Forwarded:

The Australian Biological Resources Study is pleased to announce the
Flora of Australia is now online

Flora of Australia online delivers the landmark publication series
Flora of Australia to a potentially vast audience. This comprehensive,
scientific resource demonstrates the Australian Government's commitment
to ensuring Australia remains a world leader in taxonomy and managing,
presenting and using biodiversity knowledge. This online resource is a
result of collaboration between the Australian Biological Resources
Study and national and international botanical communities and
institutions.

This is a world first for delivery online of an interactive, flora
resource at a national level with a flexible, user-defined search
interface. Clients can customise data delivery to suit their own needs.
Information is available for a wide range of uses, such as school
projects, habitat information for land managers, identification keys for
naturalists, or species lists for environmental impact statements and
land surveys. The information links to electronic distribution maps and
much of the line art from the books.

Around 8,500 taxa have been published so far in the Flora of Australia
book series, and to date 4,500 of these are available in Flora of
Australia online.
There are three web sites for the information and their addresses
follow:
http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/a...abif/flora/49/
(Flora of Australia volume 49: Norfolk, Lord Howe and surrounding
Islands);

http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/a...abif/flora/50/
(Flora of Australia volume 50: the remaining Oceanic Islands);

http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/a...if/flora/main/
(Information for over 50 families extracted from the following nine
volumes of the Flora of Australia book series: 3, 11A, 11B, 12, 16, 17A,
17B, 35 and 48).

We hope you share our excitement about this new development and that
you find the Flora of Australia online to be a useful resource. We would
be pleased if you would bring this news to the attention of your friends
and colleagues.


Yours sincerely

Mary Colreavy
Director, ABRS