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In the last two years I have had reason for lots of reflection on the state of biogeography, both within and outside of geography . I guess beyond being the President of our esteemed group, three factors have motivated this contemplation. First, I have been finishing an introductory textbook on biogeography. The book is pitched for undergrads at a level between Cox and Moore and Brown and Lomolino. In that effort, I have had the chance to read much of your work (thanks for the reprints!) and consider our place in a broader context. Second, I was honored to write a Millennium Editorial for Journal of Biogeography.. Putting my editorial aside, there are lots of interesting pieces in the Millennium Editorial series and I urge you to have a look at them if you have not done so already. My editorial was on preparing biogeographers for the third millennium. In it I considered the general skills we need to provide our students in order for them to meet the challenges of the future. Third, I was invited to participate in a very small meeting of biogeographers from biology, geology, museums, government and geography (Robert Whittaker of Oxford and I had the honors or representing geography). The meeting was organized by Jim Brown, Mark Lomolino and others. The purpose was to look at the future of biogeography and plan for an International Society of Biogeographers. Preparation for the meeting really caused me to consider the discipline at large and what place we, biogeographers in the BSG, should strive for. I present to you a few of my thoughts from all of this. In particular I consider an important direction for research opportunities and how we might grow the BSG.
The opportunities for biogeographers within geography departments have probably never been better. However, seizing them may take a little work. Spatially explicit analysis of plant and animal distributions, both static and dynamic, has never been more important or more practical. We may think that analysis of mapped distributions is ‘old school’ biogeography, but it is coming back with a vengeance. In planning for conservation in fragmented and fragmenting environments the natural spatial distributions of species can provide invaluable clues to their resource requirements, population dynamics and metapopulation dynamics. Simply think about the work that Brown and colleagues have continued to do with mammal distributions on mountains - looking now at the impact of global climate change on species richness. Consider also the range collapse maps that Lomolino has produced. How about all the questions regarding the behavior of invasive species that are being addressed using more spatially explicit approaches. Analysis of the distributions of a wide variety of organisms is becoming easier as biological data bases become more complete and accessible. A wonderful example is the FAUNMAP data base that provides the location of vertebrate paleontological finds. It has already been used by biologists to look at the community mixing of temperate and arctic small mammal species that occurred during the Pleistocene. In addition, the tools of remote sensing, GIS, automated cartography and visualization provide us the means to gather, organize, analyze and present our data and findings with incredible efficiency. Biologists have discovered all of these tools and are applying them with great success. In the spatial analysis of biologic phenomena we geographers should strive to be at the lead. We should particularly be leading in integrating spatial data on the biota with data on the physical environment. The California GAP project, directed by Frank Davis when he was in the Department of Geography at Santa Barbara, is an example of how geographers can indeed lead in such efforts. The integration of the physical and biological in a spatial context is what geographers claim to do – so lets do it!
As I mentioned above, seizing some of the new opportunities may take a bit of work. Many of us biogeographers in mid- to senior level faculty positions were trained in the traditions of population ecology, stand-scale disturbance ecology, human land-use history, and paleoecology. Analysis of lines on maps may have seemed interesting, but in a quaint 19th century way. We were often most interested in understanding process at the small scale - and then, perhaps inferring larger spatial pattern. There is much excellent work still to be done in these areas, but we might also strive to move our own research into some of the new directions I have mentioned in the previous paragraph. At the least, we should try to see our students are prepared to use tools such as remote sensing, GIS, and spatial statistics.
Biogeography is on a growth trend in the wider world. The formation of the International Association of Biogeographers is a manifestation of this. I personally welcome this growth and the new organization as it will allow geographers to meet and learn with people from diverse backgrounds. The time I spent at the meeting for the formation of this new organization was one of the most stimulating I have experienced in some time. What of the BSG in this brave new world? it seems to me that the BSG and AAG offer an excellent venue for us to continue to build our awareness and expertise in spatial analysis of biota and environment. The Annual Meeting brings together world experts in climatology, pedology, geomorphology, remote sensing, GIS, and spatial statistics. It also brings together people interested in the conservation and policy aspects of our work. The International Biogeography Society will be more focused on biogeographers and not have this breadth. To get full value from the BSG and AAG we need to work on producing more sessions that bring together our members with others in the AAG. I could imagine sessions on new developments in spatial statistics and applications in biogeography, or cartography and the presentation of biogeographical data, there are huge areas we could also explore in remote sensing, GIS, climatology etc. – you get the picture.
