Conservation scientists conduct a gap analysis to understand and protect biodiversity and threatened or endangered species. To assess if a species has adequate protection, they document the status, range, and distribution of plant communities and/or animal species’ habitats, and consider how much of the habitat is held by different conservation and resource management organizations. The analysis step includes determining how much of a target species’ habitat is in conserved areas.

The U.S. Geological Survey's Gap Analysis Program hosts interactive maps for viewing its data sets relating to gap analysis. Each of these viewers enables users to browse and download all or parts of the data sets.The Land Cover Viewer displays data on the vegetation and land use patterns of the contiguous United States. The Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US) shows federal and state conservation lands. The Gap Analysis Program's Species Viewer displays the model-derived locations of vertebrate species habitat for more than 2,000 species across the country.