To "improve park management through greater reliance on scientific knowledge" the National Park Service's Inventory and Monitoring (I&M) Program collects, organizes, and makes available natural resource data contributing to the parks' institutional knowledge by facilitating the transformation of data into information through analysis, synthesis, and modeling. The Pacific Island Network (PACN) is one of 32 National Park Service Inventory & Monitoring networks of national parks linked by geography and shared natural resource characteristics.
Though quite recent in origin, the Pacific Islands I & M Program has already added significant knowledge of species presence and biodiversity of marine environments of the Pacific parks. The illustrated species checklists with links to the right are but a "tip of the iceberg" of the knowledge accumulated in just the past few years. With this new information park managers have a new ability to preserve and enjoy these significant park resources.
In
the '80s Western Region park managers lobbied long to get this I & M program
started. An example of the many arguments for the program is this
brief opinion piece presented as a part of a forum at the George Wright
Society.
Link to the Pacific
Island Network Inventory and Monitoring Program web
page.
Link to the National
Park Service Inventorying and Monitoring web
page.
Links to Illustrated Species Checklists--
Haleakala National Park:
Checklist of the Higher Plants and Ferns
Checklist of the BirdsNational Park of American Samoa:
Checklist of the Fishes
Checklist of the Corals
Checklist of the Marine Invertebrates
Checklist of the Higher Plants and Ferns
Checklist of the BirdsKalaupapa National Historical Park:
Checklist of the Fishes
Checklist of the Marine Invertebrates
Checklist of the Higher Plants and Ferns
Checklist of the BirdsKaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park
Checklist of the Fishes
Checklist of the Marine Invertebrates
Checklist of the Mammals and Herps
Checklist of the Birds
Checklist of the Higher Plants and FernsWar In The Pacific National Historical Park
Checklist of the Corals
Checklist of the Fishes