Global Analyses of Plant and Animal Demography

对于种群生物学家来说，这是一个激动人心的时刻。有一个庞大且快速增长的数据库，完整描述了来自世界各地的数千种植物和动物的生命周期。这些生命周期包括对存活率、生长率和繁殖率的测量。与这些生命周期相关的是关于每个物种的位置、进化历史、虫害状况、保护状况、生命形式和生境的信息。该数据库使来自人口统计学，种群生态学，进化生物学和保护生物学领域的研究人员能够了解世界各地植物和动物生活史的全部多样性。然而，这些数据库的科学力量只能通过汇集一个国际科学家团队来实现，以决定（1）如何管理数据库，并确保所有感兴趣的各方都可以使用和理解;（2）如何研究数据库，以揭示全球模式和生命周期和人口统计的驱动因素;（3）如何确保数据库继续增长。（4）如何将这些数据库与其他全球性的关于生物起源、气候、生物多样性和人类影响的信息源结合起来，因此我们建议建立一个国际联盟来解决这些问题。我们将举行为期5天的研讨会，以决定如何确保数据库的增长，并向科学家和公众传播。我们还将努力制定一个关于如何最好地利用数据库的研究议程。然后，我们将雇用一名数据库官员，从埃克塞特大学开始，在几台计算机服务器上创建和管理数据库。我们将不仅关注科学发现，还将关注教育材料的制作以及生命周期和种群动态的视觉影响。该联盟的成果将是一系列充满活力的新国际合作，以及一套强大的基于网络的开放访问数据库，以帮助指导未来对生物多样性的理解，以及生物多样性如何持续和适应不断变化的气候和环境。

These are exciting times for population biologists. There exists a large and rapidly growing database of complete descriptions of the life cycles of thousands of species of plants and animals from all over the world. These life cycles include measurements of rates of survival, growth and reproduction. Associated with these life cycles is information on the location, evolutionary history, pest status, conservation status, life form and habitat of each species. This database allows researchers from the fields of demography, population ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation biology to understand the full diversity of plant and animal life histories all over the world. However, the scientific power of such databases can only be realised by bringing together an international team of scientists to decide (1) how to manage the databases and make sure they are available, and understandable, to all interested parties; (2) how to study the database to reveal global patterns and drivers of life cycles and demographies; (3) how to make sure that the databases contuinue to grow; and (4) how to integrate these databases with other global sources of information on phylogeny, climate, biodiversity and human impacts.Hence we propose the creation of an international consortium to address these questions. We will meet for a 5-day workshop to decide how to ensure the databases grow and are disseminated to scientists and the public. We will also work to set a research agenda on how best to exploit the databases. We will then employ a database officer to create and manage the databases across several computer servers, starting at the University of Exeter. We will focus not just on scientific discovery but also on the production of educational materials and on the visual impact of life cycles and population dynamics.The outcome of this consortium will be a vibrant new set of international collaborations, and a robust set of web-based, open access databases, to help guide the future understanding of biodiversity and how it persists and adapts to changing climates and environments.