Data bases are an indispensable tool for all professionally working
scientists. Many data bases are mirrored on several servers (on
different continents). Among the data bases important for botanists
are:
BIOFINDER -
Information management in Biological Sciences - An Internet-Service for Biologists:
***to be recommended***:
http://www.biofinder.org/Important lists. Starting points for the biological sites in the internet.:
Biodiversity and Biological Collections:
Tropical data base:
Expert center for taxonomic identification (eti), Biodiversity center:
Cartography of the German vegetation. The studies are combined in the 'project data base vascular plants (central office for the plant cartographing of Germany)':
http://www.biologie.uni-regensburg.de/Botanik/Florkart/dbblhom.htm
Vascular plants: families and genera (list, entries can be done via gopher-function, specific searches are possible). Can be entered via the homepage of the Royal Botanic Garden Kew (London). Several important centres can be found on this page:
The DELTA format (Description Language for Taxonomy) is a flexible language for the coding of taxonomical descriptions for computer analyses. It was defined as the standard for data exchange by the International Taxonomic Database Working Group (TDWG). DELTA-format data can be used for the writing of normal texts, they adapt to interactive and conventional codes and are thus suited for the cladistic and phenetic classification as well as for search engines.
The SysTax-project (designed and developed by T. Stützel and J.R.Hoppe (botany), E. Boos (informatics); University of Ulm): System of botanical information, supports all studies in the field of systematic botany and can moreover be used for the conducting of botanical gardens, herbaries and other plant collections
Plant genome data and information center (contains information about plant genomes, research projects, incomplete (not unbiased) lists (for example 'Nuclear DNA content of a number of important plant species as determined by flow cytometry' etc.), ***to be recommended !***:
MSN (Microbial strain data network); Phycological Collection Catalogs:
Plant chromosomes. Can be entered via the Missouri Botanical Garden homepage: project w3 - tropicos. ***to be recommended!***
Cytokines Online Pathfinder: Encyclopaedia (Horst Ibelgaufts' Hypertext Information Universe of Cytokines Version 2.0). A prime example for an internet hypertextbook. ***to be recommended!***
Detailed description of all plant viruses and their hosts is contained in the VIDE (Plant Viruses Online) data base.***to be recommended***
Arabidopsis thaliana Database:
Maize genome Database:
Plant families: descriptions, pictures of numerous species. System following A. CRONQUIST: The evolution and classification of flowery plants, - The 'Survey of the Plant Kingdom' of Botany online follows the same scheme (Texas A & M University, Department of Biology Herbarium and Texas A & M University Bioinformatics working group).
Pictures of plants (for teaching purposes), thousands of images. Very large image files, long transmission periods, a lot of patience is necessary (University of Wisconsin, Department of Botany)
A bank of digital resources for teaching biology: project BIODIDAC at the University of Ottawa. It is /was aimed at creating a substitute for the lack of up to date French textbooks. In January 1997 comprised the project 2769 images and diagrams (mostly zoology) and each of them can be retrieved by itself (gopher-function).
A Photographic Herbarium:
Data base of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). Offers for example nucleotide and amino acid sequences - used especially much by molecular biologists:
A more efficient access to sequence data is offered by the European Bioinformatics Institute at Hinxton/Great Britain (EMBL/EBI).
Molecular biotechnology, Jena. Extensive picture material of molecular models and atom coordinates (macromolecules, small molecules and molecular complexes (The image Library of Biological Macromolecules, The RNA World and more):
Links for molecular biologists: Pedro's BioMolecular Research Tools
http://www.biophys.uni-duesseldorf.de/bionet/research_tools.html
Treebase, a database of phylogenetic knowledge (under construction), Harvard University with support of the National Science Foundation
Frontiers in Biosciences - The Virtual Library: Biology online (addresses), Research Tools and Resources, Who's Who u.a.
University of California, Museum of Paleontology - glossary on phylogeny, geology, biochemistry, cell biology, zoology, botany - with specific links to further information of the UCMP offer.
Cancer WEB The On-line Medical Dictionary - Very extensive encyclopedia that contains also botanical terms:
OneLook Dictionaries - The faster Finder - 1720365 terms in 273 dictionaries
Botanical Glossaries (Flora Australia glossary):
Extensive glossary of biological terms (PAE Glossary): A "Plants, Animals, and the Environment" glossary derived from leading WCB/McGraw-Hill textbooks in zoology, botany, environmental science and marine biology.
Offers for special topics (not only botanical ones).
The Internet Library - Teaching Botany and Related Topics
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/library/catalog.htm
MIT Biology Hypertextbook: A Novel Educational Tool Developed by the Experimental Study Group (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): mostly classic and molecular genetics (an update and enlargements would be desirable)
Lecciones Hipertextuales de Bótanica (in Spanish) - Rafael Tormo Molina, Universidad de Extremadura - An introduction to botany (mostly systematics and developmental biology) with numerous illustrations (diagrams, photos), animations, videos, glossary etc.
On line exhibits; Journey into phylogenetic systematics; the biosphere, three domains of life, eucaryota, plants, take our web lift to any taxon, express lift to major taxa and much more. Descriptions of plant families, pictures of single species...: University of California, Museum of Paleontology (Support by Sun Microsystems), *to be recommended*. Unfortunately no recent updates:
Center for teaching media. The www as a means of teaching and learning at school ***to be recommended!***:
Lectures: General Botany, part II (J. R. Hoppe, University of Ulm): The lectures are concerned with morphology, anatomy and the adaption and function of different body parts especially of cormophytes (=vascular plants); systematic outline of the most important groups; terminology, definitions and characterizations of morphological and anatomical structures.
