Biology Subject Guide

Our knowledge of the many life-forms on Earth - of animals, plants, fungi, protists and bacteria - is scattered around the world in books, journals, databases, websites, specimen collections, and in the minds of people everywhere. Imagine what it would mean if this information could be gathered together and made available to everyone – anywhere – at a moment’s notice.

The International Plant Names Index (IPNI) is produced by a collaboration between The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, The Harvard University Herbaria, and The Australian National Herbarium, hosted by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Nature journals publish not only primary research but also reviews, critical comment, news, and analysis.

The Tree of Life Web Project (ToL) is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. On more than 10,000 World Wide Web pages, the project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history (phylogeny).

The PLANTS Database by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. and its territories.