Scott's Botanical Links
Leigh's Links -- April 1998
Scott's Botanical Links Oklahoma
Past Links:
- April 30, 1998 - Midwest Oak
Ecosystems Recovery Plan: A Call to Action
- Edited by Mark K. Leach, University of
Wisconsin, Madison, and Laurel Ross, The Nature Conservancy, the online Plan (presented at
the 1995 Midwest Oak Savanna and Woodland Ecosystems Conference) contains an
introduction to the ecology of Midwestern ecosystems, and a species list of indicators to
aid the identification of recoverable oak savannas and open oak woodlands. Once dominating
the Midwestern landscape, these habitats are now fragmented and degraded by settlement,
resulting in extinction or extirpation of once common species. Many remnant savannas and
woodlands are deemed restorable, and a system to identify and qualify such areas as may
provide corridors to larger areas of habitat is needed for successful recovery of
diversity. Get a look at the The Plan and The Call published on this site by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C.(****) -LF
- April
29, 1998 - National Wildlife Health Center
- "The NWHC was established in 1975 as a
biomedical laboratory dedicated to assessing the impact of disease on wildlife and to
identifying the role of various pathogens in contributing to wildlife losses." The
Science Center of the Biological Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey
has an online bibliography of publications 1975-1997 which can be obtained as reprints,
concerning pathogenic disease, chemical exposure, and other causes of wildlife mortality.
Animal Welfare Information provides various references for U.S. government principles for
the humane treatment of animals to be adhered to by institutions using animals for
research and testing, offering a full-text copy of the Guide for the Care and Use of
Laboratory Animals (National Academy of Sciences 1996). Check out links to the USDA
Animal Welfare Information Center, with a big link to NetVet, and also to info for the
47th Annual Wildlife Disease Association Conference August 10-13 at the University of
Wisconsin, at this site by Kate Cleary, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison,
Wisconsin.(****) -LF
- April 28, 1998 - The Orchid
Weblopedia
- This part of University of California's
Conservation Biology website features An Annotated Check List of the Genus Paphiopedilum
(Koopowitz 1995), a page of New Paphiopedilum Species, The Essential Guide to the Lycaste
Species (Oakeley 1993) and searchable Orchid-Epiphyte Reference Databases (Thornhill and
Landry). Academically a handy tool for anyone needing Orchidaceae bibliographies and the
like, the "recreational" side of orchid culture is also well-covered in The
Orchid Weblopedia Bulletin Board and Orchid-Related Links. Site by Alan D. Thornhill, Rice
University, Houston, Texas, and Jose Ferran, University of California, Irvine, California
(****) -LF
- April 27, 1998 - The Arboretum at
Arizona State University
- Though not dedicated as an Arboretum until
1990, ASU's collection (one of the best in the desert!) of date palms, conifers of the
Southwest, and native southwestern plants began with the vision of early Administrators
some ninety years ago. Today the important oasis of educational, research, and
recreational opportunities is particularly concerned with landscape uses of plants for
sound water management and conservation practices. The Arboretum's website features
a Plant Index linked to Fact Sheets on various plants on campus and its
Newsletter along with an important link to the Department of Plant Biology. There find
links to course syllabi and the ASU Photosynthesis Center now featuring "The Power of
Green" by John Svetlik, a report of research at the Center for the Study of the Early
Events in Photosynthesis supported by the National Science Foundation and other federal
agencies.
