Subject Guides: BIOL 1027: Honors Biology: Additional Resources

Quick Links to Selected Databases

Zoological Record This link opens in a new window Equivalent of the printed Zoological record. Covers worldwide systematic zoological literature and other areas of zoology such as anatomy, morphology, physiology, reproduction, ecology, evolution, life history, and behavior. Coverage is from 1864 to the present.

Library databases are the best place to find scientific journal articles, which are the primary kinds of sources you'll need for your rare species web page. A few that will be particularly helpful to you are listed below.

***In order to gain full access to articles, use the links on this course guide or log in through the AU Libraries website***

Biosis Citation Index This link opens in a new window An index with abstracts to periodicals in biology and the life sciences. Provides access to biological and medical research findings, clinical studies, and discoveries of new organisms. Coverage is international, and includes agriculture, biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, genetics, botany, ecology, microbiology, pharmacology, and zoology. (10 simultaneous users)
Web of Science This link opens in a new window Web of Science is the online version of the print and CD-ROM versions of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & humanities citation index; Science citation index (called Science citation index expanded, in online version); and, Social sciences citation index. (5 simultaneous users)
Google Scholar This link opens in a new window Provides access to much of the world's scholarly literature from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities. Results include peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, pre-prints, abstracts, technical reports, and scholarly articles available on the Web.

Other Interesting Web Resources

Tree of Life Project (ToL)
ToL is an open access, database-driven project funded by NSF and the University of Arizona. One of their primary goals is to document and provide information about every species and for each group of organisms.
Biodiversity Heritage Library
See info on Finding Original Species Description page.
Map of Life
Integrates data from providers such as the IUCN, WWF, GBIF, and more to create describing species distributions worldwide (species range maps, species occurrence points, ecoregions, and protected areas).

Government Websites

ECOS: Environmental Conservation Online System
Gateway web site that provides access to information in the USFWS and other government data sources. This central point of access providing public access to information from numerous Service databases.

These sites have great summary information about basic life history, classification, etc . Most importantly, they include bibliographies where you can find tons more sources (which you can then find in the library catalog).

PLANTS Database
Provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories. Includes names, plant symbols, checklists, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, crop information, automated tools, web links, and references.
ITIS: Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Provides authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.

Web Resources

Same as above - these are great places to find background info and additional sources!

Encyclopedia of Life
Free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science!
NatureServe
Developed by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) as a means for ranking or categorizing the relative imperilment of species of plants, animals, or other organisms, as well as natural ecological communities, on the global, national and/or subnational levels.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Annual list released by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Includes information on species taxonomy, distribution, population size, and more.
Outdoor Alabama
Website produced for the public by Alabama Department of Natural Resources.
FishBase
Global database of fish species.
AmphibiaWeb
Global database of amphibian species.
Native Plant Information Network
Database of more than 7,000 native plant species.
The Reptile Database
Database of all living reptile species and their classification. Currently there are more than 10,000 species another 2,800 subspecies listed.
Smithsonian Museum of Natural History: North American Mammals
Site includes detailed descriptions, images, and distribution ranges for more than 740 mammals native to the North American continent.