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| Natural Heritage Database | |
|---|---|
| Name | Natural Heritage Database |
| Type | Biodiversity and conservation database |
| Established | 20th century |
| Owner | Various state, provincial, and NGO organizations |
| Country | Multinational |
Natural Heritage Database
The Natural Heritage Database is a coordinated network of regional and national inventories used to document biodiversity and conservation values across landscapes, informing policy and land-use decisions. It aggregates data on species occurrences, ecosystems, and landscapes to support planning by agencies like the NatureServe, provincial ministries, state natural heritage programs, and international partners such as the IUCN and UNEP. The dataset underpins environmental assessments for projects involving entities such as the World Bank, European Commission, and regional planning bodies including US Fish and Wildlife Service and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The database model links observational records from sources like the Smithsonian Institution, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, American Museum of Natural History, Canadian Museum of Nature, and independent programs including The Nature Conservancy and Wildlife Conservation Society with standardized conservation status ranks from systems developed by NatureServe, the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and national lists such as the Endangered Species Act listings and the Species at Risk Act. Data types include herbarium and museum specimens from institutions like Royal Ontario Museum and Natural History Museum, London, citizen science contributions from platforms like iNaturalist and eBird, and remote-sensing land cover layers produced by agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency.
Origins trace to mid-20th-century naturalist inventories and museum catalogues such as those at Field Museum and American Museum of Natural History, later formalized by state programs inspired by projects run by The Nature Conservancy and academic centers like Harvard University and University of California, Berkeley. Collaborative advances involved conservation organizations including NatureServe, IUCN, BirdLife International, and governmental agencies like USGS and Environment Canada, with funding from philanthropies like the MacArthur Foundation and Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The development of digital standards was influenced by initiatives such as Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), the Darwin Core standard, and metadata work at the Library of Congress and International Organization for Standardization.
Content spans taxa documented in collections at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Smithsonian Institution, and university herbaria including University of Oxford and University of Cambridge; faunal records from institutions like Australian Museum, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, and National Museum of Natural History (France); and ecosystem mapping products from agencies including US Geological Survey and Natural Resources Canada. Records include occupancy and abundance data used by programs such as NatureServe Explorer, red-listing assessments by IUCN specialists, recovery plans under the Endangered Species Act, and habitat mapping supporting Ramsar Convention sites and Natura 2000 designations. Contributors include regional bodies like California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, Queensland Department of Environment and Science, and NGOs such as Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund.
Data acquisition follows specimen-based verification at institutions like Kew Gardens and the Smithsonian, and observational protocols aligned with programs such as Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship and survey standards used by US Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service. Standards integrate taxonomic authorities maintained by organizations like Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), nomenclatural codes such as the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, and data exchange formats modeled after Darwin Core and GBIF schemas. Quality control involves peer review from specialists affiliated with universities including University of British Columbia and Cornell University and research institutes such as Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History staff.
Governance typically involves partnerships among entities like NatureServe, state heritage programs, provincial ministries, and NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy and BirdLife International. Funding and oversight may involve multilateral organizations including the World Bank, Global Environment Facility, and regional bodies like the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Environment. Legal and policy frameworks intersect with national statutes such as the Endangered Species Act (USA), the Species at Risk Act (Canada), and directives like the EU Habitats Directive, with oversight by agencies including US Environmental Protection Agency and Environment and Climate Change Canada.
Databases inform environmental impact assessments for infrastructure projects funded by the World Bank and regional development banks, siting for protected areas like UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Ramsar Convention wetlands, and management plans for reserves run by organizations such as National Trust (UK) and Nature Conservancy. Other uses include species recovery planning under programs administered by US Fish and Wildlife Service and Canadian Wildlife Service, climate adaptation modeling used by IPCC authors, land-use planning by authorities like Metropolitan Planning Organizations and state agencies including California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and academic research at universities such as Stanford University and University of Oxford.
Key challenges mirror those faced by global biodiversity infrastructures like GBIF and IUCN: interoperability across systems, taxonomic resolution disagreements among authorities such as ITIS and regional checklists, data sensitivity and access restrictions balancing conservation and open data exemplified in cases handled by BirdLife International and The Nature Conservancy, and financing models tested by funders like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Future directions emphasize integration with remote sensing from satellites like Landsat and missions by ESA and NASA, incorporation of genomic data linked to initiatives such as the Earth BioGenome Project and Barcode of Life Data System, and enhanced decision-support for policymakers at organizations like the IUCN and multilateral forums including the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Category:Databases