LibGuides: Biology: Web Resources

Web Resources

Websites
Taxonomies

American Institute of Biological Sciences The American Institute of Biological Sciences was established as a national umbrella organization for the biological sciences in 1947 by 11 scientific societies as part of the National Academy of Sciences. An independent non-profit organization since 1954, it has grown to represent more than 80 professional societies and organizations with a combined membership exceeding 240,000 scientists and educators.
American Journal of Bioethics Online Journal articles with the study of moral issues in the fields of medical treatment and research.
Avibase - The Worldbird Database Avibase is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 2 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages and more. This site is managed by Denis Lepage and hosted by Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian copartner of Birdlife International. Avibase has been a work in progress for nearly 12 years and I am now pleased to offer it as a service to the bird-watching and scientific community
Biodiversity Heritage Library Ten major libraries and research institutions in the U.S. and Britain intend to digitize the literature on biodiversity in their collections and make it openly accessible through a "biodiversity commons."
Encyclopedia of Life "The Encyclopedia of Life is an unprecedented global partnership between the scientific community and the general public. [Their] goal is to make freely available to anyone knowledge about all the world’s organisms." It is funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
EurekAlert! EurekAlert! is an online, global news service operated by AAAS, the science society. EurekAlert! provides a central place through which universities, medical centers, journals, government agencies, corporations and other organizations engaged in research can bring their news to the media. EurekAlert! also offers its news and resources to the public. EurekAlert! features news and resources focused on all areas of science, medicine and technology.
Library of Congress: Science Reference Services Site has a subject guide for biology, genetics, natural history and zoology. Topics can be browsed in the A to Z index of of the science reference services website.
National Center for Biotechnology Information Established in 1988 as a national resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and disease.
National Library of Medicine Bookshelf The NLM Bookshelf provides free online access to books and documents in life science and healthcare. Search, read, and discover.
PLOS PLOS was founded as a nonprofit Open Access publisher, innovator and advocacy organization with a mission to accelerate progress in science and medicine by leading a transformation in research communication.
SciCentral Since 1997, the SciCentral editors have been aggregating breaking research news from the most reputable and reliable sources. The service has received over 30 Web awards and enthusiastic reviews from leading science publishers (e.g.; Science Magazine, The Lancet, The New Scientist) for the quality of its service. Over 700 other websites point to SciCentral as a trusted source of information.
Science.Gov Science.gov searches over 60 databases and over 2,200 scientific websites to provide users with access to more than 200 million pages of authoritative federal science information including research and development results.
Tree of Life Web Project The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history (phylogeny).
United States Geological Service A multi-disciplinary science organization that focuses on biology, geography, geology, geospatial information, and water, we are dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the landscape, our natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten us.
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Provides health and environment information including studies and legislation.
US Fish & Wildlife Service Contains information about United States species including habitat information, projects, studies and legislation.
United States Geological Service A multi-disciplinary science organization that focuses on biology, geography, geology, geospatial information, and water, we are dedicated to the timely, relevant, and impartial study of the landscape, our natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten us.
WorldWideScience A global gateway that allows searching of national and international science databases from Japan, South Africa, France and other countries.

General

Integrated Taxonomic Information System authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.
Species 2000 Species 2000 is an autonomous federation of taxonomic database custodians, involving taxonomists throughout the world. Our goal is to collate a uniform and validated index to the world's known species (plants, animals, fungi and microbes).
Taxonomy Browser The Taxonomy Database is a curated classification and nomenclature for all of the organisms in the public sequence databases. Created by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Botanical

Germplasm Resources Information Network The Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) web server provides germplasm information about plants, animals, microbes and invertebrates. This program is within the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service.
PLANTS Database The PLANTS Database provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. It includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, crop information, automated tools, onward Web links, and references. This information primarily promotes land conservation in the United States and its territories, but academic, educational, and general use is encouraged. PLANTS reduces government spending by minimizing duplication and making information exchange possible across agencies and disciplines.

Zoological

Amphibiaweb AmphibiaWeb provides information on amphibian declines, natural history, conservation, and taxonomy.
Animal Diversity Web Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan
Invertebrate Zoology Collection-Smithsonian Museum of Natural History Within the Department of Invertebrate Zoology, scientists conduct original research on all 30 major invertebrate animal groups (phyla) of the world (except insects), and are stewards for the 35 million specimens of invertebrates that comprise the U.S. National Collection. The study of invertebrates offers great challenges and opportunities to contribute to the world's knowledge of these organisms.
TIGR Reptile Database More than 8800 species. Geographic distribution, references, and images. Includes scientific and common name searches.