Aside from providing information on research advances, the BSG has an important function in building a true community of biogeographers within geography. Such a community offers advice, support, collaborative opportunities, social interaction and strength within and outside the discipline. In order for the BSG reach its potential we also need to get all biogeographers in geography departments within North America to get involved with the BSG. I think that our awards and student grants are excellent inducements. Interesting special sessions with personal invitations to selected geographers and others outside academic geography will also help. A bit of cajoling has never hurt! Let non-participating biogeographers know how good the last AAG was, how your student or someone else won an award or got research money for a project. Lets make the BSG listserver as useful as possible. Please post questions, job adverts, calls for proposals and grad opportunities on it. Let colleagues know they are missing out if they are not on the listserver.
We should also try to spend a bit more time together at the AAG as a community. The Business Meeting is a must, but it is short and packed with the affairs of the BSG. The AAG is so large we often miss seeing each other during the other sessions. By not interacting more we are missing out on much. Therefore, I call for a tradition of retiring for refreshments, informal discussions and good times after the business meeting (SO RESERVE FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE NEW YORK AAG!!!). We did this after the last Business Meeting and it was great.
In conclusion, I suppose my most important recommendations for growth of the BSG can be summarized as follows, from the now ancient, but immortal worlds of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, "Be excellent to each other and party on dudes!" – see ya in the New York!
Glen MacDonald
BSG President and Board Members
That other election is finally over, but the New York AAG Meeting will mark the completion of Glen MacDonald's term as BSG president. Katrina Moser and Keith Hadley will also complete their terms as members of the BSG Board. And unlike that other election, every vote in the BSG really will be counted.
To vote, send an email to Jim Dyer (dyer@oak.cats.ohiou.edu) with your choices. Please vote for one candidate for BSG President, and two candidates for the BSG board.
BSG President: Kam-biu Liu and Kenneth R. Young
Kam-biu Liu. B.S.Sc. (The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1974); M.Sc. (University of Toronto, 1978); Ph.D. (University of Toronto, 1982). Liu is the James J. Parsons Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University. He has taught at LSU since 1984, from Assistant Professor (1984-89), Associate professor (1989-95), to Professor (1995-97) and Parson Professor (1997-present). Research: Liu’s primary research interests are in Quaternary paleoecology, vegetation and climate change, and paleotempestology. His refereed research papers have appeared in journals like Nature, Science, Ecological Monographs, Journal of Biogeography, Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology, Quaternary Research, Quaternary Science Reviews, Annals of AAG, Professional Geographer, Geographical Analysis, Geology, American Antiquity, Climatic Change, Journal of Climate, and Journal of AIDS. Recent and current research projects include: paleo-records of monsoon climate changes in the Tibetan Plateau; pollen studies of Andean and Tibetan ice cores; tropical biodiversity and Quaternary history of Amazon rain forest; human impacts and vegetational history of the temperate and subtropical forests of China; Holocene vegetation dynamics of the boreal forest in Canada; millennial variability of hurricane activities in the U.S. Gulf coast and Atlantic coast; and historical climatology of typhoon landfalls in China. He has been the PI of numerous research grants from NSF, NOAA, National Geographic Society, and the Bermuda Biological Station for Research. Teaching: At LSU, Liu teaches courses in Biogeography, Quaternary Paleoecology, Tropical and Subtropical Biogeography, Physical Geography, and graduate seminars on topics like Cultural Palynology, and Paleoecological Perspectives in Global Environmental Change. Service: Liu has attended every AAG annual meeting since 1979. He served as a member of the BSG Board of Directors (1991-93) and helped to launch the BSG student research grant program. He was a judge in BSG student paper competitions at several AAG meetings. He was a member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Union for Quaternary Research (USNC/INQUA) (1988-1996), and was the editor of Geoscience and Man (1988-93).
