The Gap Analysis Project (GAP, previously called Gap Analysis Program) is a nationwide program in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

which uses

gap analysis In management literature, gap analysis involves the comparison of actual performance with potential or desired performance. If an organization does not make the best use of current resources, or forgoes investment in capital or technology, it ...

to assess and support the overall conservation status of wildlife. The program is directed and coordinated under the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

, but is implemented in coordination with state and regional programs. GAP works to ensure that common species – those that are not officially endangered – remain common by identifying those species and plant communities that are not adequately represented in existing conservation lands. The GAP program began in the 1980s, based on analysis of

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

species by J. Michael Scott. GAP has produced national land cover and protected areas datasets, which it uses to assess the conservation status of mammal, bird, reptile, and amphibian species in the U.S. A GAP program normally has three principal components: 1. Landcover analysis 2. Vertebrate species distribution prediction 3. Land stewardship database Each component is normally performed as a

GIS A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...

layer.

References

*US GAP official website: http://gapanalysis.usgs.gov/ Environment of the United States Geographic information systems United States Geological Survey Wildlife conservation {{environment-stub