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Resources

Services used by the NBII LIFE
Other galleries with free, credible biological media!
Other important biological media galleries
Cool tools
Identification guides
Cool maps and satellite imagery
Other resources

Services used by the NBII LIFE

Integrated Taxonomic Information System - Here you will find authoritative information on the scientific names of 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.)

Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Digital Library
- A digital image library that focuses on animals, plants, minerals, and biotic communities in the Sonoran Desert Region.
http://www.desertmuseumdigitallibrary.org

Bugwood Network
- images and other information sources supporting forestry, pest management, natural resources and agriculture.
http://www.bugwood.org

DCNature.com
- a small site, but with great photos of Washington, DC wildlife -- all under Creative Commons licenses.
http://www.dcnature.com

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/

The Internet Bird Collection
- A large, high-quality video collection of birds throughout the world.
http://ibc.lynxeds.com

The Linnean Collections
- A digitalized gallery of the world's oldest active biological society, The Linnean Society of London. The gallery contains photographs of plants, fish, shells, and insect collections from the famous 17th Century scientist, Carl Linnaeus.
http://www.linnean-online.org/

The Marine Geoscience Data System's Media Bank - a rare look at deep seafloor topography, research, and the organisms that inhabit the ocean floor. http://media.marine-geo.org/

Marine Photobank - Register for free to view this marine image gallery.
http://www.marinephotobank.org/photocenter.php

Morphbank
- Taxonomic information and identifying characteristics for biological specimens via high resolution images and descriptions.
http://www.morphbank.net/

NAL: Animal Science Library
- Explore agricultural animals through images, audio, and video.
http://anscigallery.nal.usda.gov/index.php

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

NOAA Photo Library
- A large image gallery containing images of environments, climates, and even animals.
http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/

North American Benthological Society
- An digital image gallery with photographs and images of invertebrates and algae. http://www.benthos.org/Education-and-Outreach/Media-Galleries.aspx

Pacific Biodiversity Information Forum
- A collection of free, high-quality images of the Pacific Basin.
http://www.pbif.org/images/default.html

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Digital Library System
- an online library providing access to US FWS images.
http://images.fws.gov

The US Sagemap Photo Viewer
- USGS scientists mapping the vegetation of the Great Basin and Columbia Plateau have placed hundreds of photographs of habitats in a map viewer. 
http://jester.wr.usgs.gov/photoweb/viewer.htm

The Photo Galleries of the USGS Florida Integrated Science Center is just one of many online photo galleries created by US Geological Survey Science Centers. 
http://cars.er.usgs.gov/Center_Publications/Image_Archive/image_archive.html

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/

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 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

University of Tennessee Herbarium
- Explore high quality color images of over 600,000 specimens of vascular plants.
http://tenn.bio.utk.edu

VIREO
, a large, worldwide collection of bird images, part of The Academy of Natural Sciences.
http://vireo.acnatsci.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

BugGuide
- identification, images, & information for insects, spiders & their kin for the United States and Canada.
http://bugguide.net

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

GeckoWeb
- This is an online field guide to help with the identification 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 identification of plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of and around the United States.
http://www.plants.usda.gov/

What's that Bug?
- Will attempt to identify your mystery bug based on the description and/or photo you provide.
http://whatsthatbug.com

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Cool maps and satellite imagery

The GAP Analysis Program constructs maps of species distributions, preferred habitat type, and conservation, and looking for the gaps in protection.
http://gapanalysis.nbii.gov

View the recent compilation extremely high resolution images of Antartica by the U.S. Geological Survey.
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
is 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

The Children's Butterfly Site
is 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://bsi.montana.edu/web/kidsbutterfly/

The USGS Repeat Photography Project documents changes in the climate through a series of time lapsed images at Glacier National Park.
http://www.nrmsc.usgs.gov/repeatphoto


Disclaimers

Individual contributors set their level of usage and permissions, so look for the "Rights" statement accompanying each image. For information on how to credit contributors, see under Media Usage.

Model Release - unless noted specifically with an image under the "More Credit Info" tab or in the Description, no person featured in a photograph in the NBII LIFE has signed a model release statement or has in any other way agreed to have their photograph used for publicity campaigns or for commercial uses.
NBII Disclaimer, Attribution & Privacy Statement