The United States has globally significant biological diversity that contributes to our economic, ecological, cultural, and spiritual well-being. Every day, Federal agency staff make countless decisions that must balance a diversity of resource demands from our lands and waters while still providing habitat for the plants and animals that are our nation’s natural heritage, particularly for those already at risk of extinction. NatureServe, a western hemisphere biodiversity information network, is using big data, GIS, and cloud computing to produce high-resolution biodiversity maps that help reduce conflicts without sacrificing conservation outcomes. To this end, the NatureServe network has produced the Map of Biodiversity Importance, spatial analyses of modeled suitable habitat for over 2200 species at risk in the continental U.S., including plants, pollinators, vertebrates and aquatic invertebrates. These national biodiversity maps leverage GIS tools to support iterative, collaborative science, where the maps are living products that will dynamically improve over time to support the best available science in decisions about our nation’s living resources.
