Research Guides: Biology Research Guide: Biodiversity Environmental Biology

Dictionaries & Encyclopedias

Beacham's Guide to the Endangered Species of North America
(HSU Users Only) (Beacham, Castronova and Sessine) 2000 (print copy available in ref QH 77 N56 B43 2000) (6 volumes) Contains 2-5 page species accounts for more than 1,200 North American plants and animals that were classified as either threatened or endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 2000.

Dictionary of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics (Lincoln, Boxshalt, & Clark) 1982 (ref QH 540.4 L56 1982)
Dictionary of the Environment (Allaby) 1977 (ref QH 540.4 A44 1977)
Ecological Glossary (Carpenter) 1956 (ref QH 541 C3 1956)
Ecology Field Glossary: A Naturalists Vocabulary (Lewis) 1977 (ref QH 540.4 L48)
Encyclopedia of Biodiversity (Levin) 2000 (ref QH 541.15 B56 E53 2000) (5 volumes) Includes over 300 5-15 page signed articles, each with is own bibliography of additional references (see link below).
Encyclopedia of Environmental Biology (Nierenberg) 1995 (ref QH 540.4 E52 1995) (3 volumes) Includes over 150 5-15 page signed articles, each with is own bibliography of additional references.
Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology (Hastings and Gross) 2012 (ref QH 540.4 E526 2012)
Oxford Dictionary of Natural History (Allaby & Attenborough) 1985 (ref QH 13 O9 1985)

Biodiversity Glossary of Terms
Provided by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Encyclopedia of Biodiversity Articles
NatureServe Explorer: an Online Encyclopedia of Life
(NatureServe) Database containing conservation information on more than 70,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada. Search by common or scientific name. Each species or community includes information on conservation status, distribution maps, life history, and other conservation information.

Naturalist's Lexicon: A List of Classical Greek and Latin Words Used or Suitable for Use in Biological Nomenclature (Woods) 1944 (ref QH 83 A94)

Official Lists and Indexes of Names in Zoology
(International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) Lists all family-group, generic and specific names placed on the Official Lists and Indexes.

Catalogue of Life
(Species 2000 and Integrated Taxonomic Information System) Cooperative database that is attempting to list all known species of animals, plants, fungi and microbes. Presently the sponsoring database organizations estimate that 40% of the Earth's 1.75 M species are listed. There are two parts to the Species 2000 system:
(1) Dynamic Checklist
Provides real time access to 26 online taxonomic databases. Search by scientific name or browse by taxonomic classification.
(2) Annual Checklist
An annually updated index to 47 cooperating taxonomic databases that contain information on individual species. Search by common, scientific name, or geographic distribution; or browse by taxonomic classification.
Index of Organism Names
(Thomson Reuters) Lists all animal names found within Zoological Record and BIOSIS Previews.

Field Guides
(eNature.com) Identification guide to 5,500 plant and animal species in North America derived from 35 Audubon Society field guides. Each species entry includes a large thumbnail image, description, habitat, range and varying additional information depending upon the species, e.g., an audio file. Select from 13 major groups of organisms (e.g., mammals, amphibians, fishes, trees, etc.) Within each group browse by broad types of organisms in the group; search by scientific or common name; or conduct an advanced search by size, color, habitat, region, and other options unique to each each group.
International Field Guides
(Schmidt) Index to published field guides covering plants, animals, rocks, minerals, astronomy and weather. Browse by broad taxonomic category or search by keyword.

In addition, the following research guides contain related information:

Some of the content of this page was created in another format by Robert Sathrum, HSU Librarian, retired 06/2013.

Biodiversity Heritage Library
Project by ten major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions to digitize the published literature of biodiversity held in their respective collections. Goal is to digitize 2 million volumes, including journals.
Biological Conservation Bibliography
(Smithsonian Institution. Museum of Natural History) Database includes over 29,000 references on conservation biology from 1983 to the present. References have previously appeared in the Smithsonian Institution's Biological Conservation Newsletter. Search by author, title or keyword.

Biodiversity Collections Index
Worldwide index to natural history reference collections that contain biological specimens.

Habitats and Ecosystems: An Encyclopedia of Endangered America (Crawford) 1999 (ref QH 76 C73 1999) Lists and describes special habitat sites in each state.

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
(International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Searchable catalog of plant and animal taxa that are facing a high risk of global extinction (i.e. those listed as Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable) as well as taxa that are categorized as Extinct or Extinct in the Wild. For each taxa includes taxonomic, conservation status and distribution information.