DATABASES: From Sea to Shining Sea
Science · 2000
When it comes to protecting rare species and habitats, biologists say the more data they have, the better. This week a conservation group boosted that cause by releasing a 25-year trove of field data on the plants and animals of the United States and Canada. The NatureServe database holds information on over 50,000 species, from humpback whale to eastern hemlock, including endangered status, distribution, life history, and references. “It's more complete than just about any other database of North American and Hawaiian species I'm aware of,” says ecologist Bruce Stein of the Association for Biodiversity Information, a spin-off of The Nature Conservancy. Stein expects users will range from ecologists to land managers to students who want to know, say, which fish are native to their state.