NABSLinks - Data and metadata directories

Email the NABS Link webmaster to suggest a new link or indicate a correction.

Agriculture Network Information Center (350)
Access to agriculture-related information, subject area experts, the AGRICOLA bibliographic database and other resources.
AlgaeBase (495)
AlgaeBase is an organization "committed to providing free access over the internet to information on algae." Users may search this database for algae species of interest by scientific or common name. Results are cross referenced with synonyms, and some species include photos. A nice feature of this site is that the images can be searched separately to assist those who are only interested in results that include photos. From The NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2002. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/
Canadian Diatom Database (321)
Developed by Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Diatom Database will include two components, the first one will contain approximately 5,000 diatom samples with their description, precise geographic location and associated information, and the second one will consist of 1,500 entries giving information on the environmental and ecological tolerance of individual diatom species. Diatoms are powerful indicators of environmental conditions as they respond quickly to environmental changes, and they are widely utilized in stratigraphic investigations. The data will provide accurate, abundant and readily available information essential for the proper interpretation of any modern or fossil diatom assemblage. This key source of climate indicators will provide an invaluable long term time series to determining climate variations in the Canadian Arctic.
Consortium for International Earth Science Information (334)
CIESIN...Site provides access to Regional Environmental Information Systems (REIS), including Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay, the US-Mexican border area.
ecoinformatics.org (354)
Jointly sponsored and developed by the (US) Long-Term Ecological Research Network and the (US) National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Ecoinformatics.org is an open, voluntary collaboration of developers and researchers that aims to produce software, systems, publications, and services that are beneficial to the ecological and environmental sciences. Sub-projects are created and supported by ecoinformatics.org in order to build an active community that is developing informatics solutions for the ecological and environmental sciences - these include: Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB), a national network intended to facilitate ecological and environmental research on biocomplexity; Jalama, a flexible, easy to use system for developing metadata and data entry forms for use in lab and field environments for ecology; Science Environment for Ecological Knowledge; The UVM Ecoinformatics Collaboratory; and VegBank.
Ecological modelling (360)
At the University of Kassel, this server provides easy access to available information about ecological modelling.
Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification: World Taxonomist Database (354)
The Expert Center for Taxonomic Identification (ETI) developed the World Taxonomist Database (WTD) to serve as an online directory for both taxonomists and users of taxonomic expertise. The goal of the WTD is to better facilitate communication among taxonomists, and make it easier to locate taxonomic specialists around the world. The WTD currently contains entries for 3,969 taxonomists/specialists; and allows visitors to search by Name, Institute, Country, and Specialization. The WTD also offers an advanced search option, and a Who's New list for visitors to consult. The WTD website allows taxonomists to submit and update contact information as well. [From The NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2004.]
Great Lakes Bathymetric Data (367)
Part of a joint project between the Canadian Hydrographic Service and NOAA to "rescue" Great Lakes geological and geophysical data and make them readily available. An important element of this program is the rescue of bathymetric data and the compilation of new bathymetry for the Great Lakes. This new bathymetry provides a more detailed portrayal of lakefloor topography, and reveals some lakefloor features seen for the first time.
Hydroseek (193)
Hydroseek is map based search engine for locating water quality and hydrology data from approximately 1.9 million sites in the USA. Built on top of MS LiveEarth viewer, Hydroseek provides unified access to data from US Geological Survey (NWIS), Environmental Protection Agency (STORET), Texas Commission of Water Quality, Chesapeake Information Management System and other data sources. The inclusion of an ontology engine means that a search for "nutrients" won't be limited to the string "nutrients" but will also return measurements of nutrients such as nitrate-nitrogen, orthophosphate, micronutrients etc. Works best with IE6+, tolerates Firefox, doesn't play nicely with Safari nor Opera (even when spoofing IE).
Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (USGS) ( (385)
The Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) information resource center is a repository for accurate and spatially referenced biogeographic accounts of nonindigenous aquatic species. Provided are scientific reports, online/realtime queries, spatial data sets, regional contact lists, and general information. The data is made available for use by biologists, interagency groups, and the general public. The geographical coverage is the United States.
Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team - SAST (412)
Scientific Assessment and Strategy Team Database and associated data server: An Environmental Information System for the Upper Mississippi and Lower Missouri River Basins.
State of the Land - USDA/NRCS (474)
Site provides data and analysis on land use, soil erosion and soil quality, water quality, wetlands, and other issues regarding the conservation and use of natural resources.
USGS - National Water Quality Assessment Data Warehouse (412)
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began its NAWQA (National Water Quality Assessment) program in 1991, systematically collecting chemical, biological, and physical water quality data from study units (basins) across the nation. The data warehouse currently contains and links the following data up through 9/30/2001: * Chemical concentrations in water, bed sediment, and aquatic organism tissues for about 500 chemical constituents * Site, basin, well and network characteristics with many descriptive variables * Daily stream flow information for fixed sampling sites * Ground water levels for sampled wells * 4,100 surface water sites and 6,500 wells * 46,000 nutrient samples and 31,000 pesticide samples as well as 9,600 VOC samples * 3,200 samples of bed sediment and aquatic organism tissues.