Science Analytics and Synthesis (SAS) Program

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fundamental Science Practices (FSP) are a set of standard principles fundamental to how USGS conducts and carries out its science activities and how resulting information products and data are reviewed, approved, and released. These policies, practices, philosophical premises, and operational principles serve as the foundation for all USGS research and monitoring

Watch lists of invasive species that threaten a particular land management unit are useful tools because they can draw attention to invasive species at the very early stages of invasion when early detection and rapid response efforts are often most successful. However, watch lists typically rely on the subjective selection of invasive species by experts or on the use of spotty occurrence records.

Species vulnerable to climate change face increased extinction risk, but many sensitive species may be overlooked due to limited data and exclusion from vulnerability assessments. Intrinsic sensitivity, or the inherent risk of species to environmental change due to biological factors, can be assessed with widely available data and may address gaps in multispecies vulnerability assessments. Species