Selected Information Resources for Ecology and Evolution

Other related guides on display at Kline Science Library or through the library web pages.:
Information Source Guide to Forestry and Environmental Studies (conservation, environmental biology, ecology, and other sections)
Botany Information Resources
Taxonomy and Classification Source Guide
Natural History and Zoology Information Resources
Source Guide for General Biology

This guide presents a selection of notes and reminders of published information sources for students or researchers interested in ecology and evolutionary biology topics; it is intended as an overview. Additional data accessible through Internet sites will be explored more in the future with links added. Human resources are only minimally addressed at this time and cultural anthropology is not and will not be included. In the long-term and ongoing, revision will occur.

reference works
Alphabetical by title of source.

Dictionary of Ecology

An online searchable dictionary published in its 3rd edition in 2006, from Oxford University Press.

Encyclopedia of the Biosphere: humans in the world's ecosystems

One of the primary purposes of this 11-volume set is to present the Earth's ecosystems and biomes and then to indicate significant species within natural history. Persons are also profiled. Translated from the original Catalan language of publication.

Kline Science Library Reference QH343.4 +B5613 2000 (LC)

Ecology Basics,

This two-volume collection of essays on topics within ecology is aimed at an introductory level. Salem Press, 2004

Kline Science Library Reference QH540.4E39X 2004 (LC)

Encyclopedia of Evolution, 2002

A 2-volume work from Oxford University Press.

Kline Science Library Reference QH360.2 E53 2002 (LC)+

Encyclopedia of Evolution, 2007

by SA Rice and M Pigliucci, Facts on File, 2007

An illustrated volume with essays (for example on genes and control of human behavior and why humans die) and lists for further reading. In the appendix is a summary of Origin of Species.

Kline Science Library Reference QH360.2 R53X 2007 (LC) +Oversize

Life on Earth: an encyclopedia of biodiversity, ecology, and evolution

A more simplified approach to these topics. ABC-CLIO, 2002

Kline Science Library Reference QH541.15 B56 L54X 2002
databases, indexes, or bibliographies of references
Alphabetical by title of source.

Ainsworth & Bisby's Dictionary of the Fungi by DL Hawksworth, PM Kirk, BC Sutton, and DN Pegler.

A well-known reference work on fungi, now in its 8th edition (c1995) and first published in 1943, providing definitions or explanations for terms and generic names of interest to mycologists. Coverage is of fungi, lichens, mushrooms, slime moulds, water moulds, and yeasts. Most entries include literature references. This edition contains a key to fungal families. A tribute to Ainsworth and his 60-year career appeared in Mycologia 91(4):714-719 July-August 1999.
Kline Science Library Reference QK603 A3

BIOSIS Previews

Botany, zoology, ecology, and other life science fields of research are indexed in this resource covering several thousand journals published around the world. E-mail alerts can be arranged for new entries matching individual search criteria. Earlier years are covered by Biological Abstracts, in print, shelved in the Kline Science Library Abstracts area.

Bradley Bibliography: a guide to the literature of the woody plants of the world published before the beginning of the twentieth century by Alfred Rehder (Publications of the Arnold Arboretum, no. 3).

A 5-volume set consisting of references to literature (books, pamphlets, articles) on woody plants, from any language through 1900. Entries are arranged by volumes: 1 & 2) dendrology, 3) arboriculture, 4) forestry, with volume 5 containing an author, title, and keyword index.
Kline Science Library Z5356 T7 R4

CAB Abstracts

This agricultural database produced by CAB International (formerly the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux) is available from a library subscription directly to current Yale affiliates for the first time (April 2002) following trial access in October 2001. References to publications from around the world in a wide range of applied biology and agricultural topics can be found through searches. Topics covered include: agricultural engineering, animal breeding, apiculture, biodeterioration, crop physiology, grasslands, horticulture, irrigation, maize, nematodes, nutrition, plant breeding, plant genetics, medical entomology, seeds, forestry, and soils.

Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management Database Collection

Ecology Abstracts, Bacteriology Abstracts (Microbiology B), Toxline, and Pollution Abstracts are all included since the early 1980s within this database collection.

