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American Museum of Natural History
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation's activities integrate scientific research, education, and outreach so that people, themselves major catalysts in the rapid loss of biodiversity, will become participants in its conservation. Studying the immense variety of life on the planet and the complex relations among living things-what we now call biodiversity-has been a fundamental activity of the American Museum of Natural History since its founding. In 1993, responding to concern among its scientists over rapid species loss and increasing environmental degradation around the world, the Museum created the interdisciplinary Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.
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Center for Health Applications of Aerospace Related Technologies (CHAART) at NASA Ames Research Center
The Center for Health Applications of Aerospace Related Technologies (CHAART) is part of the Ecosystem Science and Technology (ECOSAT) Branch of the Earth Science Division at the NASA Ames Research Center. CHAART was established, and funded through 2004, by NASA's Life Sciences Division, which became the Fundamental Space Biology Division, within the Biological & Physical Research Enterprise at NASA Headquarters. CHAART's role was to support the science, application, education, and technology development goals and objectives of the Agency. The establishment of CHAART was consistent with the Agency's desire to make NASA technologies more readily available to the widest possible user community.
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GEO/GEOSS
The intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO) is leading a worldwide effort to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) over the next 10 years. GEOSS will work with and build upon existing national, regional, and international systems to provide comprehensive, coordinated Earth observations from thousands of instruments worldwide, transforming the data they collect into vital information for society.
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
The last few decades have seen rapid species extinction and habitat loss, leading to significant changes in both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. The international community began negotiating the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) to address these ecological changes. CBD negotiations were completed at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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US AID - Biodiversity
USAID's biodiversity conservation activities not only protect the environment in developing countries but also have significant economic value to the United States. The extinction of each additional species results in the irreversible loss of unique genetic materials, each of which has potential for development of medicines and foods and associated enterprises that create jobs. As natural systems breakdown, people around the world are forced to find alternative and often more costly ways to maintain adequate supplies of clean water or to deal with increasingly polluted air. The net economic benefits of biodiversity are estimated to be at least $3 trillion per year, or 11 percent of the annual world economic output.
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US - Department of State
This site, sponsored by the US Department of State includes numerous publications and essays on a variety of subjects related to biodiversity. The information contained in this site is intended to "make it clear that the future of the human endeavor is linked now, as in the past, with the natural world. Many observers now feel that one of the prime responsibilities of human community, for spiritual, aesthetic, and extremely pragmatic reasons, must be to take steps to preserve biological diversity for future generations, before the richness of life on this planet is diminished forever."
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US EPA - Aquatic Biodiversity
Aquatic biodiversity can be defined as the variety of life and the ecosystems that make up the freshwater, tidal, and marine regions of the world and their interactions. Aquatic biodiversity encompasses freshwater ecosystems, including lakes, ponds, and reservoirs, rivers and streams, groundwater, and wetlands. The banks of streams or riparian areas are also important areas associated with freshwater systems. It also consists of marine ecosystems, including oceans, estuaries, salt marshes, seagrass beds, coral reefs, kelp beds, and mangrove forests.
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USGS
The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life. The Biodiversity Homepage includes three subsections including: Ecosystem Diversity, Genetic Diversity & Species Diversity.
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