A Perfectly Archived, Continuously Updated Database System for Analysis of North American Vegetation

项目摘要DBI：9905838，Peet，Robert，Pennsylvania查佩尔山。一个完整的存档，不断更新的数据库系统，用于分析北美植被。植被分类是至关重要的生物保护的规划和库存，资源管理的监测和规划，以及基础科研作为一种工具，组织和解释生态信息。所有这些活动都需要确定生态单元，并了解和理解它们在景观中的分布。技术的进步已经使跨机构管辖区或地理区域的实际大规模分析，并解决全球变化，生态系统管理和保护规划等各种应用生态问题。然而，所有这些努力都取决于是否有一套共同的、定义明确和得到广泛接受的分类单位。美国联邦政府通过联邦地理数据委员会的活动，批准了美国国家植被分类系统的标准。然而，在这样一个系统可以操作和广泛接受的信息基础设施，需要管理预期的10*7植被样地记录和10*4植物协会。该奖项的重点是开发这样一个信息基础设施，旨在使信息可以在网络上分发，同时不断更新和完美存档。该项目将设计，开发和测试支持美国国家植被分类所需的信息基础设施核心组件的原型。一个工作组将定期在国家生态分析和综合中心举行会议，为PI和一个专门的博士后/博士后提供建议。第一个组成部分是一个独立的植被图数据库。样地数据提供了任何可靠的植被分类所依据的基本信息。该数据库将被设计为允许包含多种地块类型，并将使用4个大型和不同的数据集进行测试。成分数据不仅对修订国家分类，而且对植被组成、结构和动态的许多研究都很有用。第二个组成部分是保存植被分类的数据库。对从未被丢弃的记录的起始和终止日期进行跟踪，应能使社区得到确认，并能重建其历史上任何时期的支持数据。第三个组成部分是一个数据库，其中载有确定其他两个数据库中所指物种所需的植物学命名法，目前仅在概念上加以开发。目前数据库中处理的植物命名法不足以用于地块和分类数据库，因为与植物名称相关的含义确实发生了变化，使旧的用法含糊不清，一旦开发和同行评审，TNC，USGS（NBI I），FGDC和ESA的某种组合将采用和维护原型。美国地质勘探局国家生物信息基础设施（NBII）预计将维护和服务的地块数据库，和TNC预计维护和服务的植被分类数据库作为其新的遗产数据管理系统的一部分。有待开发的植物命名数据库属性很可能被纳入美国农业部植物数据库和美国地质调查局ITIS数据库。

Project SummaryDBI: 9905838, Peet, Robert, UNC Chapel Hill. A perfectly archived, continuously updated database system foranalysis of North American vegetation.Vegetation classification is of central importance to biological conservation for planning and inventory, to resource management for monitoring and planning, and to basic scientific research as a tool for organizing and interpreting ecological information. All of these activities require that ecological units be defined and that their distribution on the landscape be known and understood. Technological advances have made practical large-scale analyses that cross agency jurisdictions or geographic regions and address applied ecological issues as diverse as global change, ecosystem management, and conservation planning. However, all such efforts depend on having available a common set of well defined and broadly accepted classification units. The US federal government, through the activities of the Federal Geographic Data Committee, has approved standards for a US national vegetation classification system. However, before such a system can be operational and broadly accepted an information infrastructure is needed to manage the anticipated 10*7 vegetation plot records and 10*4 plant associations. The focus of this award is on the development of such an information infrastructure, designed so that the information can be distributed across the web while being both continually updated and perfectly archived.This project will design, develop and test prototypes of core components of the information infrastructure necessary to support the U.S. National Vegetation Classification. A working group will meet periodically at the National Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Center to advise the PIs and a dedicated postdoc/programer. The first component is a stand-alone vegetation plot database. Plot data provide the essential information that underlies any credible vegetation classification. This database will be designed to allow inclusion of a diversity of plot types, and will be tested using 4 large and divergent datasets. Component data will be useful, not only for revision of the national classification, but also for numerous studies of vegetation composition, structure and dynamics. The second component is a database that holds the vegetation classification. Tracking of start and stop dates for records that are never discarded should allow the communities recognized and the supporting data to be reconstructed for any time in its history. A third component, to be developed in concept only, is a database that contains the botanical nomenclature needed to identify the species referenced in the other two databases. Plant nomenclature as treated in current databases is inadequate for use in the plots and classification databases because the meanings associated with plant names do change, leaving old usage ambiguous.Once developed and peer reviewed, the prototypes will be adopted and maintained by some combination of TNC, USGS (NBI I), FGDC and ESA.. The USGS National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) anticipates maintaining and serving the plots database, and TNC anticipates maintaining and serving the vegetation classification database as part of its new Heritage Data Management System. The plant nomenclature database attributes to be developed are likely to be incorporated within the USDA Plants Database and the USGS ITIS Database.