Basic Botanical Course (morphology; Prof. G. Gottsberger; University of Ulm.). Offers up until now cyanophyta ( Prof. J. R. Hoppe); chlorophyta, new microphotos of members of all groups treated in the course ; short definitions, schemes of alternations of generations. ( Dipl. Biol. H. Grambihler)
http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/lehre/gpmorph/docs/gp_000.htm
Botanical Identification Exercises: ...an introduction to the families. by Bernhard Schmidt; with illustrations of Bernhard Schmidt and Jürgen R. Hoppe (University of Ulm)
Neurogenetics-Online (K.-F.Fischbach, University of Freiburg), ***to be recommended!***:
Neuroscience on the Internet:
Entomology. An identification key. By W. Heitland (Forstwisenschaftliche Fakultät, Lehrstuhl für Angewandte Zoologie, Universität München),is continually updated. ***to be recommended!***
http://www.forst.tu-muenchen.de/LST/ZOO/HEITLAND/DEINVERT/introduction.html
The Principles of protein structure using the internet: Introduction to Röntgen Structure Analysis , crystallography etc. Teaching program of the Birkbeck College, London (P. Murray-Rust und A. Mills), starts at an undergraduate level, ***to be recommended!***:
contains among others
"Introduction to amino acids":
http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/education/AminoAcid/overview.html
Golgi-apparatus, endoplasmatic reticulum, microfilaments - evaluation of data gained with a Laser Scan Microscope. The file has additional documents, that display the movements of Golgi apparatus along actin filaments
Skriptum Geobotanicum, published by the biology section of the University of Freiburg
GREGOR MENDEL
Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (1866)CHARLES DARWIN
Origin of species - http://www.literature.org/Works/Charles-Darwin/origin/JOHANN JACOB SCHEUCHZER: Herbarium Diluvianum
in Botany online
The Voyage of the Beagle - http://www.literature.org/Works/Charles-Darwin/voyage/
in Botany onlineThe descent of man - http://www.literature.org/Works/Charles-Darwin/descent/
in Botany online
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/d36_sche/scheuchz.htm
NAUMANN, NATURGESCHICHTE DER VÖGEL MITTELEUROPAS
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/birds/naumann.htm
John RALFS: The British Desmidieae
http://www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biologie/b_online/ralfs/title.htm
KÖHLER's Medizinalpflanzen
http://www.pflanzenbildergalerie.de/koeh-sta.htm *** in Botany online
Kurt Stübers online-Library:
http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/stueber_library.htmlERNST HAECKEL:
Briefe an die Eltern (1852 - 1856)
Briefe an Anna Sethe (1858 - 1864)
Die Radiolarien (RHIZOPODA RADIARIA) Berlin, 1862 (1862) *** in Botanik online
Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte (1868)
Indische Reisebriefe *** in Botany online (1883)
Insulinde - Malayische Reisebriefe *** in Botany online
Italienfahrt (1859 - 1860) - Briefe an die Braut *** in Botany online
Besteigung des Pik von Teneriffa (1870)
Die Welträthsel (1899)
Kunstformen der Natur (1899 - 1904) *** .in Botany online
Wanderbilder - Die Naturwunder der Tropenwelt Ceylon und Insulinde (1904) *** in Botanik online
HUGO C. JÜNGST:
Der Sturz Haeckels (1910)OTTO WILHELM THOMÉ
Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz (1885-1905) *** in Botanik onlineADALBERT GEHEEB:
Bryologica atlantica (1910) *** in Botany online
Projekt Runeberg - Nordic literature online since 1992
http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/katalog.htmlCARL AXEL MAGNUS LINDMAN
Bilder ur Nordens Flora: http://www.lysator.liu.se/runeberg/nordflor/ *** in Botany online
Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus): anatomy, flower structure, mutants, stories, list of related species, literature (1500 entries), ***to be recommended!***:
http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueber/snapdragon/snapdragon.html
Cultivated plants: "Exhibition of cultivated plants): images, distribution, harvest yields, use, culture, cultivation...:
Systematics of medical plants, microorganisms and viruses / A small lexicon on medical plants - Thomas Schöpke (Institut für Pharmazie, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald) ***to be recommended***
http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/systematik/1_ti_reg/titel1.htm
The accompanying register can be found under the following address:
http://pharm1.pharmazie.uni-greifswald.de/systematik/1_ti_reg/regist-1.htm
Seaweed - a lot of interesting information about algae, collected by Michael D. Guiry:
Peoples use of algae:
Take a trip around the world with Brassica:
Palms of the world. Depictions of different palm species. The images are regularly replaced
Phaseolus and Vigna: A collection of links and references (molecular biology, physiology, cytogenetics...etc., links to data bases (usda and others)
Titanwurz (Amorphophallus titanum)
Genetic engineering; public lectures ***to be recommended!***:
http://www.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~saedler/PR/publiclectures.html
Unsuited for persons that the famous mathematician Hilbert characterized as follows: "There are people with a horizon of the radius zero which they call their point of view."
Project Gutenberg: ...W. Busch, Max und Moritz (pictures and text), Witwe Bolte (pictures), Federvieh (pictures), Hahn, Flattern (pictures), Kikereki (music)...., J. W. von Goethe (picture, curriculum vitae, list of publications), Faust I (complete), Faust II (complete)..... and much more (though incomplete):
Peter v. Sengbusch - b-online@botanik.uni-hamburg.de