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Ecosystem informaties for natural history data - Developing an integrated framework for biological and geographic data
Citation:
REUSSER, D. AND H. LEE, II. Ecosystem informaties for natural history data - Developing an integrated framework for biological and geographic data. Presented at Coasts and Estuaries Research Federation 20th Biennial Conference, Portland, OR, November 01 - 05, 2009.
Impact/Purpose:
Threats to the ecological integrity of marine and estuarine systems operate over many spatial scales, from nutrient enrichment at watershed/estuarine linkages to invasive species and climate change at regional/global scales.
Description:
Threats to the ecological integrity of marine and estuarine systems operate over many spatial scales, from nutrient enrichment at watershed/estuarine linkages to invasive species and climate change at regional/global scales. Decision support tools and information systems needed to identify and address issues such as these across multiple spatial scales are lacking. To address this need, we have designed an integrated framework for capturing life history characteristics, environmental preferences and geographic distribution data for marine and estuarine biota called the Pacific Coast Ecosystem Information System (PCEIS). The key aspects of PCEIS include: 1) consistent terminology; 2) translation of numerical habitat and physiological requirements into classes; and 3) classification schemas for natural history, environmental attributes, and geographic distributions. When possible, a hierarchical classification typology was developed to capture information at multiple levels of detail. For example, reproduction, feeding, life style, salinity, and geographic distributions all fit well into hierarchical schemas. In some cases where the structure of the data was not hierarchical (e.g., wave energy), a multi-dimensional typology was designed. Another component of the framework includes hierarchical spatial topology for connecting watershed characteristics to estuarine environments. PCEIS is a decision support tool containing queriable biological and environmental data that allows users to extract information on multiple species and/or their natural history attributes across a variety of spatial scales. It is currently implemented in a stand-alone, user-friendly ACCESS database for researchers and managers.