Ecology Guide

This research guide will help you find books, articles, websites, and identification tools related to ecology.

Ecology of the Mojave Desert. Image courtesy of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

When searching for books or other resources in the LBCC Library Catalog, be sure to take a look at the Topic Subjects on the left side.  By clicking "More", you can see a list of subjects that librarians have "tagged" each book with.  Click on a subject term to search for it, use the Advanced Search to combine keywords and subject terms, or use them to come up with new search terms.

If you're looking for books specifically about Oregon or the Pacific Northwest, you can add those terms to your search as keywords or use the Geographic Subjects, also on the left side.

Sometimes it can be helpful to come into the library and look on the shelves for interesting books.  Our books are organized by Library of Congress call numbers--for example, the call number for A Sand Country Almanac is QH81 .L56 1987.

Here are a few sections of the library you can start in for books about ecology: 

•  QH (Natural History/Biology), specifically  QH540-549.5  (Ecology)
•  QK (Botany)
•  QL (Zoology)

If you have questions, a librarian would be happy to help--just ask!

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you're searching for articles. 

Put phrases in quotation marks.  Use an asterisk after the root of a word to search for multiple words at the same time--with this search I will find ecology, ecological, ecologist, etc.

By using the Advanced Search you can add different kinds of search terms.  In this example from Academic Search Premier I'm using the same keywords but am also searching for the word "ecology" in the journal or publication title.  This will help narrow my search down.  

Here is the same search in the Agriculture Collection database.

• Greenfile
  Use for research into environmental issues
• Academic Search Premier
  Provides access to full-text, peer-reviewed articles in social sciences, humanities, general science, and education.  Recommended starting point for research using magazines and journals.
• Agricola
  use for Agriculture / Botany / Biology / Soil Science / Animal Science

Searching: Looking for a specific topic?

1. Enter your topic in the search bar
2. From the results list, narrow your results on the left side of the page.  You might want to:
   • Select "Peer Reviewed"
   • Change the "Publication Date" span
   • Narrow results further by selecting any addition criteria
3. Choose an article of interest

Browsing journals: Looking for a specific theme or journal title?

1. At the top of the page click "Publications"
2. Browse the journals available through GreenFILE: o
   • Browse journals by typing "ecology" or your search terms into the "browse" bar o
     • Under the browse bar select "Alphabetical," "By Subject & Description" or "Match Any Words"
3. Click the journal's title to see if it is peer reviewed (Peer Reviewed: Yes / Peer Reviewed: No)

Browsing journal issues: Looking to see what articles a journal might have?

1. After browsing the journals and clicking on a journal title:
   • Select a specific year, volume, and issue on the right side of the page
   • The following results will be all of the articles from the selected issue

You can use these same search strategies with other EBSCO databases as well!

To search in specific Ecology journals, start here. 

You can Browse by Discipline or type "ecology" in the search box.

You can refine your results using the tools on the left.  You may want to limit to Peer Reviewed Journals, look at specific Subjects, or narrow down the Resource Type to "journal". 

Encyclopedia of Life

Online identification guides and an identification resources community.

Tree of Life

Use the search box to see pictures, descriptions, and links to other resources.

Oregon Plant Identification

• o
• Flora of Oregon
• o
• Calflora
• o
• OSU: Landscape (Woody) Plants
• o
• OSU: Examining Leaves
• o
• USDA Field Guide

Oregon Animal Identification

• o
• Oregon Wildlife Explorer

You can search for books about how to identify different organisms here.  Use "identification" as a subject, then browse through the results or narrow down your search by adding other keywords or using the Topic Subjects.

Ecological Society of America

Includes policy and news articles as well as free online journal articles.

Ecoshare

Ecoshare provides information on the environment, ecology, and natural resources. We include publications, data sets, code sets, GIS data, and plant photography to a wide audience. Our spirit is interdisciplinary and interagency. All materials presented here are in the public domain.

Encyclopedia of Life

A free online resource bringing together information about all life on Earth including text, images, video, sounds, maps, classifications and more.

Tree of Life

The Tree of Life Web Project is a collaborative effort of biologists and nature enthusiasts from around the world. The project provides information about biodiversity, the characteristics of different groups of organisms, and their evolutionary history.

USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center

Research about aquatic & semi aquatic species and habitats, avian ecology, change & disturbance, ecosystem & landscape, restoration & monitoring, and terrestrial wildlife

OSU Research Guides

Many of these guides are for specific classes, so some resources may be more helpful than others.

Many of the library databases or books listed you will need to go over to OSU to use.  If you need help with a resource you find on these guides or anywhere else, ask a librarian!