Kenneth R. Young received his doctoral degree from the Department of Geography of the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1990. His MS is in botany from the University of Florida (1984) and his BS is in ecology from the University of Illinois (1978). His research and teaching interests are in biogeography, landscape ecology, and environmental conservation. Almost all of his publications are based on extended fieldwork in South America, particularly in the forests, grasslands, deserts, and wetlands of Peru. Recently, he coedited with Karl Zimmerer the book Nature’s Geography: New Lessons for Conservation in Developing Countries. His 50 or so articles and book chapters have appeared in a variety of outlets, including Ambio, Biodiversity and Conservation, Biotropica, Conservation Biology, Environmental Conservation, and Landscape and Urban Planning. He was the lead author (with Mark Blumler, Lori Daniels, Tom Veblen, and Suzy Ziegler) of a chapter providing an overview of the status and research directions of biogeography for the forthcoming book edited by Gaile & Willmot, Geography in America at the Dawn of the 21st Century. As of fall 2000, he is an associate professor in the Department of Geography of the University of Texas at Austin.
BSG Board
Mark A. Blumler (Department of Geography, SUNY-Binghamton) received his B.S., M.A., and Ph. D. degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include Mediterranean environments, succession theory, seed weight and environment, agricultural origins, genetics of plant domestication, invading species, and grassland conservation. His teaching interests are broader, including in addition to Biogeography, conservation, several areas of physical geography, environmental history, ethnicity, and music geography. Currently, he is involved in the attempt to create a Biogeography Group within the IGU. He has published papers in Economic Botany and CurrentAnthropology.
David Cairns has a B.A. in Genetics with a minor in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley (1989), a M.S. in Geography from the University of Florida (1991), and a Ph.D. in Geography (1995) from the University of Iowa. He taught for three years at the University of South Carolina and is in his third year of teaching at Texas A&M University. His research interests are primarily in the areas of ecotone dynamics and landscape ecology. He has employed simulation modeling and GIS to investigate questions of ecotone stability and form at the alpine treeline ecotone in Glacier National Park, Montana and at the deciduous-coniferous ecotone in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. He teaches courses in Earth System Science, Biogeography and Vegetation Response to Climate Change. He has served the BSG as the chair of the student research proposal competition and has been a reviewer in the student paper competition. He has published papers in Physical Geography, Geographical and Environmental Modelling, the Journal of Vegetation Science, Plant Ecology and Ecoscience.
Mark Cowell. Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Missouri. (PhD University of Georgia 1992; MS Penn State; BS Michigan State). A biogeographer with primary interests in analyzing the manner in which humans have altered disturbance regimes, and the resulting consequences for deciduous forests throughout eastern North America. His research has examined these issues in a variety of settings, including secondary piedmont forests, riparian sites in Pennsylvania, and old-growth remnants in Indiana; it has been published in outlets such as the Annals of the AAG, Physical Geography, American Midland Naturalist, and Environmental Ethics. His teaching focuses on biogeography, field methods, GIS applications, and human relations with the environment. Current service to the discipline includes serving on the editorial board for the Annals.
Deanna H. McCay is an Assistant Professor in the Geography Department at Colgate University. Her research interests include invasive species, landscape ecology and human impacts on vegetation. She regularly teaches introduction to physical geography, biogeography and geographic information systems. Deanna received a PhD in geography in 1998 from the University of Georgia. She has recently published in Ecosystems and Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society and has articles forthcoming in Landscape Ecology and the American Neptune.
Lesley Rigg, Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University (Ph.D. 1999 University of Melbourne, M.A. 1994 University of Colorado, B.A. 1992 York University). Research: The dynamics of the boreal forest/deciduous forest ecotone along the eastern shore of Lake Superior (funded by National Geographic). Araucarian forest/maquis dynamics in New Caledonia. The role of fog in the development of rainforest in New Caledonia. Regeneration and management of oak woodlands in Northern Illinois. Previous projects include: old field succession in upstate NY, and species diversity in riparian rainforest patches in Belize. Publications in the Journal of Vegetation Science, Australian Journal of Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology and upcoming in South African Journal of Science. Teaching interests include: Physical Geography at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, geography of world plant communities, field methods in Physical Geography, Biogeography, forest ecology and management, plant/soil relationships and quantitative methods for Geographers.
