Botanists gather seeds and plant new forests. Geneticists analyze the DNA of newly discovered creatures, which you can then synthesize, and can also heal other members of the team. Rangers exert influence over creatures, encouraging them to breed, eat, or attack. Rangers and geneticists carry stun guns for use against hostile animals. Every new building, upgrade, and creature costs GOOP, which you obtain by extracting minerals from the ground and by recycling plants and dead animals at Recycling Plants.
Bases consist of the usual melange of specialty structures.
Pulpers process plant matter and produce moldings necessary for upgrading your structures. Landing pads let you acquire new team members or send current team members off the planet. Technology centers allow you to build other high-tech structures such as force fields, stun cannons, and Ethereal detectors. The single most crucial structure to your eventual success is the Gene Pod and its upgrades. It is here that mules, birds, frogs, and hideous cross-bred genetic mutants will pop out like so many slices of toast.