Medline

Official database for literature references in medical disciplines.

PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service)

References to related policy or other social science and legislative aspects of science topics can be identified here (i.e., conservation policy, endangered species, wetlands, biodiversity)

Science Citation Index

Use Science Citation Index, along with Social Sciences and Arts and Humanities Citation Index, (or Web of Science) to identify articles across all fields of science from well-known journals and to determine which publications or authors have cited themselves or others.

Wildlife and Ecology Studies Worldwide

Since 1935, the world's literature on mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, and amphibians.

Zoological Record

The database of record for citations to the world's journal literature in zoology and natural history. Evolution and its adaptations, factors, rates, and trends have been routinely indexed in this renown source. Online coverage begins with 1864. Updated monthly.

Note: For book-level treatment of references on a particular topic and up to time-of-publication, it may also prove fruitful to search in keyword mode the online catalog, Orbis, turning up such works as:

A Bibliography of African Ecology: a geographically and topically classified list of books and articles, by Dilwyn J. Rogers, Greenwood Press, c1979.
Kline Science Library and Sterling Memorial Library stacks Z3507 A375 II.6 (LC)
books
Presented here are notes on selected exceptional titles. Various reference sources and library data were consulted and conversations taken into account over the years. Additions and changes will be made over time. This listing is arranged alphabetically by book title. The place of record for books held in the Yale libraries remains the combination of Orbis, the online catalog, and remaining card catalogs.

Note- Books may have supplemental and/or corrective information online only. For Primer of Ecological Statistics its supplemental page is at http://harvardforest.fas.harvard.edu/personnel/web/aellison/publications/primer/primer.html .

Animal Ecology by Charles S. Elton, c1927.

Considered one of the first textbooks on this subject. For a time, Elton was an assistant to Julian Huxley (grandson of Thomas Huxley), studying animal life while on an Oxford University expedition in 1921. An edition with new introductory material has recently been published (c2001).
Animal Species and Evolution.

This 1963 book, written by biologist and evolutionist Ernst Mayr, has been cited, according to ISI's citation index databases in well over 3400 different publications since publication. The author's essay, commenting on his work having been designated a citation classic by ISI, appears in Contemporary Classics in Plant, Animal, and Environmental Sciences, ISI Press, c1986. His 2001 What Evolution is is said to be derived from a number of his earlier works and geared toward a more general audience (see Science Jan. 4, 2002).

Concepts of Ecology by Edward John Kormondy, c1969.

An often-read book written by a biology educator, now retired, whose books began to appear in the 1960s and who later became a university chancellor.
Ecology by Robert E. Ricklefs, c1973.

A well-used textbook. 3rd edition was published in 1990. Treats ecosystems, evolutionary ecology and social behavior, population biology, and habitats.

Evolution and Phylogeny of Flowering Plants - dicotyledons: facts and theory by J. Hutchinson, c1969 (Academic Press).

Clearer writing than most. Meant as a companion volume to Families of Flowering Plants, c1959).
Kline Science Library QK97 H78 1969

Families of Flowering Plants- I. Dicotyledons: arranged according to a new system based on their probable phylogeny by J. Hutchinson, c1926.

Includes a fold-out diagram proposing the evolution of the dicotyledons and in the early pages, a discussion of systems of classification (Benthan and Hooker's Genera Plantarum and Engler and Prantl.

Five Kingdoms: an illustrated guide to the phyla of life on earth by Lynn Margulis, c1982.

An emerging classic on classification, now in its 3rd edition (c1998).

Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States by Asa Gray, c1848.

Five editions of this reference work on descriptions, occurrence, and notes on names for flowering plants, vascular cryptogams, mosses, and liverworts in the northeastern U.S. were published during Gray's life. The 8th edition, Gray's Manual of Botany, appeared in 1950. Useful for descriptions, occurrences, some drawings, or some notes on names.

Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin, c1859.