Peter Yaukey. After completing his undergraduate work in Biology at the University of Virginia, Peter switched to Geography and obtained his M.A. at the University of Colorado working with Tom Veblen, and then his Ph.D. at the University of Georgia working with Kathy Parker. Peter’s greatest interest has always been in zoogeography, especially birds, and he has for years organized or chairing zoogeography paper sessions at the AAG annual meeting. He is currently Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of New Orleans. He has recently published papers in Professional Geographer, Journal of Biogeography, Physical Geography, and Wilson Bulletin.
Steve Yool, an applied biogeographer and remote sensing scientist, earned the Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1985). Dr. Yool joined The University of Arizona Department of Geography and Regional Development in 1992 after a decade of research in government laboratories, and has pursued an active teaching and research agenda in Biogeography. He developed and teaches a lower division general education course Our Diverse Biosphere, and has 4 current Ph.D. students conducting research in ecosystem sustainability, fire disturbance and pattern analysis. Recent and forthcoming papers appear in GeoCarto International, Aerobiologia, Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing, Computers and Geosciences, Ecological Applications.
Susy Ziegler earned a B.A. in Geography at Dartmouth College in 1990. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1993 and 1999, respectively. Ziegler is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Minnesota. She teaches Biogeography of the Global Garden, Plant and Animal Geography, and graduate seminars in physical geography. Her research focuses on the structure, dynamics, and disturbance regimes of forests in the Upper Midwest and the northeastern United States. Ziegler has published in American Midland Naturalist and Global Ecology and Biogeography.
Cowles and Parsons Awards
Please consider submitting nominations for the Henry Cowles Award for Excellence in Publication and the James J. Parsons Distinguished Career Award. A brief description of the awards is below with information on how to submit nominations.
In 1998, the Biogeography Specialty Group began awarding two new awards, the Henry Cowles Award for Excellence in Publication and the James J. Parsons Distinguished Career Award. The Cowles Award is to be given annually in recognition of the best biogeographical publication of the year. Nominations for this award can be either books or papers, and the award-winner will be selected by the Executive Board of the BSG.
Past Cowles awards include: Karl Zimmerer 1998 (University of Wisconsin) for his book "Changing Fortunes: Biodiversity and Peasant Livelihood in the Peruvian Andes;" Glen MacDonald 1999 (UCLA), and; Veblen, T.T, T. Kitzberger, R. Villalba, and J. Donnegan. 1999. Fire history in northern Patagonia: The roles of humans and climatic variation.
Ecological Monographs 69:47-67.
The Parsons Award, named in honor of long-time Univ. of California-Berkeley professor James J. Parsons, was created to recognize outstanding lifetime achievements in the field of biogeography. Criteria used to assess a candidate's merit for this award might include a distinguished research career, remarkable dedication to the development of undergraduate and graduate students in biogeography, or outstanding service to the discipline. Awardees include Clarissa Kimber - Texas A&M University (1998) and Tom Vale - University of Wisconsin - Madison (2000).
To submit your nomination for the Cowles Award, please send me the name of the person and the name of their paper/book. To nominate a person for the Parsons Award, I would request that you send a short letter of nomination stating some of the candidate's most significant achievements. Information can be submitted via snail mail, e-mail or fax to:
Joan M. Welch
Department of Geography and Planning
West Chester University
West Chester, PA 19383
email: jwelch@wcupa.edu
telephone: 610-436-2940
fax: 610-436-2889
Biogeography Student Paper Competition 2000 Winner: Mike Pisaric.
By Katrina Moser.
Nine students from five institutions participated in the BSG Student Paper Competition in Pittsburgh. All of the presentations were first rate, and I would like to thank all the participants for contributing. I would also like to sincerely thank the judges, Kathy Hansen, Kam-biu Lui, Scott Mensing, Tom Vale, Kathy Parker, Chris Larsen and Mimi Fearn, for their help and input. The winner of the competition was Mike Pisaric (Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada) for his paper entitled, "Holocene treeline dynamics in northeastern British Columbia and southeastern Yukon Territory, Canada".
