American
Society of Agronomy
Founded in 1907,
the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is dedicated
to the development of agriculture enabled by
science, in harmony with environmental and
human values. The Society supports scientific, educational,
and professional activities that enhance communication
and technology transfer among agronomists and those
in related disciplines on topics of local,
regional, national, and international significance.
Biodiversity
Inventory and Monitoring Methods for Ants
Ants are one of the most ecologically important social
insects in terrestrial ecosystem. The Ant Inventory and
Monitoring web page provides information on a case study
developed at the ALL workshop: a global approach to tropical
leaf litter biodiversity and conservation in Brazil,
held on August 18-22, 1996. The ALL (Ants of the Leaf Litter)
initiative and its participants developed a standardized
protocol for the collection of ground litter ants.
This data collection is also part of the International
Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY) 2001-2002 as a
core network project, "Charting
and Documenting the World's Social Ants and Wasps."
BioTrack
BioTrack is a system that provides survey, monitoring,
inventory, diagnostics, educational displays, data management
integration and distribution capabilities. Rapid biodiversity
assessment methods that use partial taxonomic determinations
and recognizable taxonomic units (morpho-species) as
the smallest measurement unit are combined with powerful
image and relational database technology to allow the
full breadth of biodiversity to be measured in a realistic
time.
The
Canadian Intersite Decomposition Experiment (CIDET)
The Canadian Intersite Decomposition Experiment (CIDET)
is a cooperative study of 20 researchers from the Canadian
Forest Service, universities and provincial ministries
investigating the long-term rates of litter decomposition
and nutrient mineralization over a broad range of forested
ecoclimatic regions in Canada. Utilizing close to 11,000
litterbags, CIDET aims to provide data on the long-term
rates of litter decomposition and nutrient mineralization
for a range of forested ecoclimatic regions in Canada.
Checklist
of the Collembola of the World
This checklist has been prepared by Frans Janssens,
since 1976, member of the Royal Entomological Society
of Antwerp, Belgium; since 1998, laboratory associate
of the Department of Biology, Evolutionary Biology Group,
University of Antwerp (RUCA), Belgium. The main purpose
of this checklist is to resolve synonymy related problems.
Typical example: given a taxon name, verify whether or
not it is currently valid and if it is not valid what
is then its currently valid name. This work is updated
regularly.
Crop Science Society
of America
The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) is an educational
and scientific organization comprised of more than 4,700
members dedicated to the advancement of crop science.
Founded in 1955, the Society is truly international in
scope with members in more than 100 countries who are
advancing the discipline of crop science by acquiring
and disseminating information about crops in relation
to seed genetics and plant breeding; crop physiology;
crop production, quality and ecology; crop germplasm
resources; and environmental quality.
DIVERSITAS
The goal of DIVERSITAS is to provide accurate scientific
information and predictive models of the status of biodiversity
and sustainability of the use of the Earth's biotic resources,
and to build a world-wide capacity for the science of
biodiversity. DIVERSITAS is the only existing programme
that co-ordinates a broad research effort in the sciences
concerning biodiversity at the global level.
Ecological Society of
America (ESA)
The ESA is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization of
scientists founded in 1915 to promote ecological science
by improving communication among ecologists, raise the
public's level of awareness of the importance of ecological
science, increase the resources available for the conduct
of ecological science, and ensure the appropriate use
of ecological science in environmental decision making
by enhancing communication between the ecological community
and policy-makers.
The
Ecotron Soil Biodiversity Experiment
As part of the Natural Environment Research Council
(NERC) Soil Biodiversity Programme the Ecotron Research
Team have created in the Ecotron, model analogues of
Sourhope grassland. By controlled manipulations of the
soil biota the role of different faunal groups, and their
interactions, in soil carbon and nitrogen fluxes are
being explored.
