis Program <http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap>, the National Park Vegetation Mapping

Program <http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg>, and programs in the research and use of geospatial technologies

<http://biology.usgs.gov/geotech> and decision support systems <http://biology.usgs.gov/dss>. .usgs.gov/dss>. Each of

these programs adhere to FGDC data standards and protocols (for metadata, vegetation and wetlands

classification, etc.) and also serve to expand participation in the NSDI/NBII federation.

U. S. Long Term Ecological Research Network (LTER): The Long Term Ecological

Research (LTER) Network is a collaborative effort involving more than 1,100 scientists

and students investigating ecological processes operating at long time scales and over

broad spatial scales. The LTER Network promotes synthesis and comparative research

across sites and ecosystems and among other related national and international

research programs. The National Science Foundation established the LTER program

in 1980 to support research on long-term ecological phenomena in the United States.

By 1999 the LTER Network has grown to 21 sites representing diverse ecosystems and

research emphases. A network office coordinates communication, network

publications, and planning activities. The overall goal of LTER information

management efforts is to promote ecological science by fostering the synergy of information systems and

scientific research. To achieve that goal, LTER information managers:

• Pursue information systems development and implementation from the context of ecological research needs.

• Conduct information management in a nested context of site, research network, national, and international

levels.

• Emphasize the timely and effective transformation of data into information and the ease of access to that

information.

• Ensure the long-term preservation and availability of information;

• Ensure appropriate information system development through information management research.

• Develop human resources necessary for the continuing evolution of LTER information systems.

Details of an LTER vision for ecological information management are available at:

<http://www.lternet.edu/documents/Reports/Data-management-committee/1995-DM-committee- ts/Data-management-committee/1995-DM-committeereport/im_1995_report.htm>

The focus of LTER data systems is on the diverse ecological data generated at each of the LTER

sites in five core areas (primary productivity, organic matter, nutrient movements, populations

indicative of trophic structure and disturbance <http://www.lternet.edu/network>. Each independently

funded LTER site operates an Internet-accessible information system <http://www.lternet.edu/network/ .lternet.edu/network/

sites/webservers.html> sites/webservers.html> under a general policy promoting data access <http://www.lternet.edu/research/

data/netpolicy.html>. The LTER Network provides an online data catalog of over 2,000 datasets available

from sites in the LTER Network <http://www.lternet.edu/DTOC> and specialized databases for personnel,

publications, general site information and climate data as part of the LTER Network Information System

<http://www.lternet.edu/research/data/nis>.

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Information standards development within

the LTER network focuses on the network

level. This allows individual sites to

experiment with new technologies and

techniques which may subsequently migrate

to other sites or the network as a whole.

LTER researchers have participated in a

variety of standards groups and activities

such as the Ecological Society of America’s

Future of Long-Term Ecological Data

(FLED) committee, Institute of Electrical

and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) metadata

workshops, American Institute of Biological

Sciences panels, and now as part of the

FGDC Biological Data Working Group.

Outreach activities include playing

leadership roles in workshops aimed at the

larger ecological research community (e.g.,

<http://www.lternet.edu/ecoinformatics/ .lternet.edu/ecoinformatics/

guide/frame.htm>) and in support of

international LTER efforts

<http://www.ilternet.edu/>.

For More Information

Visit the FGDC Biological Data Working Group

web site at:

 http://biology.usgs.gov/fgdc.bio/index.html

Or learn more about the National Biological Information

Infrastructure program at:

http://www.nbii.gov

Or contact: Anne Frondorf

Executive Secretary, FGDC

Biological Data Working Group

U.S. Geological Survey

12201 Sunrise Valley Dr., MS 300

Reston, VA 20192

(703) 648-4205

Fax: 648-4224

anne_frondorf@usgs.gov

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National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis: 

Knowledge Network for 

Biocomplexity 

<http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/kdi> 

 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: 

National Marine Fisheries Service 

(NMFS) 

<http://www.nmfs.gov> 

National Ocean Service (NOS) <http://www.nos.noaa.gov>

Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric 

Research (OAR) 