Mike Pisaric completed his B.Sc. at Brock University in 1994; his M.Sc. at McMaster University (supervisor: Glen MacDonald) in 1996, and is now completing his Ph.D. at Queen's University (supervisors: Julian Szeicz (deceased) and Robert Gilbert). To date, Mike's research has focussed on treeline dynamics. His M.Sc. research determined late-Quaternary vegetation history of Siberian treeline, whereas his Ph.D is a study of treeline dynamics in the northern Rocky mountains, British Columbia and the Yukon.
The paper Mike presented at the AAG 2000 demonstrated, using pollen and stomate analyses, that treeline in the northern Rocky mountains has existed at elevations higher than its present position. Mike has already published some of his research, including publications in Quaternary Science Reviews and Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. As well, Mike has received several awards for his research, including an Ontario Graduate Scholarship, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) post graduate scholarship and several others. He was also winner of the Biogeography Specialty Group Student Grant Competition in 2000. After completing his Ph.D. Mike will be moving to Montana where he will begin a Post Doctorate Fellowship with Lisa Graumlich at the Mountain Research Center and the Department of Land Resources, Montana State University. In Montana, Mike will be reconstructing precipitation patterns in the Greater Yellowstone Region using long tree-ring records.
Editor's note: I've been informed that Mike has successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations Mike!
Biogeographers in New York
Finally! A BSG-sponsored field trip! Kimberly Medley and Joan Welch have put together a field trip for us: Urban Forest Ecology And Restoration Management At Inwood Hill Park. Here’s the scoop:
Other things to do in New York.
New York is actually full of biogeographic interest, if you’re interested in making your own field trips. Some highlights are the New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org), which includes the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, a goregeous Victorian glasshouse that houses a permanent exhibition called "A World of Plants" where you can flesh out your slide collection quite nicely. There’s also the herbarium (6.5 million specimens) and library, now housed in the new International Plant Science Center. If you’d rather travel to Brooklyn, there’s the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (www.bbg.org), which also has a conservatory, herbarium, and library. Staten Island is home to a third botanic garden (as well as the Fresh Kills landfill, supposedly the 2nd largest human-made structure on Earth, after the Great Wall of China).
New York is also home to one of the world’s premier zoological parks, the Bronx Zoo. Over 6,000 animals call it home, making it the largest metropolitan zoo in the US. The Zoo is run by the Wildlife Conservation Society (www.wcs.org), which also operates three satellite Wildlife Centers (sort of "mini-zoos"), including the Central Park Wildlife Center (830 Fifth Avenue—walking distance from the conference). You can spend days here. The same is true of the New York Aquarium, also run by WCS. It’s a hoof to get out to Coney Island, but worth the trip.
If you prefer your plants and animals stuffed and posed, or fossilized, try the American Museum of Natural History (www.amnh.org). AMNH recently added the spectactular Rose Center for Earth and Space. The Rose Center includes the new Hayden Planetarium and the Hall of Planet Earth, which has the Dynamic Globe, an eight-foot diameter globe with an internal projection system that, as their brochure describes it, "beams a digital film to render a stunning view of Earth from outer space. As the twelve-minute video loop progresses, visitors…are able to watch Earth make a full rotation as its cloud cover slowly disperses, revealing a surface of dark, deep oceans and lush green continents. All the vegetation and then the water slowly disappear, uncovering the Earth's rugged topography, and resulting in a final, haunting view of the Earth without atmosphere or water."
Biogeography-Related Paper and Poster Sessions at the New York AAG Meeting.
Compiled from the AAG Meeting Preliminary Program by Mike Smith, Bucknell University Dept. of Geography.
Wednesday, February 28
8:00 am - 9:40 am
3.1.10 Long-Term Ecological Consequence of Disturbance and its Implication For Ecosystem Management, Session I (Sponsored by Biogeography and Mountain Geography Specialty Groups). Organizers: Andrea Brunelle-Daines, University of Oregon, Kurt Kipfmueller, University of Arizona. Chair: Andrea Brunelle-Daines, University of Oregon
Wed. 10:00 am - 11:40 am
3.2.10 Long-Term Ecological Consequences of Disturbance and Its Implication For Ecosystem Management Session II (Sponsored by: Biogeography and Mountain Geography Specialty Groups). Organizers: Andrea Brunelle-Daines, University of Oregon, Kurt Kipfmueller, University of Arizona. Chairs: Andrea Brunelle-Daines, University of Oregon, Kurt Kipfmueller, University of Arizona
