About
The NASA Biological Diversity program is part of the NASA Earth Science Division Research & Analysis program, within the Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Focus Area. The Biological Diversity program supports basic research that advances the understanding of how and why biological diversity is changing. The Ecological Conservation Program is part of the NASA Earth Science Division Applied Sciences program. The Ecological Conservation program focuses on the transfer of research to effective decision support for natural resource management. Both the Biological Diversity and Ecological Conservation programs fund competitively solicited research at academic institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector.
Biological Diversity Research Program
The Biological Diversity Research program uses NASA observations and models to improve our understanding of biological diversity, how and why it is changing, and its effects on and interactions with the Earth system. NASA explores patterns of biological diversity on land and in water using observations from satellites, airborne and seaborne platforms, and in situ surveys. These observations are well-suited for detecting such patterns, especially at the ecosystem level, but also at finer community and species levels. Through a combination of observations and models, NASA further seeks to understand the geophysical and ecological processes that result in the patterns of biological diversity our observations detect. This process-oriented research aligns the Biological Diversity research program with activities of other NASA Earth Science programs, such as efforts to track the biogeochemical cycling of elements like carbon and studies of the water cycle.
Ecological Conservation Applications Program
The Ecological Conservation Applications area promotes the use of Earth observations and models to analyze and forecast changes that affect ecosystems and to develop effective resource management strategies. Primary user communities are natural resource managers (both land and marine) and those involved in conservation and sustainable ecosystem management. More information can be found here.