Biodiversity Guides and Handbooks

NYC Invertebrates: A Seasonal Guide

This engaging illustrated guide gives an introduction to local invertebrates in various habitats of New York City and offers suggestions for where and when to search for them, along with information on how best to protect them. The Seasonal Guide is being distributed at no charge throughout the City to parks, nature centers, and other organizations involved in public education and conservation.

Written by Elizabeth A. Johnson, with illustrations by Patricia J. Wynne and design by James Lui. Partial funding was provided by a grant from the New York City Environmental Fund. 

Freshwater Mussels of New York and New Jersey

The Center for Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC) has developed this web handbook as a "short-course" to the freshwater mussels occurring within 75 miles of New York City and throughout New Jersey. It is designed for naturalists, biologists, and resource managers working to conserve local freshwater ecosystems. 

• Freshwater Mussels of the New York Metropolitan Region and New Jersey

NYC Biodiversity Assessment Handbook

This comprehensive guide addresses questions about greenspaces and biodiversity in New York City, for land managers, policy makers, conservationists, researchers, consultants, educators, and students.
 

Marine Protected Areas in the Bahamas

This Guide to the Science of Marine Protected Areas in The Bahamas offers a synthesis of research findings on how marine protected areas (MPAs) can work to conserve the country’s shallow coral reef ecosystems, including associated seagrass meadows, mangroves, and other lagoon habitats. Featured topics span the nature of Bahamian shallow marine habitats and seascapes, the ecological communities that reside in them, how reefs and populations across islands are ecologically connected, factors that contribute to reef health and resilience, what scientists have learned from the example of the Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, and some of the social factors affecting MPAs in the country.
 

Biodiversity and Human Health

This brief guide summarizes for policymakers the consequences of biodiversity loss for human health, including threats to global supplies of food and fresh water, exposure to formerly rare diseases and opportunistic infections, and loss of important sources of medicines.

Francesca Grifo & Joshua Rosenthal, editors
 

Kids' Guide to Central Park Birds

An illustrated guide to birds commonly found in Central Park, and an introduction to birding for young naturalists. The guide also includes information on where to go in Central Park to see birds in various habitats: freshwater, woodlands, and open areas.
  

Life in the Leaf Litter

Life in the Leaf Litter is a guide to the diversity of soil organisms and the crucial role that invertebrates play in woodland ecosystems. The booklet was based, in part, on a leaf litter survey conducted by the CBC's Metro Program and the Museum's Division of Invertebrate Zoology in Central Park's woodlands, which led to the discovery of a new genus and species of centipede, Nannarrup hoffmani.
 

Also available in Spanish:

La Vida en la Hojarasca es una guía sobre la diversidad de los organismos del suelo y el importante rol que tienen los invertebrados en los ecosistemas boscosos. El librito en parte esté basado en un muestreo de la hojarasca de los bosques del Parque Central, realizado por el Programa Metro del CBC y la División de Zoología de Invertebrados del Museo. Dicho muestreol condujo al descubrimiento de un nuevo género y especie de centépedos, Nannarrup hoffmani.