Rapid Biological Inventories [.pdf]
http://www.fieldmuseum.org/research_collections/ecp/ecp_sites/rapidinventories/indexa.html
The Environmental and Conservation Programs (ECP) division of the Field Museum has produced ten rapid biological and social inventories designed to "catalyze effective action for conservation in threatened regions of high biological diversity and uniqueness." Detailed reports and fantastic photo galleries for five inventories are available online, including recently added studies from China and Bolivia. Project overviews (including results-based recommendations for biodiversity protection and management) and complete downloadable versions of each report may be found under Results from the Field. All online materials are available in Spanish or Chinese, depending on study site. Anyone active in the conservation field, from researchers to program administrators, should find this collection of detailed and well-presented inventories of interest. [RS]
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Estuarine Health Project [.pdf]
http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/ehealth/index.html
The Web site offers a comprehensive assessment of estuarine health in southeastern Australia -- a joint project of Museum Victoria and the Australian Museum. The project aimed to 1) evaluate whether predictive computer models currently used to monitor river health can be developed for Australian estuaries; 2) evaluate the abundance-biomass comparison method; 3) collect new data to support the estuarine health assessment model; and 4) develop a standard protocol for estuarine health assessment using benthic macrofauna. Project methods and results, as well as a detailed general overview of the estuarine ecosystem and benthic macrofauna, are available to any reader and may of particular interest to those in environmental monitoring as potential research models. [RS]
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Desert Fishes Council [.mpg]
http://www.desertfishes.org/index.html
Desert fish biologists have a one-stop information resource in this comprehensive Web site from the Desert Fishes Council (DFC), an organization established to "preserve the biological integrity of desert aquatic ecosystems and their associated life forms, to hold symposia to report related research and management endeavors, and to effect rapid dissemination of information concerning activities of the Council and its members." Any interested user may freely access field-related news and conference proceedings; ten desert fish videos; the Desert Fishes Council Listserv; and a number of databases offering taxonomic information, distribution maps, photos, and more. [RS]
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Floralp: Information Platform of Plant Ecology in the European Mountain System
http://www.wsl.ch/land/products/floralp/
The Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research offers Floralp, "an information platform of research activities and result on plant diversity of European mountain systems." With dozens of external Web links organized by information source, ecological topic, or geographical location, Floralp offers plant ecologists a convenient way to quickly find information on European plant diversity and related research activities. Users may also add a relevant Web site to the Floralp database using the provided Web form. Detailed annotations accompany each Web site included in Floralp, which also indicate language and country of origin (majority of sites available in English). [RS]
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APIRS Bibliographic Database
http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/search80/NetAns2/
The Aquatic, Wetland, and Invasive Plant Information Retrieval System (APIRS) from the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants has recently improved its free bibliographic database, an invaluable resource that has already "been used many thousands of times by researchers, government agencies, companies, teachers, students and private groups and individuals." The database includes annotated citations for over 58,000 related articles, reports, and books dating from the 18th century to the present (and representing a number of languages). Useful search tips and examples make navigating the database headache-free, although APIRS staff members will also perform searches for any user on request. [RS]
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The fMRI Data Center
http://www.fmridc.org/
Maintained by Dartmouth College, the fMRI Data Center serves as a repository for the functional magnetic resonance imaging data for peer-reviewed, published studies. Intended to help the fMRI research community "speed the progress and the understanding of cognitive processes and the neural substrates that underlie them," the fMRI Data Center is in the process of making all datasets and associated material completely Web-accessible. Currently, the datasets (36 total, with more added every year) are available as free CDs, which the fMRI Data Center will ship directly to interested users. The fMRI Data Center enthusiastically urges researchers to submit peer-reviewed articles and underlying datasets, and may eventually accept any pertinent data. [RS]
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Ecological Flora of the British Isles at the University of York
http://www.york.ac.uk/res/ecoflora/cfm/ecofl/index.cfm
This botanical database, offered through the University of York with support from the British Ecological Society and the Natural Environment Research Council, contains data for over 1700 species found in the British Isles. Users have a number of search options with this database, including searches by plant taxonomy (both scientific and common name searches possible), ecological and morphological characteristic, and plant diseases and pests. All search options -- excluding common name -- use plant/ disease/ insect scientific name only. Some datasets are as yet incomplete, but users are encouraged to submit missing data. [RS]
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separationsNOW.com
http://www.separationsnow.com/basehtml/SepH
This separation science and chromatography Web portal from publisher John Wiley and Sons expects "to become the definitive separation science resource on the Internet, offering a wealth of valuable information, resources, and services." separationsNOW addresses electrophoresis, chromatography, and other separation techniques with frequently-updated news, Web links, conference announcements, technique-specific discussion forums, educational features, and much more. Free registration is required to access advanced features, such as a selection of free full-text articles in the online library. [RS]
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