BIOL 208 - Biodiversity - Fall 2006
Erik P. Scully, Instructor (escully@towson.edu)
Course Syllabus
Sec. 001 Sec. 002
Websites:
Tree of Life Web Project
:
This is a primary site for the course (e. g., first assignment).
The official goals of this project are ( from the website):
- To provide a uniform and linked framework in which to publish
electronically information about the evolutionary history and
characteristics of all groups of organisms.
- To present a modern scientific view of the evolutionary tree
that
unites all organisms on Earth.
- To aid learning about and appreciation of biological diversity.
- To provide (eventually) a life-wide database and searching
system
about characteristics of organisms.
- To provide a means to find taxon-specific information on the
Internet, both taxonomic and otherwise.
The Carroll
Laboratory : Sean
B. Carroll is the author of Endless
Forms Most Beautiful (2005,
W. W. Norton). This site describes his research program and
offers a list of recent publications.
NBII : The
National Biological Information Infrastructure. A governmental
clearinghouse for information related to biodiversity.
Meaning
of Biodiversity: An
essay on the meaning of Biodiversity from Stanford's Dictionary of
Philosophy.
Biodiversity
Hotspots: This
is Conservation International's site devoted to global biodiversity
"hotspots"
Center
for Biodiversity & Conservation: The American
Museum of Natural History's site dedicated to its various programs in
these areas.
Biodiversity
Perspectives : A
collection of essays and articles compiled by Action Bioscience.
Development
Programme in Biodiversity: The United Nations sponsors
a
number of efforts to promote sustainable development and protect
biodiversity.
The
Phylogeny Wing : This is part
of the University of California's online museum. It contains a
wealth of information and links to other sites.
Phylogenetic
Systematics: Also part of the University of California site, this
section offers a brief introduction to the field of Cladistics.
Microbial Life:
This site offers a wealth of resources on a range of micro-organisms,
but it is particularly strong in microbial ecology.