USDA PLANTS

USDA PLANTS
Name	USDA PLANTS
Founded	1990s
Type	Federal database
Headquarters	United States
Parent organization	United States Department of Agriculture

USDA PLANTS is a national plant information database maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture designed to provide standardized data about vascular plants, bryophytes, and lichens occurring in the United States and its territories. It serves as a reference for United States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Smithsonian Institution, and other federal, state, and academic partners. The resource supports conservation, research, land management, and agricultural policy by linking taxonomy, distribution, and ecological attributes with authoritative government and institutional datasets.

Overview

The program compiles species-level and infraspecific data used by entities such as United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Forest Service (United States Department of Agriculture), and state departments of agriculture. It interfaces with collections held at institutions including the Missouri Botanical Garden, New York Botanical Garden, Harvard University Herbaria, and the United States National Herbarium. The database aligns with international standards embraced by organizations like the International Plant Names Index, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Biodiversity Heritage Library, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to facilitate interoperability with global biodiversity infrastructures.

Database Content and Coverage

Content includes scientific names, common names, native status, wetland indicator status, legal status under laws such as the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and state-level distribution maps. Geographic coverage spans the United States Minor Outlying Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and the 50 states. Taxonomic scope encompasses angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns, lycophytes, bryophytes, and lichens represented in major collections like Kew Herbarium, Field Museum of Natural History, and regional herbaria such as University of California, Berkeley (Herbarium) and University of Michigan Herbarium. Users will find data types used by entities such as NatureServe, The Nature Conservancy, US Geological Survey, and state natural heritage programs.

Taxonomy and Nomenclature Standards

Taxonomic treatments follow standards endorsed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants and reference works including Flora of North America, Gray's Manual of Botany, and monographs from institutions such as the Missouri Botanical Garden. Synonymy, author citations, and basionyms are curated consistent with practices at International Plant Names Index and Plants of the World Online. Nomenclatural decisions may reference specialists affiliated with universities (e.g., Cornell University, University of California, Davis, Iowa State University) and research institutions like the Smithsonian Institution Department of Botany. Legal and conservation status annotations reflect listings from Endangered Species Act of 1973 and state endangered species acts where applicable.

Data Access and Tools

The platform provides query interfaces and downloadable datasets consumed by organizations including Environmental Protection Agency, United States Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and academic projects at University of Florida and University of Texas at Austin. Tools include search, map-based distribution viewers, and bulk data services used by partners like Integrated Taxonomic Information System and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Data exchange formats adhere to standards promoted by Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) and facilitate citation in publications from journals such as Systematic Botany and Taxon. Training and outreach occur via collaborations with museums, herbaria, and extension services at institutions like Colorado State University and Penn State University.

Applications and Uses

Stakeholders include conservation NGOs such as The Nature Conservancy and government programs like Conservation Reserve Program, which use the database for species selection, restoration planning, invasive species management, and wetland delineation. Researchers at universities including University of Washington, University of Arizona, and University of Wisconsin use its taxonomy and distribution data for biogeography, climate-change impact modeling, and ecological niche modeling. Agricultural extension services and seed certification programs reference the database for cultivar-rootstock selection, while land managers at National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management apply it to resource inventories, permitting, and environmental compliance.

History and Governance

Development involved partnerships among federal agencies, academic herbaria, and botanical gardens dating to initiatives in the 1990s and early 2000s involving the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Biological Information Infrastructure. Governance structures include oversight by the Natural Resources Conservation Service with input from state plant boards, herbarium curators from institutions like Harvard University, Missouri Botanical Garden, and advisory collaborations with international bodies including Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and International Union for Conservation of Nature. Ongoing updates result from specimen-based evidence, published taxonomic revisions in outlets such as American Journal of Botany, and data-sharing agreements with collections like the New York Botanical Garden Herbarium.

Category:Databases