New Wildlife Information Tool from USGS

[Chris Merkord]

The U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) new wildlife information tool “BISON” — Biodiversity Information Serving Our Nation — is a product of the USGS’s Core Science Analytics and Synthesis Program. BISON is a web-based resource for resource managers, researchers, and interested members of the public that combines once disparate biological occurrence information into a single searchable database. BISON lets users access the database, explore data through its mapping interface, and download species occurrence information from across the U.S. and its territories.

A screenshot of a query for Bison bison. (Credit: USGS)

As of March 25, 2013, BISON contained 110,233,486 records, of which 100,983,917 are georeferenced. These records include information about 72,571 unique taxa from 253 data providers. Data providers range from federal agencies to international agencies and organizations, museums, universities, nonprofits, and collaborative networks (like the Avian Knowledge Network and their eBird program). You can search by region or species (scientific or common name), or query data providers and access search statistics. The interactive map is easy to use and since it is web-based, no special software is needed. As you can see from the screen shot of a query of Bison bison, hundreds of results of specimens, fossils, and observations are returned and referenced on the interface, labeled with their source, and dated.

Sources: USGS News Release (4/18/2013), BISON

View the full article from The Wildlife Society's Wildlife Policy News