Site by Jody Namio and Michael Buschbacher II with photographs by H. Val Peterson, Jerry
Bevins, and Richard Harris; Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona.(****) -LF
- April 24,
1998 - The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, Sixteenth Edition
- The usefulness of the online version of the Merck
Manual published "for the intern" is by no means limited to the
interests of the medical profession. While Merck has a new "Home Version"
of the Manual on the net as well, biologists are likely to prefer the Sixteenth Edition
for its real-life descriptions of pathogenic bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other disease
organisms and vectors, the important diseases and defects of man, and many aspects of
anatomy, immunology, and human psychology. It is an
invaluable compendium of general information on biochemicals, poisons, venomous bites and
stings, and therapeutic drugs- a reference for the biology of human health perhaps only
the hypochondriacal personality should be without! Site by Merck & Co.,
Inc., Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.(****) -LF
- April 23, 1998 - The Need to Know Library
- Created for the encyclopedic mind, The
Need to Know Library has five main pages of resources in areas of General References
(A-Z), K-12 Education, Ecology and Environment, Science Fiction and Physics Web Site and
Book Reviews by a Ninth Grader, and Spider Facts from a Fifth Grade Student. The Library
is easy to browse, intended especially for newcomers to the web as an introduction to
finding infomation on the internet; it is managed by a plant ecologist with experience in
K-12 environmental education for teachers and students. A well-rounded selection of topics
on the Environment and Ecology Page includes Botany and Systematics, Conservation Biology,
Journals and Societies, Ecological Software, Natural Resource Agencies, Natural
Areas and Reserves, and Environmental Societies. Site by Teresa et al., Anywhere, USA.
(****) -LF
- April 22, 1998 - BeanRef
- As there is probably something for just about
everyone on the net, researchers concerned with Phaseolus and Vigna will
want to know about BeanRef's goal to organize the important information
sources for bean biology available online. The site is open for contributions to an
"expandable" list of categories which includes thus far a General Overview/
short descriptions, Germplasm Collections, Taxonomy, Molecular Biology, Genetics
/Cytogenetics, Physiology, Phytopathology, Production & Consumption Conferences,
Organizations and Groups, Databases, Electronic and Printed Communications.
Brush up on bean abbreviations and acronyms or post a message on the electronic bean
bulletin board at this site by Mario Nenno, Division of Cell Biology, University of
Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany. (****) -LF
- April 21, 1998 - EnviroNET
Australia
- Designed to link people managing environmental
problems to the people, organizations and technologies which may help provide a solution,
this site's Directory of Environmental Technology Case Studies details best management
practices for typical environmental problems in Australia. Case studies outline
information on current technologies being successfully applied to environmental pollution
problems in Australia, including a number of biological treatment methods utilizing plants
and microorganisms. The database of case studies is fully searchable by either technology,
location, or keyword and there is contact information for further details on particular
projects- an excellent resource for topics of bioremediation of air, water, and soils.
Site by Environment Protection Group, BARTON ACT, Australia. (****) -LF
April 20,
1998 - Treasures from the Kingdom of Fungi
- Possibly the first and foremost seriously
professional mushroom portraitist exhibiting on the net invites the world for an inspired
look at gems and jewels of the earth excerpted from his musical slide show of Treasures
from the Kingdom of Fungi. Imagination, botany, and an awesome photographic skill make
this a truly educative work of art for ages of approximately eight and up! Use these
images for morphology and diversity links, or send for the full-color poster, postcards,
and more at this unbelievably cool site by Taylor F. Lockwood, Mendocino, California.
(****)LF.
- April 17, 1998-Biology Teachers
- This is a resource site developed with a focus
upon Canadian biology for high school biology teachers. But teachers of many regions will
appreciate its versatility and application to various areas of biological and
environmental science coursework. The collection of annotated links to online lab manuals
and exercises, careers information, biological supply companies, announcements of local
workshops, links to online scientific journals and links to other
resources at University of Toronto and beyond is packed with first-class goodies. Site by
Michael Krejcik and the Summer Career Placements Initiative of Human Resources,
Development Canada and the Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Toronto,
Canada.(****) -LF
- April 16, 1998 - Wild Plants of Brown
County and Their Uses
- Sam Johnson's beautiful farm in Brown
County, Indiana is host to a number of plants once used for medicines by Indians and
pioneers and this slide show encompasses thirty-nine of them that were photographed over
the period of year. Adapted from a local television presentation, while some of the images
aren't at their sharpest, this is nonetheless a valuable look at a number of the
plants taught in undergraduate botany and their occurrence together in the same flora.
Ethnobotanical use descriptions are written under each slide and at the end of four
pages, there's actually a way back to a Brown County Home Page of sorts with links to
Indiana Forestry resources and interesting tidbits of the local culture. Check it out!
