—Kyle Copas, NatureServe
NatureServe and the National Park Service have long collaborated on classifying and mapping the national park's natural communities. In the National Capital Region, this effort with the Urban Ecology Research Learning Alliance is supporting the creation of printed and online plant-community field guides, and an interactive map viewer is central to the latter. An initial online prototype will launch in 2010, focused on Rock Creek Park and designed to accommodate expansion to other parks. By seamlessly integrating geospatial data with written material, photographs, illustrations, and non-spatial data that detail the parks' natural history, the Web Guide will help NPS manage and interpret its natural resources, increase understanding of their importance, and enrich visitors' experience of the parks. This session will outline the guide's design and how its integration of spatial and non-spatial content can enhance park resource management and public understanding of natural communities.