Keeping common species common

The website of the Gap Analysis program (GAP) provides some nice resources about gap analysis. GAP is a cooperative effort among regional, state, and federal agencies, and private groups coordinated by the USGS Biological Resources Division. There are all sorts of tie-ins to todays lecture - not just the gap analysis bit - consider their motto for example 'keeping common species common.' Their FAQ provides a nice introduction to what they do and what gap analysis is and you can access their data by state - California for example. Take a look at some of the data sets and maps. You can turn on and off various layers on the maps and they give you a sense of how useful GIS is.