An influential and controversial science book, written by a legendary naturalist/evolutionist/geologist who was mostly unemployed for his entire life. Many editions and a concordance to this work have been published. A new biography of the scientist who discovered some of these ideas independently of Darwin has just been published: Alfred Russel Wallace (Princeton University Press, 2001) and another new and interesting book is the concise Darwin: a very short introduction by Jonathan Howard (Oxford University Press, 2001).
Origins of Life: from the birth of life to the origin of language.

Written by John Maynard Smith and Eors Szathmary, c1999.

Plant Anatomy by Katherine Esau, c1953.

This classic text is said to have had a worldwide impact on the field. A 2nd edition was published in 1965. Russian-born Esau came to the U.S. by way of Germany and subsequently worked, was educated, and taught as a professor in the U.S.

Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms by Sybil P. Parker

A classic reference work down to the family level of living organisms.

Systema Naturae (1735) by Carolus Linnaeus

Linnaeus' key work, Systema Naturae is considered by some to be the bible of natural history, covering animals, plants, and minerals. Its 10th edition no longer treated minerals. Copies are available in the Yale libraries.

Vascular Plant Systematics by Albert E. Radford, William C. Dickison, Jimmy R. Massey, and C. Ritchie Bell, c1974 (Harper & Row).

An all-around interesting text. Substantial glossary and annotated references.

Kline Science Library QK95 +V37 1974

Walker's Mammals of the World by Ernest P. Walker, c1975.

A reference classic featuring accounts and a photo of most living genera of mammals. From common to rare, a comprehensive source. The 6th edition appeared in 1999. Most accounts feature a black-and-white species photo. A world distribution table by genus is also provided.
Selected Current Journals
The following titles were derived from several information sources: use data at Kline Science Library, Magazines for Libraries, Journal Citation Reports (microfiche and subscribed-to database), and conversations. * indicates online access to the articles for current Yale affiliates for at least some years of publication.

Advances in Ecological Research [print QH540 A3; also at the FES Library]

American Naturalist * [print QH1 AA53]

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics * [print QH540 A55; also at the FES Library]

Ecological Monographs * [print QH540 E26; also at the FES library]

Ecology * [print QH540 E28]

Ecology Letters *

Evolution: international journal of organic evolution * [print QH301 E86]

Evolutionary Ecology * [print QH540 E86]

Global Change Biology *

Journal of Animal Ecology * [print QL750 J66]

Marine Ecology Progress Series [print QH541.5 S3 M372+]

Plant Systematics and Evolution [print QK1 O36]

Systematic Zoology [print QL1 S95]

Taxon: international journal of plant taxonomy, phylogeny, and evolution [print QK95 T38]
Internet Sites of Note
See this section for information on selected infuential organizations for this field. Other data sites will be added in the future.

Societies, Organizations, and Interesting Data
- organizations -

Ecological Society of America

Begun in 1915, this large organization can boast of membership totaling over 7,000. Bestows several awards (see section below). Publishes scholarly titles.

North American Benthological Society

In existence since 1953. Members are researchers in aquatic ecology. Publishes a number of titles.

Botanical Society of America

This large society of botanists and plant scientists was founded in 1906. There are several committees and sections. Publishes the American Journal of Botany and a couple of other titles. Meets in August, with the American Institute of Biological Sciences.
American Society of Naturalists

Established in 1883. Organic evolution is a focus of the work of its membership.

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (formerly: American Society of Zoologists)

American Morphological Society is part of this Society. Publishes American Zoologist, holds symposiums. Members are professionals in animal biology. Grants a student award.

American Institute of Biological Sciences

The AIBS was founded in 1947 and is a consortium of biological associations, labs, and museums with members interested in the life sciences: research, education, and applications. Publishes BioScience and is one of the founding organizations of the BioOne electronic journals.

Society of Systematic Biologists

The Society was founded in 1948 and was formerly named the Society of Systematic Zoology. Promotes the study of classification or taxonomy or systematics of animals.

