Author
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Farr, David |
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FARR, ELLEN - SMITHSONIAN |
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Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter Publication Acceptance Date: 5/15/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: Managing data associated with biodiversity surveys can be difficult task without careful planning and experience. This chapter explores a number of possibilities for handling the various kinds of data that result from surveys for fungal biodiversity. Special emphasis is placed on the efficient organization of a database to avoid entering data in ways that make later analysis difficult. Guidelines are presented to help in selecting the types of data that should be included, for both taxonomic and ecological studies. This paper is part of a volume of measuring and monitoring the biodiversity of fungi. This chapter will be used by everyone who collects fungi as part of a biodiversity survey as well as for other purposes. Technical Abstract: Biodiversity studies imply the analysis of large amounts of data concerned with, among other things, the systematics and distribution of organisms and clearly computers will play a major role in the management of these data. The accumulation of this information will depend upon the pooling of data from many sources. At this time, however, much of the information on biodiversity remains in the domain of individual scientists who collect th data. This paper provides guidelines in two areas that will enable scientists to better pool their data: building an efficient database structure and the attributes of the fields that should be included in the databases. The proper construction of a database can reduce redundant data entry and improve standardization of data. The appropriate choice of fields helps to assure compatibility of data between applications. |
