What We Inventory

Thick vegetation with tall trees in the background.
Vegetation plot at Canaveral National Seashore.

NPS Photo / M. Forbes Boyle

Natural resource inventories are a documentation of the condition of plant, animal, or other natural resources. They can include a list of existing species, a count of the number of each species, or a dataset of existing conditions, like air quality. They provide a baseline that can be compared to later assessments to see if conditions are improving or degrading. Sometimes they provide information about the location of plant or animal communities.

Baseline inventories are administered by the
National Inventory and Monitoring Division for twelve core areas which are listed below. For more information, see the national inventory program information page.

Additional Inventory Resources

  • A misty morning for monitoring on Rattlesnake Island near Fort Matanzas National Monument.
    Climate Inventory and Monitoring

    A misty morning for monitoring on Rattlesnake Island near Fort Matanzas National Monument.

  • An eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
    Inventory Publications

    An eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) just before being rescued from the road at Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.

  • Violet coral at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park
    Species Lists

    Violet coral (Clavaria zollingeri) at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park.

Baseline inventories are administered by the National Inventory and Monitoring Division for these twelve core areas. For more information, see the national inventory program information page.

Twelve Basic Inventories

Inventory

Completion Status

Air Quality Completed
Air Quality Related Values Completed
Base Cartography Completed
Baseline Water Quality Completed
Climate Completed
Geologic Resources Completed
Natural Resource Bibliography Completed
Soils Resources Completed
Species List Completed
Species Status and Abundance Completed
Vegetation Mapping Inventory In Progress
Water Body Location and Classification Completed

Last updated: April 1, 2024