American Society for Microbiology (formerly: Society of American Bacteriologists)

An organization begun in 1899 whose members now number 42,000. Publish Abstracts of Annual Meeting and a handful of scholarly journals, including: Journal of Bacteriology, Journal of Virology, Microbiological Reviews, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Journal of Systematic Bacteriology.

Linnean Society of London

This multinational society was founded in 1788 and promotes study in biology with a focus on evolution, ecology, and systematics. Publishes several titles.

British Mycological Society

Scientists, microbiologists, and mycologists are members of this society organized to promote the study of fungi. Founded in 1896, there are several committees within this society and a few publications are issued.
International Association for Plant Taxonomy

A site to access the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature and Names in Current Use. A large, multinational group coordinating work related to plant taxonomy. Publishes Regnum Vegetabile and Taxon. Founded in 1950.
Herpetologists' League

An organization for those interested in studying amphibians and reptiles. Established in 1936 and publishes Communications and Herpetologica as well as monographs.

Society for Marine Mammalogy

A non-profit society whose members are professionals in natural science or in the management, husbandry, conservation, or training of marine mammals. Established in 1981, the Society publishes Marine Mammal Science.

International Society of Chemical Ecology

A Society seeking to encourage exchange about chemical ecology from members in differing fields. Founded in 1983, the Society bestows awards and publishes Journal of Chemical Ecology

Society for Conservation Biology

Members are professional scientists and conservationists interested in conservation of biological diversity. Gives an award and publishes Conservation Biology, popular as soon as the subscription was added.

- data -

Biodiversity

Site provided by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (Center for Biological Informatics of the United States Geological Survey). Provides links to a wide array and range of sites.

Internet Resource Guide for Zoology, from BIOSIS.

Includes links to (generally) brief information in the areas of biodiversity, general zoology, and systematics (among others).
TreeBASE - a database of phylogenetic knowledge

A site and recording system from the Harvard University Herbaria, Leiden University (in the Netherlands), and University of California, Davis. Data is from published research papers or papers in press. Hosted by University at Buffalo.

Flora of China

Some volumes of the Flora of China series are now available online. Print edition in English is available at Kline Science Library and corresponding volumes in Chinese have been transferred from Sterling Memorial Library to KSL and are awaiting cataloging and processing. All editions are not equivalent and the in-English illustration volumes have only recently started to appear.
Prizes and Awards
All categories mentioned below are not necessarily offered every year.

Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement

Ecological Society of America's

Murray F. Buell Award, 1973-

E. Lucy Braun Award, 1988 to present. For best student poster presentation at the Society's Annual Meeting ( for list of recipients and topics).

Distinguished Service Citation, 1975-

Eminent Ecologist, 1973-

MacArthur Award, 1983-

George Mercer Award, 1948-

Botanical Society of America

Ecological Section Award. For best student paper in ecology.

George R. Cooley Award. For best paper in plant systematics.

New York Botanical Garden Award, 1986-

Prix Leo Parizeau

Awarded to Canadian citizens for significant achievement in the natural sciences.

Society of Systematic Zoology

Ernst Mayr Student Award

American Institute of Biological Sciences

Education Award

Society for Marine Mammalogy

Emily B. Shane Award

Frederic Fairfield Memorial Fund Award

Robin Best Memorial Award

American Institute of Biological Sciences

Congressional Science Fellowship

National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal. For work in zoology or paleontology.

Gilbert Morgan Smith Medal. To recognize published research on algae.

Herpetologists' League

Recognition for a student paper.

International Society of Chemical Ecology

ISCE Silver Medal awarded annually for recognition/merit

Silverstein-Simeone Award Lecture given annually

Society for Conservation Biology

Distinguished Contributions to Conservation Biology Award given annually.

Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (now includes American Morphological Society, formerly: American Society of Zoologists)

Best Student Paper Program, awarded annually.
Grants Resources

Selected Grants Resources in Yale libraries
A brief bibliography of resources on granting organizations or application tips. Some Yale contacts.

Created: Lori Bronars, Life Sciences Librarian & Reference Services Coordinator, Biology Selector
Kline Science Library, Yale University, September 5, 2001.
Revised most recently on March 5, 2007.