Tropical Ocean Coral Bleaching Indices
http://www.osdpd.noaa.gov/PSB/EPS/SST/dhw_news.html
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides this online index of "accumulated thermal stress that coral reefs experience." The overview page includes a number of geographic locations, including a map that can be viewed by clicking on the latitude and longitude. The stress is measured in degree heating weeks ("equivalent to 1 week of sea surface temperature 1 degree C above the expected summertime maximum") and can be viewed on a corresponding color coded map. An explanation of the methodology and warning symbols can also be accessed directly from the site. [AL]
[Back to Contents]

All Species Foundation
http://www.all-species.org/
"The ALL Species Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the complete inventory of all species of life on Earth." This daunting task has important implications for effective conservation, environmental impact studies, and understanding ecosystem functioning. An important feature of the site is the Species Search Engine that includes over 1 million species. An organism can be found by partial or complete name; either scientific or common names are recognized. Each entry provides a link to one of 12 databases for more information on the species. [AL]
[Back to Contents]

Australian Agriculture and Natural Resources Online
http://www.infoscan.com.au/contents/index.html
Several Australian government agencies and database designers Infoscan Pty Ltd have joined to produce this online database of Australian agriculture and natural resource information. A broad range of topics are covered, including blue green algae, genetically modified organisms, mining, and much more. The site incorporates six different databases that can easily be searched or browsed; there is also a substantial help page for more information on performing a search or choosing a database. The results include citations and abstracts for current published works. [AL]
[Back to Contents]

Blazing a Genetic Trail
http://www.hhmi.org/genetictrail/index.html
This report from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute has recently been updated from its original form published in 1991. Available in English and Spanish, the report describes research undertaken to discover the genetic mutations responsible for diseases such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease. The section entitled Progress Continues has recently been added, updating readers on some of what has happened since the report was originally published. The narrative style and human dimension make this Web site an interesting look at the field of genetic research. [AL]
[Back to Contents]

Two on Songbird Study [.pdf]
Study Points to Acid Rain in Decline of Songbirds
http://www.nrdc.org/news/newsDetails.asp?nID=730
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/
New research from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology points to acid rain as a major cause of songbird decline, where previous research focused on forest fragmentation. The first Web site is a brief article highlighting the research findings from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, published on the Natural Resources Defense Council's Web page. The second is the home page for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Along with a press release and a downloadable Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) version of the entire study, the site includes other ornithological resources, news items, and information about the lab. [AL]
[Back to Contents]

Biodiversity and Conservation Research
http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/index.html
The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) at the American Museum of Natural History aims to "integrate scientific research, education, and outreach so that people, themselves major catalysts in the rapid loss of biodiversity, will become participants in its conservation." The CBC currently conducts biodiversity conservation research in the Bahamas, Bolivia, Madagascar, Vietnam, and in metropolitan New York. Click on What We Do for brief descriptions of each research project. The project headings lead to pages that contain detailed information, maps, photos, and relevant links. This Web site is currently featuring the results of biotic inventories conducted in three unprotected forested ecosystems in Vietnam. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

Genome Bioinformatics
http://genome.ucsc.edu/
This no-frills UC-Santa Cruz Genome Bioinformatics Web site contains searchable "working drafts of the human genome and the mouse genome," which each represent “immense collaborative efforts" within the biomedical research community. Those who are active in genome research may find this Web site useful, especially for the multi-faceted genome browser that "provides a rapid and reliable display of any requested portion of genomes at any scale, together with dozens of aligned annotation tracks (known genes, predicted genes, ESTs, mRNAs, CpG islands, assembly gaps and coverage, chromosomal bands, mouse homologies, and more)." Users may also access Blat alignments, a table browser (provides tabular representation of the data as an alternative to the graphical display of the genome browser), downloadable versions of the data set, and more. The site also contains a helpful FAQ page and a News section that alerts the user to corrected errors, new features, etc. The extensive list of links leads to dozens of other genome databases, browsers, and related tools. [RS]
[Back to Contents]

The Mitochondria Project
http://mips.gsf.de/proj/medgen/mitop/
The Mitochondria Project (MITOP), "a database for mitochondria-related genes, proteins, and diseases," is a joint project of the Munich Information Center for Protein Sequences and the Institut für Humangenetik in Germany. MITOP provides a synthesis of all available information "concerning genetic, functional and human-pathological aspects of the central role of mitochondria in the organism, with an emphasis on nuclear encoded proteins," and offers a number of search options organized by organism -- "functional category classification, protein classes and complexes, subcellular localizations, EC numbers, molecular weight and isoelectric points, Prosite motifs and non-protein entries." This comprehensive Web site is well organized and easy to navigate. [RS]
[Back to Contents]