Integrating Marine Ecology Data for Scientific Analysis and Resource Management: A Community Database Prototype

数据整合越来越被认为是综合生态分析的一个困难但必不可少的先决条件。当数据对政策规划或决策也有重大实际影响时，无法方便地整合数据就变得至关重要。在这个项目中，将开发一个原型社区数据库储存库，以容纳各种结构不一的海洋生态数据集。这个可通过因特网查阅的数据库将为研究海洋环境长期和大规模生态过程的调查人员提供宝贵的数据资源，这些数据将来自一个由海洋生态学家、分析人员和数据管理人员组成的多机构联合会，他们将在一个共同框架内随时提供他们的数据。这些数据来自学术界、政府、基金会和私人来源，涉及加州中部和南部61个地点的岩石潮间带。除了其内在的科学价值外，这些数据集对于追踪生物群落的变化至关重要，对于指导和通知加州近岸环境的保护和发展也是非常宝贵的。这将通过实现一个基于XML的文档类型定义（DTD），专门为生态数据设计，并称为生态元数据库，EML。本内容规范是基于生态研究人员和技术人员的几个委员会的建议。将开发转换工具，使研究人员能够将EML转换为HTML，或将EML转换为其他两种有用的元数据格式-都柏林核心和FCDC的数字地理空间元数据内容标准（CSDGM）。还将开发软件工具，使科学家能够有效地记录自己的数据，以便为原型储存库提供资料。这一数据库储存库将作为不断增长的资源的基础，对沿海研究人员和决策者来说将是非常宝贵的。从该信息资源中获得的见解将代表整个生态学的新颖理论和实践进展。URL：http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu

Data integration is increasingly recognized as a difficult but essential precursor to synthetic ecological analyses. The inability to easily integrate data becomes critical when the data also have major practical implications for policy planning or decision-making. In this project, a prototype community database repository to accommodate a variety of heterogeneously structured marine ecological data sets will be developed. This internet-accessible database will provide a valuable data resource for investigators researching long-term and large-scale ecological processes in the marine environment.The data will come from a multi-agency consortium of marine ecologists, analysts and data managers who will make their data readily available in a common framework. These data come from academic, government, foundation, and private sources, and deal with the rocky intertidal zone at 61 sites throughout central and southern California. Aside from their intrinsic scientific interest, these data sets are critical in tracking changes in biological communities and are invaluable for guiding and informing the preservation and development of California's nearshore environment.Structured metadata to support query and access to the contents of the database will be used. This will be achieved by implementing an XML-based Document Type Definition (DTD) specifically designed for ecological data, and called Ecological Metadata Language', EML. This content specification is based on recommendations from several committees of ecological researchers and technologists. Conversion tools will be deveolped that will enable researchers to convert EML to HTML, or transform EML to two other useful metadata formats-Dublin Core and the FCDC's Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (CSDGM). Software tools that enable scientists to effectively document their own data for contribution to the prototype repository will also be developed. This database repository will serve as the basis for a growing resource that will be invaluable for coastal researchers and policy makers. The insights gained from this information resource will represent novel theoretical and practical advances for ecology as a whole.URL: http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu