Research
http://www.werc.usgs.gov/index.html
The Western Ecological Research Center is part of the Biological Resources Division of the USGS, and focuses on the diverse bioregions of the pacific southwestern United States. The WERC website presents information about a variety of its research activities including work with wildlife, invasive species, coastal ecosystems, fire ecology, and more. The site also links to information about jobs, publications, conferences, and projects. The WERC Products section offers a search engine and contains almost 3000 listings of abstracts, book chapters, technical reports, and presentations (some of which are downloadable). [NL]
http://geography.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/SF_Estuary/Main_Page.html
Created by researchers from the Geography Department at UC-Berkeley, this cool website was created as an image resource for researchers working to identify seeds collected in sediment cores -- thereby allowing them to date a species occurrence in a given area. The seeds available for viewing represent both saltwater and freshwater plants and "were selected from a list of common vascular plants in tidal marshes of the San Francisco Bay Estuary included in Atwater et al, 1979." Common and scientific names are provided for each plant, and the species are organized alphabetically by family. Species are included from over twenty different families including Alismataceae, Caryophyllaceae, Cyperaceae, Juncaceae, and more. Most seed image profiles contain two photographs taken at both lower and higher levels of magnification. [NL]
http://www.psaalgae.org/index.html
Represented by 2,000 members world-wide, the Phycological Society of America (PSA) is a scientific organization dedicated to algae research and education. The PSA website contains information about Society meetings, membership, related conferences, and the Journal of Phycology. The site also posts information about graduate research opportunities and assistantships as well as a limited number of student grants, fellowships, and awards. In addition to downloadable copies of current and past newsletters, the PSA website provides an extensive list of phycological links under such categories as Societies & Journals, Web Publications & Catalogues, and Culture & Museum Collections. [NL]
http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatsearch.html
Searching for a comprehensive fish information resource? The Catalog of Fishes from the California Academy of Sciences contains approximately 56,000 described species and subspecies of fishes making it "the first treatment of all described fishes since Linnaeus in 1758." The Catalog also contains approximately 21,700 references, and 10,600 genera and subgenera. The website includes an Introduction with brief sections for Species of Fishes, Genera of Fishes, Species of Classification, Genera in Classification, and Literature Cited. Site users can locate fish by searching separate databases for genera, species, and references. The site also provides instructions for searching the three respective databases. [NL]
Created by J.D. Holloway over a 20 year time span -- and brought to the internet by Southdene Sdn. Bhd., the Malaysian Nature Society, and the Natural History Museum in London -- the Moths of Borneo provides descriptions and full-color illustrations of approximately 4,500 moth species. This impressive website currently contains 14 volumes, and it is anticipated that four additional volumes will be added to complete the work. Each volume contains an abstract and a table of contents as well as sections for New Taxa, New Synonymy, References, Checklist, Genitalia, and more. Species are organized by various groups including family, subfamily, and tribe. While the species profiles generally include a brief diagnosis-accompanied by geographical range, and habitat preference (the moth groups receive more detailed descriptions). [NL]
The Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG), otherwise known as the International Working Group on Taxonomic Databases, is a scientific association working to "establish collaboration among biological database projects so as to promote the wider and more effective dissemination of information about the World's heritage of biological organisms for the benefit of the world at large." Hosted by the Natural History Museum in London, the TDWG website contains a copy of the group's Constitution, new membership forms, contact information for current officers, TDWG email lists, and a list of TDWG Standards. The Archives section contains downloadable minutes from the first and second TDWG meetings (held in 1985 and 1986) as well as links to more recent annual meeting notes and newsletters. The site also links to information about the Group's upcoming meeting in New Zealand. [NL]
