| Following
is a list of freeware that provides tools and on-line resources to support ecological investigations and restoration projects. To
learn more about a particular item, click on the item name. To
download a software product or visit an interactive web site,
click on "download" or "view," respectively.
But first, please read our disclaimer and
permissions page if you haven't already done so.
AQUATOX
By US Environmental Protection Agency. Predicts the fate of various pollutants in aquatic ecosystems, such as nutrients and organic toxicants, and their effects on the ecosystem, including fish, invertebrates, and aquatic plants.
download
Bioassay Quick Reference Table
By California Department of Toxic Substances Control. This guide is the prototype of a project aimed at creating an index of all the standard bioassays currently being used in the scientific community. Initially includes ASTM standards.
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BIOPAK
By Forest Resources Systems Institute. BIOPAK (Means, et al. 1994) is a menu-driven package of computer programs for personal computers that calculates the biomass, area, height, length, or volume of plant components (leaves, branches, stem, crown, and roots) using existing prediction equations. It has application in ecosystem studies for calculating biomass allocation, productivity and leaf area; in wildlife and entomology studies for calculating foliage area, and browse (e.g., foliage + small twigs), fruit and inflorescence mass; and fire management for calculating fuels of live plants by size classes.
download
CADDIS Biological Impairment Identification System
By US Environmental Protection Agency. An online tool that helps investigators in the regions, states and tribes find, access, organize, use and share information to produce causal evaluations in aquatic systems.
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Ecopath with Ecosim
By ICLARM and the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia. Helps construct and analyze mass-balance models and feeding interactions or nutrient flow in ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems are emphasized.
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Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS)
By US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. The Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system is an application framework for knowledge-based decision support of ecological assessments at any geographic scale. The system integrates a geographic information system (GIS) that provides decision support for a substantial portion of the adaptive management process of ecosystem management.
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EnVision
By US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. A rendering system for stand- and landscape-scale images. Basic components of an EnVision project include a digital terrain model to define the ground surface, color and texture maps to define ground surface characteristics, and groups of objects or "actors". Scene definitions include background imagery used to add clouds and distant landscape features, model components (e.g. terrain model(s) and polygon overlays), viewpoint and camera characteristics, and foreground imagery used to provide high detail in the image foreground.
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EXAMS (Exposure Analysis Modeling System)
By US Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM). The U.S. EPA's Exposure Analysis Modeling System (EXAMS) for Windows, first published in 1982 (EPA-600/3-82-023), provides interactive computer software for formulating aquatic ecosystem models and rapidly evaluating the fate, transport, and exposure concentrations of synthetic organic chemicals - pesticides, industrial materials, and leachates from disposal sites. EXAMS contains an integrated Database Management System (DBMS) specifically designed for storage and management of project databases required by the software.
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FGETS (Food and Gill Exchange of Toxic Substances) (for DOS)
By US Environmental Protection Agency, Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM). A FORTRAN simulation model that predicts temporal dynamics of fish whole body concentration (ug chemical/(g live weight fish)) of nonionic, nonmetabolized, organic chemicals that are bioaccumulated from either: (a) water only - the predominant route of exchange during acute exposures, or (b) water and food jointly - characteristic of chronic exposures.
download
Fire Regime Condition Class (FRCC)
By FRCC Interagency Working Group. A tool for determining the degree of departure from reference condition vegetation, fuels and disturbance regimes. Assessing FRCC can help guide management objectives and set priorities for treatments.
download
Forest Vegetation Simulator (FVS)
By US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. A family of forest growth simulation models.
download
Fuel Characteristic Classification System (FCCS)
By US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Characterizes and classifies fuelbeds to capture the structural complexity and geographical diversity of fuel components across landscapes and provide the ability to assess elements of human (e.g. logging slash) and natural (e.g. insect and disease) change. Also available as PDF file.
download
Hopkins U.S. System Index (HUSSI)
By US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. A collection of notes on thousands of insect and damage specimens from forests or wood products taken mainly in the United States, some from Canada, Mexico, Central America, South America and other regions.
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Registry of Ecological Models (REM)
By University of Kassel and GSF. A meta-database of ecological models providing model information, references, and contact information. Search by name, subject or free-text search.
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SWPROD (for Data General AViiON)
By US Geological Survey (USGS). Determines primary productivity and community metabolism in streams and lakes using diel oxygen measurements. UNIX source code is available.
download
TELSA
By ESSA Technologies. The Tool for Exploratory Landscape Scenario Analyses (TELSA) is a spatially explicit, GIS-based landscape-level model for simulating terrestrial ecosystem dynamics. It helps resource managers and planners assess the consequences of alternative management scenarios at the scale of landscape units. TELSA is freely available for research and educational purposes. Registration required.
download
VDDT
By ESSA Technologies. The Vegetation Dynamics Development Tool (VDDT) provides a modeling framework for examining the role of various disturbance agents and management actions in vegetation change. It allows users to create and test descriptions of vegetation dynamics, simulating them at the landscape level. Registration required.
download
Water-Effect Ratio for Metals
By US Environmental Protection Agency and Purdue University. Is based on the US EPA's 1994 "Interim Guidance on the Determination and Use of Water-Effect Ratios (WERs) for Metals." The WER procedure is one of three protocols which may be used to derive site-specific water quality criteria for the protection of aquatic life. An overview, two methods for determining WERs, a checklist, the Guidance document, references/resources, and EPA contacts are included. This title is a companion to the Water Quality Standards and Criteria software program. This software program assumes that the user has an understanding of water quality standards and criteria, as well as scientific methods.
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WWW-Server for Ecological Modelling
By ISEM and University of Kassel. A register and documentation system of ecological models: REM and ECOBAS, simulation-software and links, data sources and other information about modelling.
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