European Soil
Bureau
The main objective of the ESB is to provide harmonised
and coherent information on European Soils to both policy
makers and users of soil data. This addresses both the
current status and the indicators of future changes in
soil quality. The geographic area covered by this activity
corresponds to the European Union, Candidate Member States
and other regions of interest to European Commission
Policies.
Global Change and Terrestrial
Ecosystems Core Project
Global Change and Terrestrial Ecosystem (GCTE) is a
Core Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere
Programme (IGBP), an international scientific research
programme established in 1986 by the International Council
of Scientific Unions (ICSU). Their goals are to 1) predict
the effects of changes in climate, atmospheric composition,
and land use on terrestrial ecosystems, including (i)
agriculture, forestry, soils; and (ii) biodiversity,
and 2) determine how these effects lead to feedbacks
to the atmosphere and the physical climate system.
International
Biodiversity Observation Year (IBOY)
IBOY is a window in time to explore the richness of
life on Earth and its contribution to ecosystems and
societies: a gift and a challenge to the new millennium.
It is a concerted effort to focus attention on biodiversity.
IBOY will help the world learn more about biodiversity
and its interdependence with ecosystems and societies
while increasing understanding of how, where and why
biodiversity is being lost so that we can develop effective
conservation strategies. Most importantly, IBOY will
help provide knowledge about biodiversity, and its status,
trends and interrelationships with societies while transferring
this knowledge from scientists to the general public
and policy spheres to aid informed decision making.
International Long-Term
Ecological Research (ILTER) Network
In 1993, representatives of scientific programs and
networks whose focus is on ecological research over long
temporal and large spatial scales decided to form the
ILTER network. This action has been a decisive step toward
developing a worldwide program and infrastructure necessary
to facilitate communication and distributed database
management.
Key
Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources
The mission of the Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources
is to rapidly increase knowledge of the unique biological
diversity of Australia and develop innovative technologies
in rapid biodiversity assessment, natural resource management,
conservation evaluation, environmental monitoring, impact
assessment, exploration for new biological resources,
and to provide educational programs for the transfer
of these technologies to end-users and commercial partners.
Long Term Ecological Research
(LTER) Network
The LTER Network is a collaborative effort involving
more than 1100 scientists and students investigating
ecological processes over long temporal and broad
spatial scales. The network promotes synthesis and
comparative research across sites and ecosystems and
among other related national and international research
programs.
Long-Term
Intersite Decomposition Experiment (LIDET)
The primary objective of LIDET is to examine the control
that substrate quality and climate have on patterns of
long-term decomposition and nitrogen accumulation in
above- and below-ground fine litter. Of particular interest
is the degree these two factors control the formation
of stable organic matter and nitrogen after extensive
decay. The major factors considered in this extensive
litterbag experiment are site, species of and type of
litter (leaves, vs. roots vs dowels), and time.
Mite
Image Gallery
If you want to see more of Dr. David Walter's incredible
collection of mite photographs, they are available on
this University of Queensland site. Includes many other
great mite links as well.
The
National Science Foundation: Global Change Research
Programs
The purpose of the NSF's Ecological Rates of Change
(EROC) activity is to support research on how human-induced
global change affects ecological rates of change. Specifically,
the EROC activity seeks proposals for ecological research
designed to separate the effects of natural versus anthropogenic
changes on plant and animal physiological ecology, behavior,
plant-animal interactions, plant or animal communities,
and ecosystem processes and dynamics in terrestrial and
freshwater aquatic systems.
Natural
Resource Conservation Service: The Soil Quality
Institute
The Soil Quality Institute identifies soil quality research
findings and practical technologies that help conserve
and improve
soil, and enhance farming, ranching, forestry, and gardening enterprises.
The Institute works with researchers, conservationists, and land managers
to develop these technologies and make them readily available.
Natural Resource
Ecology Laboratory (NREL)
The mission of the NREL centers on multi-disciplinary
research in ecosystem science to improve our understanding
of the complex interactions between humans, management
activities, and ecosystems. Our mission also includes
teaching, outreach and service, to encourage better-informed
students, citizens, managers, and decision
makers.
