Conservation In Practice

A publication of the Society for Conservation Biology

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Winter 2001 (Vol. 2, No. 1)

Online Map Creation
www.aquarius.geomarde/omc/omc_intro.html
Online Map Creation (OMC) is an amazing resource for anyone needing to make a map. You can create Postscript-formatted maps of just about any locality by inputting geographical coordinates. OMC is a subset of GMT (Generic Mapping Tools) software developed by scientists at the University of Hawaii and NOAA. A variety of projections can be made. Political boundaries, rivers, bathymetry, and topography can be displayed on maps along with tectonic features such as faults and ridges. Once you enter your desired parameters, a full-color (or b/w if you want) map will be presented as a *.gif image or for download in Postscript or Adobe Illustrator format. Step-by-step instructions are provided.

Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas
www.nps.gov/plants/alien/
Weeds Gone Wild is a project of Plant Conservation Alliance, a consortium of federal and nonfederal agencies dedicated to protecting native plants. Targeting viewers ranging from the general public to researchers, this site provides information on “the serious threat and impacts of invasive alien (exotic, nonnative) plants to the native flora, fauna, and natural ecosystems of the United States.” To that end, the site includes a compiled national list of many invasive plants (aquatics, herbs, vines, shrubs and trees); comprehensive background information on invasive species; illustrated fact sheets with plant descriptions, native range, distribution, and habitat in the U.S.; management options and suggested alternative native plants; and other information. A collection of links to experts and organizations rounds out this well-conceived site.

National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR)
www.ocrm.nos.noaa.gov/nerr/

NERR Centralized Data Management Office
inlet.geol.sc.edu/cdmohome.html
Established in 1972 through the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA), the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR) is a network of protected areas representing different types of estuaries and biogeographic regions. Operated by coastal states with input from local communities and regional groups, NERR studies address coastal watershed management issues. The homepage provides an overview of the NERR System with links to specific information on (most) reserves, detailed case studies on six focal reserves, publications and research resources, educational materials, and links to related resources. For reserve data and data on water quality (and associated metadata), see the NERR Centralized Data Management homepage.

Northwoods Wildlife Habitat Database
www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/northwoods/index.html
Created through a joint effort of the USDA Forest Service’s North Central Forest Experiment Station (NCFES) and seven national forests in the Upper Great Lakes Region, Northwoods is a wildlife habitat database featuring “information about the habitat needs of 389 species of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals in the Upper Great Lakes Region.” The database compiles common and scientific names, species occurrences in 20 aquatic and terrestrial habitat types, species abundances and seasonal use in seven national forests, and species conservation status. The Northwoods database is available in tab-delimited ASCII file format.

2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
www.iucn.org/redlist/2000/index.html
IUCN, the World Conservation Union has spent the past four decades working to provide objective, scientifically based information on the current status of the earth’s threatened biodiversity. To that end, IUCN has just released its much-anticipated Red List of 2000, listing the more than 11,000 species of the earth’s plants and animals that face high risk of extinction in the near future. Since the IUCN’s last assessment in 1996, over 200 new animal species have become threatened, almost all as a result of human activities. The searchable IUCN Red List Web site has ten sections: Introduction, Data Organization, Red List Programme, Summary Statistics, Sources & Quality, Categories & Criteria, Habitat Types, Threat Types, Image Captions, and References. Two search options (regular and expert) enable users to search by taxonomic classification, with four additional modifiers: Red List Category, Country, Geographic Region, and/or Marine Region. Typical returns include taxonomic details (scientific classification and common name), assessment information, distribution (by country), and summary documentation (Biome). This seminal resource represents the most current and reliable information of its sort and is a “must read” for any one working on ecology or conservation.

Water Librarians’ Homepage
www.wco.com/~rteeter/waterlib.html
Robert Teeter, librarian at a California water agency, has put together this metasite containing a variety of useful links in the field of water resources along with other library-related links. Agencies, databases, publishers, organizations, libraries, mailing lists, and more are featured. Teeter has organized the links by page type and indicates which sites are newly added or personal favorites. Just a few examples of links at the Water Librarians’ Homepage include: Waterfront (an information source on water conservation initiatives taking place in Winnipeg, Canada), The American Water Resources Association, and The Environmental Professionals’ Homepage (providing links to primary sources of environmentally-related information). This is an excellent tool for academics, professionals, and librarians in the field of water resources and also environmental engineering.

General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET)
www.epa.gov/oiamount/termsys.htm

The GEMET Approach
(v 2.0) [.pdf]
www2.mu.niedersachsen.de/cds/webpages/6.htm
Differences in terminology and language can be major barriers to effective international collaborations — such as in the development of (often delicate) environmental protection agreements. To reduce these barriers, several European and U.S. environmental agencies have joined forces to develop a common terminology system, called GEMET. This General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus (GEMET) is “a vocabulary of more than 6,500 controlled terms (keywords), representing broad environmentally significant concepts.” The first web site, from the U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, describes GEMET and the importance of this collaborative project. The second web site, provided by the Ministry of Environment of Lower Saxony, serves as a gateway into GEMET. Here users will find seven .pdf documents which are the various components of the thesaurus, including the impressive multilingual list of descriptors. GEMET 2.0 was edited in British and American English, with equivalents in ten European languages.

Biological Conservation Newsletter of the Smithsonian Institution
www.mnh.si.edu/botany/bcn
This newsletter contains articles on conservation research and activities of the Smithsonian Institution. Also included are current news items, information on new publications, fellowships and grants, job announcements, and meetings. The Conservation Bibliography includes over 7,000 references to literature on conservation biology. All issues from the past nine years have been archived and are available for viewing. You can subscribe to the BCN listserv, a service that will notify readers when new issues are posted. To subscribe, send an e-mail message to listserv@sivm.si.edu containing only the following in the body of the text: SUBSCRIBE BCN FIRSTNAME LASTNAME.

National Invasive Species Management Plan
www.invasivespecies.gov/council/nisc/nmp.html
In February 1999, an Executive Order by President Clinton established the National Invasive Species Council (NISC) to take a leadership role in dealing with invasive species issues. As part of that order, NISC has prepared a plan “to minimize the economic and ecological impacts and the harm to animal and human health associated with invasive species.” This document, “National Management Plan: Meeting the Invasive Species Challenge,” is posted on the NISC web page.

Erratum: We apologize for the misspelling of Scott Johnston’s name (Building a Species Recovery Program on Trust) in our first issue.