Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Marine Ecosystem Program: Coastal Characterization: an overview and update

The U.S. Geological Surveys Biological Resources Division (BRD) mission is to provide leadership
in gathering, analyzing, and disseminating biological information as support for sound management
of the Nation's natural resources. Since becoming operational in October of 1996 through the
transfer of programs from various bureaus within the Department of the Interior, the BRD, in
cooperation with other Federal, State, and local partners, has begun research, inventory and
monitoring, information sharing, and technology transfer. Through these activities, the BRD is
fostering an understanding of biological systems and their benefits to society, and providing the
essential scientific support and technical assistance required for management and policy decisions.
The role of BRD' s National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC) in Lafayette, Louisiana, with
project offices in Baton Rouge, LA and Gulf Breeze, FL, is to provide leadership in research and
development related to the Nation's natural resources for the Southeast. The research focuses on
wetlands ecology, animal ecology, and the development and application of spatial analysis
techniques for natural resource related studies.
Current geographic information system (GIS) technologies in use at NWRC are designed to provide
natural resource managers with the on-line data and computerized techniques necessary to make
informed decisions. Major GIS activities at NWRC include: compilation and analysis of digital
databases for monitoring of natural resources; integration and transfer of databases with existing
digital databases from various sources into a comprehensive GIS; and development of
multifunctional decision support systems for natural resource managers using these data. NWRC is
also an active participant in the National Information Infrastructure (NIT), in particular the National
Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBTI),
which will facilitate the dissemination of research results and other knowledge and information
gained from these efforts. This summary and the three summaries that follow provides an overview
and update of a four year study entitled, Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Coastal and Marine Ecosystem
Program: Coastal Characterization.