Soil Science Society
of America (SSSA)
The professional home for over 6,000 professionals throughout
the world dedicated to the advancement of soil science.
The primary purpose of the Society is to advance the
discipline and practice of soil science by acquiring
and disseminating information about soils in relation
to crop production, environmental quality, ecosystem
sustainability, bioremediation, waste management and
recycling, and wise land use.
Scientific Committee
on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE)
An interdisciplinary body of natural and social science
expertise focused on global environmental issues, operating
at the interface between scientific and decision-making
instances a worldwide network of scientists and scientific
institutions developing syntheses and reviews of scientific
knowledge on current or potential environmental issues
created by the International Council for Science in 1969.
Soil
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
Provided by the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory
(NREL), this page has excellent information on current
NREL soil research in Antarctica, on biodiversity,
alfalfa stem nematodes, and climate change. Images
and links pages are well worth investigation.
Soil
Biodiversity Portal
The Soil Biodiversity
Portal, a website created by the Food and Agricultural
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, provides
general information on soil biodiversity and
agriculture with aims to sustain them through
conservation management, advocacy and training programs. The website
highlights national and international programs
on ecosystem services, soil fertility and biodiversity
relationships, and genetic resources and soil
biodiversity.
Soil
Biodiversity Programme: Biological Diversity and Ecosytem Function
in Soil
The Soil Biodiversity Programme aims to achieve simultaneously
an understanding of biological diversity of the soil
biota and the functional roles played by soil organisms
in key ecological processes. £6 million has
been allocated by the Natural Environment Research
Council (NERC) for research into biological diversity
and ecosystem function in soil. The programme will
be closely directed and integrated, with the aim
of producing data and insights of wider generality
than the chosen ecosystem, an upland grassland system
at Sourhope, near Kelso, Scotland.
The
Soil Ecology Society (SES)
The SES is an international organization of researchers,
students, environmental professionals and others interested
in the advancement and promotion of soil biology and
ecology. The SES holds a bi-annual conference which addresses
contemporary issues in the field of soil ecology, and
which provides a forum for ecologists, soil scientists,
and members of related disciplines, to present original
research results, participate in meeting symposia and
workshops, and identify priorities for future research.
Soil
and Water Conservation Society
The Soil and Water Conservation Society fosters the
science and the art of soil, water and related natural
resource management to achieve sustainability. We promote
and practice an ethic recognizing the interdependence
of people and the environment.
Species
2000
This project has the objective of enumerating all known
species of plants, animals, fungi and microbes on Earth
as the baseline dataset for studies of global biodiversity.
It will also provide a simple access point enabling users
to link from here to other data systems for all groups
of organisms, using direct species-links.
The
United Kingdom Environmental Change Network (ECN)
The ECN is the UK's long-term environmental monitoring
programme. It is a multi-agency programme, designed to
collect, store, analyse and interpret long-term data
based on a set of key physical, chemical and biological
variables which drive and respond to environmental change
at a range of terrestrial and freshwater sites across
the UK.
United
States National Committee for Soil Science (USNCSS)
The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) is a
member of the International Council for Science (ICSU).
The USNCSS represents the interests of the U.S. soil
science community in IUSS, and the National Academy of
Sciences is the U.S. adhering body to the IUSS. The U.S.
National Committee is staffed within the Division for
International Organizations and Academy Cooperation,
a division of the National Research Council's Office
of International Affairs.
U.S./U.K.
Soil Biodiversity Project
Current knowledge of the relationship between soil biodiversity
and ecosystem functioning is primarily restricted to
soil biotic functional groups, and this project aims
to examine the relationship at the much finer taxonomic
resolution of species. This means bringing together soil
ecologists, ecosystem scientists, modellers and sytematists
to work towards a common goal.
World
Congress of Soil Science
