[Tdwg-obs] Fwd: Re: Survey and Monitoring

Steve Kelling stk2 at cornell.edu
Sun Nov 13 16:01:39 CET 2005


Hello,
The definition for the fundamental unit of observational data can certainly 
include the community concept that Lynn points out. The choice of the term 
phenomenon, instead of taxon allows for this. I believe that Bob Peet's 
comments are going to be important in the discussion of aggregating 
observational data into collecting events (i.e. surveys/monitoring). 
Vegetation blocks are analogous in bird monitoring to point count transects 
(the most well known of these in the United States is the Breeding Bird 
Survey) During a point count transect  multiple species (and numbers of 
individuals) are recorded during each point count during the survey (with 
BBS there are 50 such point counts). It will be very important that we 
address how we can organize and/or aggregate point counts or vegetation 
plot surveys as we incorporate observational data into the general 
Biodiversity informatics community.

"An observation is a collection event that describes a phenomenon, and is
  bound to the spatiotemporal location where it was made. Furthermore, an
  observation describes an occurrence and can be linked to descriptions of
  other occurrences."

Regards,
Steve


>Hi all - Hopefully a quick question / clarification.
>
>I was wondering if the definition below  " ... the element in which
>observational data can be (and is) incorporated in existing Natural
>History collections data ... " also includes ecological / natural
>communities in addition to organisms? There is quite a wealth of
>information being collected at this broader more "habitat" level.  If
>these type of data are implicitly covered, is there a need for clarity
>to explicitly state that observations include ecological communities in
>addition to organisms?
>
>Thanks -
>Lynn
>
>At 12:57 PM 11/12/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>
>>Hello,
>>
>>Like Lynn, I would like the observations standard to support observations
>>of communities as well as individual organisms
>>
>>Consider the VegBank approach
>>(http://vegbank.org/vegdocs/design/erd/vegbank_erd.pdf):
>>
>>A vegetation plot (location) can have multiple plotObservation events,
>>each of which can have multiple taxonObservation events (collectively such
>>as density, or of individuals), each of which can have multiple
>>identification events, each of which can refer to multiple taxonomic
>>concepts.  In addition, the plotObservation can have multiple
>>identifications, and each of these can refer to multiple community
>>concepts.
>>
>>With this approach permanent information about the location, such as
>>geocoordinates, is associated with the plot.  Transient information about
>>the plot is recorded with the plotObservation and here we also could refer
>>to protocols applied. Monitoring can be handled by a recursive loop
>>linking plotObservations or taxonObservations
>>
>>Bob Peet
>>   ======================================================================
>>       Robert K. Peet, Professor & Chair         Phone:  919-962-6942
>>       Curriculum in Ecology, CB#3275            Fax:    919-962-6930
>>       University of North Carolina              Cell:   919-368-4971
>>       Chapel Hill, NC  27599-3275  USA          Email:  peet at unc.edu
>>
>>                     http://www.unc.edu/depts/ecology/
>>                   http://www.bio.unc.edu/faculty/peet/
>>   ======================================================================
>>
>> > Message: 1
>> > Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:35:44 -0500
>> > From: Steve Kelling <stk2 at cornell.edu>
>> > Subject: [Tdwg-obs] Survey and Monitoring
>>
>> >             I apologize for the delay in posting to the listserve. As I am
>> > sure it is true for you, it has been quite hectic for me.
>> >
>> >             My feeling is that we have a good definition for the
>> > integrative element of observational data. That is, the element in which
>> > observational data can be (and is) incorporated in existing Natural 
>> History
>> > collections data. To reiterate;
>> > An observation is a collection event that describes a phenomenon, and is
>> > bound to the spatiotemporal location where it was made. Furthermore, an
>> > observation describes an occurrence and can be linked to descriptions of
>> > other occurrences.
>> >             Now we can begin to talk about the methods of aggregating
>> > observations. To do this means issues such as protocol (including
>> > precision, accuracy, and certainty in the methods), data quality, 
>> inferring
>> > negative data, and detectability must be addressed. It is at this point
>> > where observational data can begin to contribute and extend the value of
>> > the data held within biodiversity data networks.
>> >
>> >             What I would like to do is begin a discussion on
>> > survey/monitoring techniques and issues. Specifically I would like to
>> > develop the necessary requirements to define methodology metadata. For
>> > example, how does one distinguish between surveys and monitoring? For
>> > example, I consider monitoring as a protocol- driven collection of
>> > observational data gathered repeatedly over a time series at a specific
>> > location. Thus, I would distinguish monitoring from a survey in that a
>> > survey documents an occurrence of an organism(s) at a location at a
>> > particular time, and does not include repeated sampling.
>> >
>> > Anyway, I look forward to hearing from you.
>> >
>> > Regards,
>> >
>> > Steve Kelling
>> > Cornell Lab of Ornithology
>> > 607-254-2478 (work)
>> > 607-342-1029 (cell)
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Tdwg-obs mailing list
>>Tdwg-obs at lists.tdwg.org
>>http://lists.tdwg.org/mailman/listinfo/tdwg-obs_lists.tdwg.org
>
>Steve Kelling
>Cornell Lab of Ornithology
>607-254-2478 (work)
>607-342-1029 (cell)
>
>

Steve Kelling
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
607-254-2478 (work)
607-342-1029 (cell)







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