Geoinformatics: Collaborative Research: Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database

摘要“晚新近纪陆地生态系统数据库”将包括过去500万年（上新世、更新世和全新世）的化石数据，这是包括人类和现代生态系统在内的现代物种出现的时期。该数据库的目的是：(1)促进生态系统发展和对气候变化响应的研究；(2)为理解包括遗传多样性在内的生物多样性动态提供历史背景；(3)为气候模型验证提供数据；(4)为各种各样的古生物学数据提供安全、长期、低成本的档案；(5)降低古数据管理的总体成本。该数据库满足两个关键需求：(1)它是宝贵的古生物数据档案；(2)它是古环境研究必不可少的基础设施。这个新的数据库将把四个现有的数据库合并为一个单一的综合数据库。现有的数据库有全球花粉数据库、北美植物大化石数据库、FAUNMAP（哺乳动物数据库）和甲虫化石数据库BEETLE。这些数据库目前在过时的PC数据库管理系统中，不适合Web服务。它们将被合并到一个新的数据库中，使用最先进的网络服务软件，并使用一种全新的数据模型，适用于不同类型的古生物数据。将被纳入的数据库已成为古生物学研究的关键基础设施。它们几乎被用于这项研究的每一个方面，从大规模的概论研究到了解当地遗址研究的背景，再到使用数据库作为分类标准。它们也被广泛用作教学工具。它们的整合将促进新的研究路线，甚至更多地利用这些数据。

Geoinformatics: Collaborative Research - Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem DatabaseRussell Graham, Pennsylvania State University, EAR-0622349Eric Grimm, Illinois State Museum, EAR-0622289AbstractThe "Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database" will include fossil data for the past 5 million years (the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs), the time during which modern species, including humans and modern ecosystems appeared. The purposes of the database are (1) to facilitate studies of ecosystem development and response to climate change, (2) to provide the historical context for understanding biodiversity dynamics, including genetic diversity, (3) to provide the data for climate-model validation, (4) to provide a safe, long-term, low-cost archive for a wide variety of paleobiological data, and (5) by to lower the overall cost of paleodata management. This database fulfills two critical needs: (1) it is an archive of invaluable paleobiological data and (2) it is essential infrastructure for paleoenvironmental research. This new database will integrate four existing databases into a single integrated database. The existing databases are the Global Pollen Database, the North American Plant Macrofossil Database, FAUNMAP (a mammalian database), and BEETLE, a fossil beetle database. These databases are currently in out-of-date PC database management systems, which are not suitable for Web servicing. They will be merged into a new database using state-of-the art software for Web servicing and using a completely new data model suitable for disparate types of paleobiological data. The databases that will be subsumed have become critical infrastructure for paleobiological research. They are used for almost every aspect of this research, from broad-scale synoptic studies to understanding the context of local site studies to using the database as a taxonomic standard. They are also widely used as teaching tools. Their integration will facilitate new lines of research and even more use of these data.