Other Resources
Other Resources
NBII Services used by the DIL
Integrated Taxonomic Information System - Here you will find authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world.
http://www.itis.gov/
Biocomplexity Thesaurus - a database of terms on ecology and the environment, showing preferred usage and the relationships between terms. Developed through a partnership between the NBII and CSA, a leading bibliographic database provider.
http://thesaurus.nbii.gov/
Other galleries with free, credible biological media!
Most media are public domain, Creative Commons-licensed or allow many non-commercial uses without requiring permission.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Digital Library System - an online library providing access to USFWS images.
http://images.fws.gov/
Bugwood Network - images and other information sources supporting forestry, pest management, natural resources and agriculture.
http://www.bugwood.org
Digital Library of the Commons - The Image collection of the Digital Library of the Conservation Commons, highlighting images which show the open access and sharing of knowledge and tools for conservation.
http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/
Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum - A collection of free, high-quality images of the Pacific Basin.
http://www.pbif.org/images/default.html
Photo Gallery of the Florida Integrated Science Center - just one of many online photo galleries created by USGS Science Centers.
http://fl.biology.usgs.gov/Center_Publications/Image_Archive/image_archive.html
Morphbank - A large repository of Fair Use, detailed specimen images, with notes that point to species characteristics shown in the image.
http://www.morphbank.net/
The Internet Bird Collection - A large, high-quality video collection of birds throughout the world.
http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/index.html
Earth Science World Image Bank - A large image gallery that focuses on the earth sciences, funded by the American Geological Institute.
http://www.earthscienceworld.org/imagebank/
National Park Service Digital Image Archives - Explore free, high-quality images from National Parks all across the United States.
http://photo.itc.nps.gov/storage/images/index.html
DCNature.com - a small site, but with great photos of Washington, DC wildlife -- all being under Creative Commons licenses.
http://www.dcnature.com/
NAL: Animal Science Image Gallery - Explore agricultural animals through images, audio, and video.
http://anscigallery.nal.usda.gov/index.php
Marine Photobank - Register for free to view this marine image gallery.
http://www.marinephotobank.org/photocenter.php
NOAA Photo Library - A large image gallery containing images of environments, climates, and even animals.
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/
Western Soundscapes - a searchable web-based audio archive with a focus on the natural sounds of the western United States. Currently in the pilot phase, the project includes more than 600 recordings of regional wildlife and ambient soundscapes.
http://www.westernsoundscape.org/
Other important biological media galleries
Most media are copyrighted and permissions are needed for use.
ARKive- Explore information about threatened species, including thousands of vibrant images and videos.
http://www.arkive.org/
CalPhotos - A large image collection comprised of animals, plants, fungi, fossils, and landscapes from all around the world.
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/
VIREO- a large, worldwide collection of bird images, part of The Academy of Natural Sciences.
http://vireo.acnatsci.org/
Digital Morphology - View high-quality 2-D and 3-D skeletal images and X-rays of various specimens from different angles.
http://www.digimorph.org/
University of Tennessee Herbarium - Explore high quality color images of over 600,000 specimens of vascular plants.
http://tenn.bio.utk.edu/
Native Fish Conservancy Photo Gallery - Web-sized images of native fish, listed in alphabetical order by scientific name.
http://www.nativefish.org/Gallery/
University of Amsterdam's Bird Collection - A high quality 3-D image gallery of birds at the Zoological Museum in Amsterdam.
http://ip30.eti.uva.nl/zma3d/
MorphoBank - A repository of detailed specimen images linked to phylogenetic matrices (tables that describe how species are related via specific characters).
http://morphobank.geongrid.org/
Cool Tools
Photosynth - A breakthrough technology program that gives the user the the ability to recreate certain scenes, such as a 360 degree view of a habitat, by merging multiple flat photographs.
http://www.photosynth.com
Identification guides
Discover Life - A site that helps with the identification of living organisms, and that allows you to zoom in on high quality images.
http://www.discoverlife.org/
FishBase - Browse images of fish by searching their common name or scientific name.
http://www.fishbase.org/search.php
BugGuide - identification, images, & information for insects, spiders & their kin for the United States and Canada.
http://bugguide.net
What's that Bug? - Will attempt to identify your mystery bug based on the description and/or photo you provide.
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/
GeckoWeb - This is an online field guide to help with the idenfication of geckos that reside in the United States, using images and descriptions.
http://www.geckoweb.org/profiles
USDA Plants Database - An online database that aids in the idenfication of plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of and
around the United States.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/
Cool maps and satellite imagery
GAP Analysis Program - constructs maps of species distributions, preferred habitat type, and conservation, and looking for the gaps in protection.
http://gapanalysis.nbii.gov
Landsat Image Mosaic Of Antarctica (LIMA) - View the recent compilation by USGS of extremely high resolution images of Antartica.
http://lima.usgs.gov/
Other resources
The NBII Mountain Prairie Information Node provides two resources for Butterflies and Moths:
Butterflies and Moths of North America - an interactive database of butterfly and moth information, including distribution maps, species accounts, photographs, and checklists of species by county. All records are verified by state and regional coordinators, making this the most accurate and comprehensive distribution record in North America.
http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/
Children's Butterfly Site - an educational opportunity for all ages. Visitors can investigate a butterfly's metamorphosis, print pictures to color, and see beautiful photographs of butterflies and moths from around the world. Answers to the Frequently Asked Questions provide information about behavior, appearance, catching/handling, and the life cycle of these magnificent creatures.
http://kidsbutterfly.org/
