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PCEIS - THE PACIFIC COAST ECOSYSTEM INFORMATION SYSTEM, CHANGING THE WAY SCIENTISTS VIEW THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SPECIES
Citation:
LEE, II, H., D. REUSSER, M. R. RANELLETTI, AND R. NEHMER. PCEIS - THE PACIFIC COAST ECOSYSTEM INFORMATION SYSTEM, CHANGING THE WAY SCIENTISTS VIEW THE NATURAL HISTORY OF SPECIES. Presented at Western Society of Naturalists, Ventura, CA, November 08 - 11, 2007.
Impact/Purpose:
The Pacific Coast Ecosystem Information System (PCEIS) is a database that provides biological, ecological and geospatial information for over 8100 species from Alaska to Baja.
Description:
The Pacific Coast Ecosystem Information System (PCEIS) is a database that provides biological, ecological and geospatial information for over 8100 species from Alaska to Baja. PCEIS goes beyond capturing species’ taxonomic information by integrating monitoring information from Coastal EMAP (EPA’s Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program) with data from regional monitoring programs and published literature. One goal of the database is to include natural history data for each species. The PCEIS team is creating data entry forms that summarize and group environmental parameters and life history details. This information will be standardized and queriable for all species within the database. Environmental categories for the species are biogeography, ecosystems, habitat, energy, temperature, and salinity. The species’ life history information is grouped by feeding, reproduction, and life style. In addition, species classified as introduced will have a list of invasion vectors that can be entered, and a second biogeography section for the documented invasions. Overall, these standardized forms for data entry, and table structures for information storage and retrieval, will substantially improve the current methodology for adding natural history information to biological databases. The result moves natural language text to queriable form for use in monitoring, mapping, and modeling research.