The initial idea for this website came up when we wanted to document the ecological work of our highschool which is located in the southern part of the Ruhr-district in Germany, thereby creating an online catalogue of the species occuring in the surroundings of our school. The focus was on the microscopical life in aquatic freshwater environments, i.e. a small pond that has been surveyed for more than 10 years before it was replaced by a new pond. A nearby brook complements the biodiversity with species typical for lotic waters.

The first update followed when the biological (marine and terrestrial) results of our excursions to the mediterranean sea were added.

If one tries to identify microscopical organisms it soon becomes evident that certain species can only be unequivocally identified by comparing them with other closely related species from other habitats. Therefore the online catalog now covers species collected and studied from other locations, first within Germany. One emphasis is now on rotifers. So discoveries from locations of adjoining European countries are included as well. About 350 species of rotifers are documented up to now.

Also the section of the marine species has undergone an update by adding images of species from several diving excursions in tropical sea areas.

Michael Plewka