3.3.02 Dendrochronology. Chair: John Rodgers, University of New Orleans.
3.4.37 Biogeography and Ecology. Chair: Thomas Gillespie, University of South Florida.
3.5.21 Biogeography: Pollen Analysis. Chair: Kenneth Orvis, University of Tennessee.
8:00 am - 9:40 am
4.1.03 Ecosystem Response to Climatic Variability: Past and Present I (Sponsored by: Biogeography and Climatology Specialty Groups). Organizers: Amy Hessl, University of Washington, Michael Pisaric, Queen's University. Chairs: Amy Hessl, University of Washington, Michael Pisaric, Queen's University.
4.2.03 Ecosystem Response to Climate Variability: Past and Present II (Sponsored by: Biogeography and Climatology Specialty Groups). Organizers: Amy Hessl, University of Washington, Michael Pisaric, Queen's University. Chair: Amy Hessl, University of Washington, Michael Pisaric, Queen's University.
4.3.03 Positions in Dendroclimatology and Dendroecology (1) (Sponsored by: Biogeography Specialty Group). Organizer: Mary Gagen, University of Wales Swansea, Kurt F. Kipfmueller, University of Arizona. Chair: Mary Gagen, University of Wales Swansea, Kurt F. Kipfmueller, University of Arizona
Thur. 5:00 pm - 6:40 pm
4.5.03 Panel Discussion: New Directions in Biogeography: Theory and
Methodology
(Sponsored by: Biogeography Specialty Group) Organizers: Keith Hadley, Portland
State University, Duane A. Griffin, Bucknell University. Chairs: Duane A.
Griffin, Bucknell University, Glen MacDonald, University of California Los
Angeles. Panelists: Ken Young, University of Texas Austin, George Malanson,
Southwest Texas State University, Kathy Parker, University of Georgia, Glen
MacDonald, University of California Los Angeles, Duane A. Griffin, Bucknell
University.
Friday, March 2
8:00 am - 9:40 am
5.1.09 Historical Ecology--Methods and Applications (Sponsored by Biogeography and Cultural Ecology Specialty Groups) Organizer: Steven P. Norman, Pennsylvania State University. Chair: Steven P. Norman, Pennsylvania State University
5.2.03 Biogeography and Conservation (Sponsored by Biogeography Specialty Group) Organizer: Kimberly E. Medley, Miami University. Chair: Kimberly E. Medley Miami University
5.4.27 Mountains II: Interactions of Earth, Atmosphere, and Biota (Sponsored by Mountain Geography, Biogeography, Climate, and Geomorphology Specialty Groups) Organizer: Donald A. Friend, Minnesota State University-Mankato. Chair: David Butler, Southwest Texas State University
Fri. 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm
5.6.12 Biogeography Specialty Group Business Meeting
(followed by an informal social hour!)
Saturday, March 3
8:00 am - 9:40 am
6.1.13 Biogeography: The Role of Disturbance. Chair: Ross Meentemayer, Sonoma State University.
6.1.19 Topics in Biogeography and Climatology. Chair: Recep Efe, Fatih
University.
6.1.40 GIS for Environmental Modeling I (Sponsored by: GIS, Spatial
Analysis of Modeling, Biogeography, and Water Resources Specialty Groups).
Organizer: Ling Biam, University at Buffalo. Chair: David Mark, University
of Buffalo.
Sat 10:00 am - 11:20 am
6.2.40 GIS For Environmental Modeling II (Sponsored by: GIS, Spatial Analysis and Modeling, Biogeography, and Water Resources Specialty Groups). Organizer: Ling Bian, SUNY-Buffalo. Chair: Scott J. Crosier, University of California at Santa Barbara
6.2.20 Regional Planning and the Endangered Species Act Organizer:
James E. Sullivan, University of California Riverside, Thomas A. Scott, University
of California Riverside, Andrew E.G. Jonas, University of Hull. Chair: Walter
Wehjte, University of California Riverside
6.3.23 Biogeography: Pollen and Climate. Chair: Bruce Gervais, University of California Los Angeles.
Dwight Brown (Univ. of Minnesota) has put together a web site full of information on grasslands, especially those of the midcontinent plains accessible at http://cla.umn.edu/grasslands. Among the topics he lists as keywords are: biome models, photosynthetic types, grassland region maps, climate change, opal phytoliths, and grass seedling roots.
