GCE-LTER Taxonomic Database: An automated database application for displaying custom species lists on the web Wade Sheldon GCE Information Manager GCE WWW Site:

Design Goals  Create database structure to store taxonomic information for GCE-LTER (plants, animals, fungi)  Create web application to generate dynamic species lists  Pre-defined lists (GCE researchers)  User-customized lists (by taxa, habitat)  Multiple formats (list, table, CSV file)  Automatically Include links to ancillary information (habitats, voucher specimen, GCE data sets, site occurrences, photos, pubs)  Support LTER cross-site syntheses, educational programs, add value to data sets

Components  Relational database (SQL Server)  Database front-end application for entering/editing taxonomic info and managing web lists and page captions (Access Data Project)  Dynamic web pages to build queries, display results (ASP)  List catalog page (with custom list selector form)  Species list page  Taxonomic details page with links to ancillary info  Species table page  CSV file generator page  Web application server (IIS)

WWW Species List Selection Page

WWW Species List Page

WWW Species Detail Page

WWW Species Table Page

Species Table Download (CSV File) Kingdom,Phylum/Division,Class,Order,Family,Genus,Species,”Common Name” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Eulamellibranchia,,Cyrenoida,floridana,”Florida or Dall’s Marsh Clam” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Eulamellibranchia,,Polymesoda,caroliniana,”Carolina Marsh Clam” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Eulamellibranchia,,Tagelus,plebius,”Stout Razor Clam” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Filibranchia,,Amygdalum,papyrium,”Paper Mussel” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Filibranchia,,Crassostrea,virginica,”Eastern or American Oyster” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Filibranchia,,Geukensia,demissa,”Ribbed Mussel” Animalia,Mollusca,Bivalvia,Archaeogastropoda,,Neritina,usnea,”Olive Nerite”

Data Entry, Web Management Application  Task-based forms developed to ease data entry (MS Access ADPs connected to remote SQL Server)  Add/Update taxonomic listings, define links to ancillary information (photos, files, vouchers)  Define species lists, including taxa to include, sort orders, web page labels and captions, responsible parties  Maintain lookup tables used by forms, web menus  Direct database access only provided to authorized GCE investigators, IM staff  Database integrity protected using granular role-base security scheme, DRI constraints, list-based entry of primary/foreign keys

Data Entry Forms – Main Task Menu

Data Entry Forms – Upper-level Taxa

Data Entry Forms – Lower-level Taxa

Data Entry Forms – Web List Management

Database Schema (ERD on WWW)

Concluding Remarks  Web-management tables in database allow designated researchers to define/edit web lists in real time without HTML editing (including labels, captions, menus)  Shared keys, junction tables used to link taxonomic records with other GCE databases (metadata, geography, personnel, publications), support automatic hyper-linking  Future development: starting to incorporate ITIS TSN identifiers to support complete taxonomic lookup, systematics research  Caveat: RDMS not always ideal for managing highly hierarchical data like taxonomic listings, so compromises usually required; however, there are significant benefits like excellent development tool support and performance, technological stability, many web- enabled features in latest versions (XML, web queries)