Contact Us

 Please enter your email address:
 
 *Required if you need a response

 Please enter your name:
 

 Enter your Questions or Comments:
 

               

About the Southern Appalachian Information Node

The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is a collaborative group of public and private partners working to improve access to information related to the biological resources of the Southeast. SAIN provides web-based access to information resources such as research data, expert lists, mapping resources, and educational tools.

SAIN operates with the vision that open access to biological information fosters informed decision-making that can better preserve the integrity of human life and conserve the rich biodiversity of the region. As a geographic node within the NBII (more about the NBII), SAIN functions as a gateway to regional biological information, making it more accessible for policy/management decision-making, research and education.

Geographic Perspective of SAIN

NBII Geographic Node Service Areas

Image of NBII nodes

Organization of NBII Geographic Nodes
[Image: NBII ]

SAIN Service Area Geography

Shaded Relief Map of SAIN Core and General Service Areas

Shaded Relief Map of SAIN Core and General Service Areas
[Image: USGS ]

SAIN Core Service Area

The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) connects the biological resources of states wthin the core service area of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

SAIN General Service Area

Though outside the SAIN core service area, SAIN remains attuned to the biological data and resources of states in the broader Southeast as yet unassigned to a node, including Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Land Cover and Ecoregions in the Southeastern U.S. 

Within SAIN core service area states, the USGS recognizes the following ecoregions: Piedmont, Southeastern Plains, Blue Ridge, Ridge and Valley, Southwestern Appalachians, Central Appalachians, Western Allegheny Plateau, Interior Plateau, and Mississippi Valley Loess Plain (view ecoregion delineations).

Within the general service area, additional ecoregions are present, including the Southern Coastal Plain, Southern Florida Coastal Plain, and Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain (U.S. Geological Survey, 2006).

Southern Appalachian Node Partners
   The Appalachian Trail Conference is a non-profit organization originally founded in 1925 to coordinate the building of the Appalachian Trail. Now, its job is to protect and oversee the maintenance of the trail, in partnership with over 30 maintaining clubs up and down the East Coast, as well as with various governmental agencies. The Southern Appalachian Information Node is working with ATC and its partners to demonstrate the value of more-readily available information for the management of the many natural and scenic values of the trail corridor and its associated Appalachian environment.
Partner Type:  Non-profit Organization Partners
   The Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency's (RPA) mission is to provide a comprehensive vision and guide for Hamilton County communities that enhances the quality of life by integrating growth with the conservation of resources. The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is assisting RPA and town leaders with geographic information systems instruction and provision of data for the area, and through the process demonstrating the value of scientific data for guiding land use. In addition, RPA is a source of planning and zoning information, which it shares with the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (UTC), a SAIN partner.
Partner Type:  Local Government (U.S.) Partners
   Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL) conducts basic and applied research and development to: create scientific knowledge and technological solutions that strengthen the nation's leadership in key areas of science; increase the availability of clean, abundant energy; restore and protect the environment; and contribute to national security. The 35,000-acre Oak Ridge Reservation is a core unit of the Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve, with over 1,200 vascular plants and a diverse assemblage of other organisms occupying one of the few remaining intact areas of the Ridge and Valley province in the region. ORNL's Environmental Sciences Division is providing technical leadership to the NBII Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN), environmental data for the region, ecological modeling capabilities, and a national NBII Metadata Clearinghouse that provides the metadata infrastructure and information support for utilization by all the NBII regional nodes. ORNL provides technological support and expertise to NBII Program Office in the areas of portal technologies and geospatial capabilities.
Partner Type:  Federal Government (U.S.) Partners
   Scientists and staff of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP) have teamed with the not-for-profit group Discover Life in America (DLIA) to coordinate the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI) for the park. The ATBI is a research effort taking a comprehensive inventory of all life forms in the GSMNP. The project taps the expertise of taxonomists (people who differentiate and classify plants and animals), data specialists, biologists, botanists, and ecologists, among others. The ATBI provides information for resource management, education, and a baseline from which to measure change. The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is working with the GSMNP and DLIA to help define and implement means of disseminating the many types of data being collected, analyzed, and summarized.
Partner Type:  Non-profit Organization Partners
   EBTJV consists of private and public partnerships working on regional and range-wide threats to the eastern brook trout by developing long-term goals for comprehensive restoration and education. The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) and the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (FAR) node are working collaboratively with this group to share information.
Partner Type:  Inter-agency Initiative (U.S.) Partners
   IIa is an information management, systems, and technology company with a primary focus on scientific and technical information. IIa has been providing biodiversity informatics support for developing the National Biological Information Infrastructure through the U.S.G.S. Biological Resources Discipline since 1994. As a key partner in NBII's Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN), IIa serves as a liaison with the NBII coalition and has responsibilities for collecting and expanding SAIN's inventory of data, information, and internet tools.
Partner Type:  Private Sector Partners
   ISSE was created by the University of Tennessee (UT) to promote the interdisciplinary development of policies, technologies, and educational programs addressing environmental challenges from local to world-wide. As a key partner for the Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN), ISSE provides the technology infrastructure support as well as development of geospatial applications.
Partner Type:  University Partners
   NBII's Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is partnering with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources to increase accessibility of GIS information through the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife: Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (CWCS) efforts. Spatial data in the form of GIS data layers for Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife will be made available through a SAIN geospatial application.
Partner Type:  State Government (U.S.) Partners
   The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is partnering with Ron Caldwell of Lincoln Memorial University's Cumberland Mountain Research Center (CMRC) to make available historical biodiversity information of the Cumberland Gap area. CMRC's main expertise is field research, including ongoing macro invertebrate research.
Partner Type:  University Partners
   LTWA is organized to work with public agencies, conservation interests, community groups, and public and private landowners to develop and implement a strategy for the conservation and improvement of the water quality and habitat of the Little Tennessee River and its tributaries above the Fontana Reservoir. The LTWA has been collecting aquatic biomonitoring information from numerous stream segments in the Upper Little Tennessee Basin for as much as 14 years at some sites. The Southern Appalachian Information Node (SAIN) is working with the LTWA to make these data available in maps and graphic formats that are accessible and educational for numerous stakeholders and decision makers in the watershed communities.
Partner Type:  Non-profit Organization Partners

1 2 3 >

Southern Appalachian Fact Sheet

Southern Appalachian Fact Sheet [Image: NBII-SAIN]

The Southern Appalachian region is one of the most biologically rich areas in the United States. SAIN is a unique source for integrated science including biological, physicochemical, and socio-economic data and information created and coordinated in the region, combining multi-agency information and regional resources to improve productivity, resource management, and sustainable development through the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere (SAMAB) connection and other partners.


Read Full PDF

Node Management

S. Jean Freeney
Node Manager
865.576.7044
jfreeney@usgs.gov

Bonnie C. Carroll
Node Lead
865.298.1220
Bonnie@iiaweb.com

Thomas E. Burley
Technology & Infrastructure Coordinator
865.974.4086
tburley@utk.edu

Shelaine C. Hetrick
Partnership and Outreach Coordinator
865.298.1242
Shelaine@iiaweb.com

The NBII Program is administered by the Biological Informatics Office of the U.S. Geological Survey
About NBII | Accessibility Statement | NBII Disclaimer, Attribution & Privacy Statement | FOIA
Science.gov Logo       USGS Logo       USAgov Logo