The Rectification and Digitization of the Alcala and Brown Philippine Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles, California Academy of Sciences

在Alan E.Leviton博士的指导下，加州科学院(CAS)获得了一笔赠款，用于部分支持一个项目，该项目将纠正和数字化菲律宾有史以来收集到的最大的两栖和爬行动物标本标本的地点记录，这主要是通过Angel C.Alcala博士和已故的Walter C.Brown博士的努力完成的。当数据从原始的实地笔记转录到手写的目录分类账时，出现了广泛的转录错误。这些数据包含了这些分类账上的错误，后来被输入到学院爬行动物学系的计算机化数据库中。因此，这些错误的数据被科学家、学生和土地管理人员参考。目前这个由国家科学基金会资助的项目的目的是审查和更正当前的数据库条目，以准确反映原始实地笔记中所载的数据。这将通过详细审查和重新录入这些说明中出现的数据来完成。随后将对与Alcala和Brown标本相关的数据进行地理参考(将纬度和经度添加到原始位置)，以便计算机地理信息系统(GIS)可以使用这些数据。此外，原始实地笔记将被扫描、数字化和编入索引，以存档最常写在高酸含量纸上的恶化笔记，并允许广泛上网访问这一丰富的资源。其他产品将包括菲律宾两栖和爬行动物清单，每个岛屿已知物种的分布清单，以及基于阿尔卡拉和布朗收藏的许多新物种的注释目录。该项目的成果将使这些两栖和爬行动物物种的重要历史记录能够用于生物地理学、生态学、生物多样性、保护规划和栖息地评估的研究，并有助于确定物种在菲律宾群岛内的起源和扩散的研究。研究人员、政府机构和土地管理人员可以通过数字地图使用准确的地点和微生境数据来精确定位阿尔卡拉和布朗收藏中的每个标本的收集地点。数字野外笔记还将允许访问原始数据，原始数据包含的生态信息比纳入计算机化目录的信息更多。通过互联网访问更正后的数据库，将允许从Alcala和Brown获得标本的其他机构更正和更新其记录。菲律宾群岛被认为是“生物多样性热点”，许多物种因栖息地改变而受到威胁。通过在因特网上张贴经更正和地理参考的数据以及数字化的实地笔记，这些数据可供致力于保护工作的政府和非政府机构使用。阿尔卡拉和布朗收集的数据还将用于中科院的新公开展览，以突出菲律宾和东南亚其他地区的生物多样性。

A grant has been awarded to the California Academy of Sciences (CAS) under the direction of Dr. Alan E. Leviton for partial support of a project to correct and digitize locality records for the largest collection of amphibian and reptile specimens ever assembled from the Philippines, this largely through the efforts of Drs. Angel C. Alcala and the late Walter C. Brown. Extensive transcription errors were introduced when the data were transcribed from original field notes to the handwritten catalog ledgers. The data, containing errors from these ledgers, were later entered into the Academy's Department of Herpetology's computerized database. Consequently, these erroneous data have been referenced by scientists, students, and land managers. The purpose of this current NSF-supported project is to review and correct the current database entries to reflect accurately the data contained in the original field notes. This will be done by detailed review and re-entry of the data as they appear in the those notes. The Alcala and Brown specimen-associated data will then be georeferenced (adding latitude and longitude to the original locality) so that they can then be used by computerized geographic information systems (GIS). In addition, the original field notes will be scanned, digitized, and indexed to archive the deteriorating notes, which were most often written on high-acid-content paper, and allow broad Internet access to this rich resource. Other products will include a checklist to the amphibians and reptiles of the Philippines, a distributional checklist of known species from each island, and an annotated catalog of the many new species that are based on the Alcala and Brown collections. The results of the project will allow these important historic records of amphibian and reptile species to be used in studies of biogeography, ecology, biodiversity, conservation planning and habitat assessments, and aid in studies to determine the origin and dispersal of species within the Philippine Archipelago. Researchers, government agencies, and land managers can use the accurate locality and microhabitat data with digital maps to pin-point where each specimen in the Alcala and Brown collection was collected. The digital field notes will also allow access to the original data, which contain more ecological information than incorporated in the computerized catalog. Internet access to the corrected database will allow other institutions, which obtained specimens from Alcala and Brown, to correct and update their records. The Philippine Islands are considered a "biodiversity hotspot" and numerous species are threatened because of habitat alteration. By posting the corrected and georeferenced data and digitized field notes on the Internet these data can be utilized by government and non-government agencies working on conservation efforts. Data from the Alcala and Brown collection will also be used in new public exhibits at CAS to highlight the biodiversity of the Philippines and other areas of southeastern Asia.