Resources
Conservation Resources in Print and on the Web
Nomina Insecta Nearctica
www.nearctica.com/nomina/main.htm
First published by Entomological Information Services in 1996-97 in four volumes, this online checklist is a complete listing (minus synonyms) of the approximately 90,000 species of insects of North America north of Mexico. The checklist is arranged alphabetically by taxonomic rank. Detailed information includes “the current generic name, the species name, the author or authors of the name, the date of publication, and finally (in parentheses) the generic name under which the species was originally described.” Beginners should start at the table of contents and follow the links.
Encyclopedia of Life Sciences
Read the free features from Nature Online compiled at The Encyclopedia of Life Sciences (ELS) website. Although the bulk of the site requires a paid subscription, ELS, a new online database of more than 3,000 original peer-reviewed articles offers a few free-access sections. Selections from Nature research and news articles are posted in the non-subscription Article of the Week, Research Highlights, and Feature of the Month sections. Recent topics include dancing honeybees, chromosome pairing, and Antarctic ecology. Visitors to ELS can also see lists of new and upcoming content and check out job listings. To reach the free stuff, choose “Browse our free features” from the ELS homepage.
Conservation and Environmental Maps
lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/cnsvhome.html
The Library of Congress’ “gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the U.S.,” offers this gem of a site on exploration and land use. These historic and recent maps will be of great interest to ecologists, as they show “changes in the landscape, including natural and man-made features, recreational and wilderness areas, geology, topography, wetland area, vegetation, and wildlife.” The site may be searched by keyword or browsed by subject index, creator index, geographic location index, or title index.
Restoration Bi-Weekly Update — EPA
www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/restore/update/
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provides bi-weekly updates on river corridor and wetland restoration efforts. Each update describes and highlights a current recovery effort (such as salmon in Washington) and gives current news briefs relating to ecological restoration.
Ant Database
entomology.si.edu:591/entomology/siants/search.html
Research entomologist Ted Schultz from the Smithsonian Institution maintains this impressive work in progress. This online database represents the Smithsonian’s identified ant collection, including 4,580 valid named species or subspecies. The taxonomy is current with Bolton’s 1995 catalog and includes reported holdings through June 1998. The database may be queried by Subfamily, Tribe, Genus, Subgenus, Species, Subspecies, Author, or Types, and typical returns give concise taxonomic information, total specimens (workers, females, and males), author, and year.
Web site reviews provided by The Scout Report for Science & Engineering, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2001.
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