<http://www.oar.noaa.gov> 

Cooperative Institute for Limnology 

and Ecosystems Research (CILER) 

<http://www.engin.umich.edu/center/ciler> 

National Oceanographic Data Center 

(NODC) 

<http://www.nodc.noaa.gov> 

National Environmental Satellite, 

Data, and Information Service 

(NESDIS) 

<http://www.nesdis.noaa.gov> 

National Climatic Data Center 

(NCDC) 

<http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov> 

National Geophysical Data Center 

(NGDC) 

<http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov> 

 

Natural Resources Conservation Service: 

National Cartography and Geospatial 

Center 

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ncg/ncg.html> 

National PLANTS database <http://plants.usda.gov> 

Ecological Site Information System <http://plants.usda.gov/plantproj/esis/index.html> 

Natural Resource Inventory <www.nhq.nrcs.usda.gov/NRI/intro.html> 

MapUnit Interpretation Database <http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/muir> 

Official Soil Series Descriptions <http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/osd> 

Soil Series Classification <http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/sc> 

National Soil Characterization 

Database 

<http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/ssl/natch_data.html> 

State Soil Geographic Database 

(STATSGO) 

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/stat_data.html> 

Soil Survey Geographic Database 

(SURGO) 

<http://www.ftw.nrcs.usda.gov/ssur_data.html> 

National Soils Information System 

(NASIS) 

<http://www.itc.nrcs.usda.gov/nasis/index.html> 

 

Nature Conservancy: 

Nature Conservancy <http://www.tnc.org> 

Association for Biodiversity 

Information 

<http://www.abi.org> 

 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: 

Biological Taxonomy Data Standard <http://www.epa.gov/edr/ibiology.htm> 

 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: 

Environmental Conservation Online 

System (ECOS) 

<http://ecos.fws.gov> 

Habitat Conservation Plans (HCP) <http://endangered.fws.gov/hcp/index.html> 

National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) <http://wetlands.fws.gov> 

Selected Web Site References

11
U.S. Forest Service: 

Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) <http://www.srsfia.usfs.msstate.edu/wo/wofia.htm> 

Criteria and indicators (C&I) for 

temperate and boreal forests 

<http://www.fs.fed.us/land/sustain_dev/sd/sfmsd.htm> 

Forest Health Monitoring (FHM) <http://willow.ncfes.umn.edu/fhm/fhm_hp.htm>

Inventory and Monitoring Institute 

(IMI)

<http://www.fs.fed.us/institute>

Remote Sensing Applications Center 

(RSAC) 

<http://www.fs.fed.us/eng/remsense/rem/index.htm> 

 

U.S. Geological Survey: 

Biological Resources Division <http://biology.usgs.gov> 

NBII Metadata Clearinghouse <http://www.nbii.gov/clearinghouse.html> 

Integrated Taxonomic Information 

System 

<http://www.itis.usda.gov> 

National Gap Analysis Program <http://www.gap.uidaho.edu/gap> 

National Park Vegetation Mapping 

Program 

<http://biology.usgs.gov/npsveg> 

Geospatial technologies and 

applications 

<http://biology.usgs.gov/geotech> 

Decision Support Systems <http://biology.usgs.gov/dss> 

 

U.S. Long Term Ecological Research Network: 

LTER Network <http://www.lternet.edu/network> 

LTER sites <http://www.lternet.edu/network/sites/webservers.html> 

Data access policy <http://www.lternet.edu/research/data/netpolicy.html> 

Online Data Catalog <http://www.lternet.edu/DTOC> 

Network Information System <http://www.lternet.edu/research/data/nis> 

Data Management Committee report <http://www.lternet.edu/documents/Reports/Datamanagement-committee/1995-DM-committeereport/im_1995_report.htm> 

Ecological Informatics <http://www.lternet.edu/ecoinformatics/guide/frame.htm> 

International LTER network <http://www.ilternet.edu> 

 

Selected Web Site References (continued)

12