I came across wo other internet resources specific to biogeography came last month. The first is the GIS in Biogeography list at http://biogeo_gis.listbot.com/ I couldn’t find any information about this list, other than the fact that it exists and hardly anybody uses it. The other is Biogeography.com (http://www.biogeography.com/), one of three sites maintained by an ambitious group of geography students from the University of Victoria. It’s a little uneven, unfinished, and dated, but perhaps with a little encouragement it will develop and even be around for awhile?
Another site of note is Resources For Earth Science And Geography Instruction (http://www.cmich.edu/~franc1m/homepage.htm), an extensive source of links created by Mark Francek (Mark.Francek@cmich.edu) at Central Michigan University. Write to Professor Fancek and ask to be added to his "Earth Science Site of the Week" listserv and you’ll get a "weekly e-mail featuring reviews of some of the best sites in earth science, environmental science, and geography"
Most of the rest of the links have been culled from the archives of The Internet Scout Project (http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/index.html), which I described in the last issue of The Biogeographer.
The (unintentional) theme for this issue seems to be "up north, up high, and down below."
Aquatic Ecology
http://www.nysfola.org/alinks/
Links from the New York State Federation of Lake Associations (NYSFLA).
Boreal Ecology
http://www.biology.ualberta.ca/courses.hp/bio366/
A course web site from the University of Alberta.
NORTHWOODS Wildlife Habitat Database
http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/northwoods/index.html
"information about the habitat needs of 389 species of reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals in the Upper Great Lakes Region." (tab-delimited ASCII file format)
Annotated Bibliography of Fire Literature Relative to Northern Grasslands in South-Central Canada and North-Central United States
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/2000/firebib/firebib.htm
Originally published in 1989 as a US Fish and Wildlife Service bibliography on fire literature.
Beetles of Canada and Alaska
http://res.agr.ca/brd/beetles/english/html/bhome_e.html
Current nomenclature and distribution maps of "all the beetles known to occur in Canada and Alaska."
Tundra-Cam [Java]
http://tundracam.colorado.edu/
University of Colorado's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) makes it possible to visit the Front Range at 11,600 ft. from the comfort of your desk. You can pan and zoom the camera as you please, as well adjust the picture size, quality, and brightness. Great fun; probably has some educational value as well.
The Ancient Bristlecone Pine
http://www.sonic.net/bristlecone/home.html
This is a great site. Here’s what the Scout Report had to say about it: "Written by tree enthusiast Leonard Miller with additional input from expert dendrochronologists (including Dr. Henri Grissino-Mayer), this interesting and beautifully illustrated Website gives the reader insights about the oldest tree on earth: the Ancient Bristlecone Pine. The resource provides background information on the discovery of these ancient trees, the geographic setting of the westernmost trees in the US, growth (and other) characteristics of Bristlecone Pines, dendrochronology…and a select bibliography on Bristlecone Pines, among other topics. An internal search feature (keyword) streamlines the information mining process. [LXP]"
Geomatics Canada
http://www.geocan.nrcan.gc.ca/
"…a reliable system of surveys, maps, remotely sensed data and geographically referenced information describing the Canadian landmass."
Canada National Soil DataBase
http://res.agr.ca/CANSIS/NSDB/_overview.html
Data files (ARC/INFO Export format) for soil, landscape, ecological and climatic variables for all of Canada
A Compendium of On-Line Soil Survey Information
http://www.itc.nl/~rossiter/research/rsrch_ss.html
Lists research institutions, databases, journals, and classification schemes and models dealing with soil science. Impressive international scope. While we’re at it, the USDA’s latest Soil Taxonomy is available online at http://www.statlab.iastate.edu/soils/soiltax/
Some other stuff:
The Carbon Cycle Science Program [.pdf]
http://www.carboncyclescience.gov/
The US Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) provides this to supply "critical unbiased scientific information on the fate of carbon dioxide in the environment to contribute to the ongoing public dialogue."
