ZipcodeZoo is big, really big. But with ZipcodeZoo you can also get local. By entering your zip code you learn about species of plants and animals that live near you. After I entered my zip code I was qucik to learn to learn that At least 374 species that live near my home in Fairport NY are declining in population. Zipcode Zoo is also a good exampe of how we can combine ecological data with online mapping tools. Clicking on the “distribution tab” of a species specific page in Zipcode Zoo reveals numourous maps including in some cases embedded Google Earth renederings of actual sigthings. Virtual Globes such as Google Earth and tools like Google Maps are great because they provide a common browsing experience for the expert and novice alike, and can be repurposed to support almost any kind of geographically related data.
Here’s how big Zipcode Zoo was today:
“This site is big. As of Tuesday, April 28, 2009, this site is home to 2,607,667 web pages describing 1,295,353 animals, 1,067,966 plants, 193,843 fungi, 17,577 chromista, 16,063 protozoa, 16,113 bacteria, and 459 viruses. Pages contain 277,365 photos taken by 1,447 photographers, 1,471 sound recordings, and definitions of 223,189 terms. 85,429 Large photos can be zoomed and panned.
We have gathered a total of 127,715,647 field observations from 28,481 data sets and 1,547 data providers which show latitude and longitude, from which we have generated 254,338 State Maps, 1,430,347 Country Maps, 450,700 Google maps showing up to 200 sightings each, and 450,700 Google Earth maps showing all sightings. Click on a pinpoint on one of these maps, and you’ll learn more about that observation.”
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