Site by Hometown Cable, Inc., Nashville, Indiana. (****) -LF
- April 15, 1998 - The Fossil Company
- Along with its online catalogue of fossil,
mineral, and crystal specimens, the Fossil Company publishes some nifty resources of
interest to biologists and botanists. About Fossils has information sheets alphabetically
indexed from Ammonites-Trilobites, providing drawings and text descriptions
hyperlinked to a descriptive Geological Time Line. The Time Line text in turn is
hyperlinked to the information sheets according to the fossils for each geological period.
The Periodic Table of Elements is too cool- pointing to an element gives its
name, discoverer, and physical properties- perfect for chemistry students! Site by The
Fossil Company, El Cerrito, California. (****) -LF
- April 14,
1998 - U.S. Pollen Map
- A botanist can get asked almost anything if
it involves a plant, and spring is a good time for having a pollen map handy for knowledge
of troublesome pollens by region. Information for the eleven U.S.pollen regions is
provided by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America--listing trees, grasses, and weeds for each (though there is little data for Alaska and
Hawaii), and the months of the year they are blooming. Very useful as an at-a-glance
blooming chart for dominant flora of an area, don't forget to bookmark this site by Thrive
Online, San Francisco, California. (****) -LF
- April 13, 1998 - Biodiversity and
the Biodiversity Crisis
- A student of biology and environmental policy
reports on Biodiversity and the Biodiversity Crisis. Published on the internet,
the paper provides an excellent introduction to the scientific principles used to
establish evidence of a crisis, how species diversity or abundance is estimated within an
ecosystem, and why conservation biologists are concerned over present rates of extinction.
This is a very well-constructed paper with ample discussion of theories of the major
prehistoric and historic extinction events, current extinctions and their proposed causes.
Students and teachers will find this a valuable link to supplement courses in ecology,
biogeography, plants and people. But citizens of the world in general owe it to themselves
to become aware of the data at this site by Michael Libsch, Colby College, Waterville,
Maine. (****) -LF
- April
3, 1998 - Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology
- The membership organization of the Cornell Lab
of Ornithology invites science and the citizen participation in birdwatching around the
country. There are student opportunities to help determine why city pigeons come in so
many colors, and other programs including nest box, feeder watch, and house finch
disease surveys where the data contributions of birdwatchers will aid the "global
center" of bird conservation in its work. Selected articles from the lab's
award-winning publication Living Bird are online as well as Bird of the Week fact
sheets with numerous photos and a supportive text to point out important identifying
characters of a species. No doubt a rare opportunity to hear the Laughing
Kookaburra, Screaming Phiha and Dark-Rumped Petrel all in the same place is waiting at
this site by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (****) -LF
- April 2, 1998 - A Sense
of Place: Native plants for locally appropriate landscapes
- Pocket prairies at the Chadwick Arboretum and
elsewhere around the OSU campus are being created to demonstrate and provide information
for the use of native flora within urban landscape areas. Overuse of generic plantings can
mask the identity of a town, a state, and worse, a country if left unchecked; creative
approaches to getting the public and the horticultural industry interested in the natural
look are needed to punctuate trends in monotonous and geographically meaningless
landscaping. This website is used to document germination and transplant trials
along with the appearance of plantings over time. Its reader-friendly presentation
encourages and builds confidence in natural landscape techniques which the public can
employ based on tested methods and established results. Plant a patch of native prairie
this spring and send the data to this site by Tim Rhodus, Ohio State University Department
of Horticulture and Crop Science, Columbus, Ohio. (****) -LF
- April 1, 1998 - Grass Genera of
the World
- This is the March 25, 1998 version of Watson, L., and Dallwitz, M. J. "Grass Genera of the World: Descriptions,
Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval; including Synonyms, Morphology,
Anatomy, Physiology, Phytochemistry, Cytology, Classification, Pathogens, World and Local
Distribution, and References." The database contains detailed morphological,
anatomical and physiological descriptions of over 800 grass genera, enhanced with 350 line
drawings, 550 photoscans illustrating spikelet details and leaf anatomy, and an extensive
collection of electron micrographs. Critical taxonomic features are hotlinked to relevant
identification characters in the text- frequently several examples of a character are
shown to demonstrate its variable possibilities. Contributions to this database are
welcomed and will be appropriately acknowledged in the displays and accompanying
literature. Site maintained by Julian Humphries, Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana.
(****) -LF