Atmospheric Disturbance Climatology--USFS
http://climate.usfs.msu.edu/Climatology/
"multiple series of spectacular color figures depicting geographic distributions of the major abiotic factors influencing biota in the north central and northeastern US."
Cliff Ecology Research Group
http://www.uoguelph.ca/botany/cerg/index.html
Fascinating research program from the University of Guelph. An great example of Zimmerman and Thom’s "physiographic plant geography," and they probably don't even realize it.
Mojave Desert Ecosystem Project
The Department of Defense's "first attempt to meld together a shared scientific database that can be used to affect dynamic sustainable land management decisions." Information about and/or access to Geospatial Data, Metadata, Geomorphic Landform Data, a Spatial Bibliography, etc.
Access USGS: San Francisco Bay and Delta
Ordination Methods for Ecologists
http://www.okstate.edu/artsci/botany/ordinate/
Created and maintained by Mike Palmer, at Oklahoma State University. A great resource for ordination methods, software, etc.
Palynology
http://www.geo.arizona.edu/palynology/
A nice compendium of pollen-related information and links maintained by Owen Davis of the University of Arizona Department of Geosciences.
World Data Center-A for Paleoclimatology
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/pollen.html
If you haven’t visited the WDC-A pollen site lately, take a look. Using the pollen search engine, you can now search for pollen data by site, area, or investigator. Once you’ve identified a site, you can download the data or produce a pollen diagram for the site. Unfortunately, the diagrams are drawn in a java applet window that doesn’t allow printing, so you have to perform a screen capture if you want hardcopies.
The Museum of Natural History (London) Historical Collections
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/botany/historical/index.html
A fascinating database of historically significant plant collections that make up part of the Museum's holdings. Collections include those of Sir Joseph Banks and John Clayton, among others, and include many important type specimens.
Discussion List: Migration
http://www.eelink.net/~asilwildlife/discussion.html
From the Zoological Research Institute and Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK) and the American Society of International Law/ Wildlife Interest Group.
The Global Biosphere (September 1997-August 2000)
http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/IMAGES/SEAWIFS_GALLERY.html
NASA's SeaWiFS map of global chlorophyll density derived from satellite imaging. It’s big (a 4096x2048 pixel jpg file, 1.2Mb) and spectacular.
And finally, a group of sites on threatened and endangered species and species invasions.
The Problem of Species Extinction
http://www.worldbook.com/fun/wbla/earth/html/ed03.htm
An educational resource from World Book, Inc. with text by Peter Raven, Thomas Lovejoy, Norman Myers, Stuart Pimm, and others.
2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
http://www.iucn.org/redlist/2000/index.html
Weeds Gone Wild: Alien Plant Invaders of Natural Areas
http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/
Invasivespecies.gov: The Nation's Invasive Species Information System
http://192.54.138.66/index.shtml
"a comprehensive, online information system that facilitates access to and exchange of invasive species data and resources by researchers, scientists, land and resource managers, public and private sector agencies, and concerned citizens."
Global Invasive Species Program
http://jasper.stanford.edu/GISP/north.htm
Thanks to all of you who sent comments on the last edition of the newsletter. The experiment in electronic publishing continues, so please send any suggestions and any material you'd like to see published. I'm especially curious whether or not more than a handful of people are reading this, and whether you think we should move back to a hardcopy format.
There's still a surprising lack of overlap between the Biogeography Specialty Group membership list and the BSG Listserver. At the moment, the mailing list for the newsletter is an amalgam of both lists, though I don't know how long I'll be able to maintain it as such. If you're a member of the BSG, please sign up for the BSG listserver. It will only add a couple of e-mails a month to your mailbox. Likewise, if you're on the BSG listserver, but not a member of the BSG, Please sign up! We need you!
The next issue of The Biogeographer will include the Recent Member Publications section, so please send references you'd like included.
Send your comments, suggestions, and material for inclusion for the next newsletter to
dgriffin @bucknell.edu
Duane A. Griffin
Editor, The Biogeographer
Bucknell University
Dept. of Geography
Lewisburg, PA 17837 USA
Voice 570/577-3374