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LTER information management as an example
A STORY ON NETWORKS,
DATA STORAGE AND SHARING
OPTIONS:
Overview:• I am NOT going to present you
with a series of concepts and documents
• I will tell you a 38 years long story in 19 minutes…
THE BEGINNING OF A NETWORK
THE LTER EXPERIENCE
BEGINNING OF THE NETWORK: THE CONCEPT
THE LUQ SITE: INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
A DATA SET: LUQ FERNS
1977 LONG TERM Ecological Measurements Conference Report
“A group of scientists representing many areas of ecology met March 16-18, 1977 to discuss fundamental issues concerning long-term ecological measurements.”
Importance of long-term studies: “Ecology requires long-term studies.
They are indispensable and must be initiated. All ecosystems are in a process of long-term change.…
…we see examples of data collected for its own sake, of programs continued merely because they had been there for a long time,…
…but incomplete and lacking the crucial piece of information to make the whole set meaningful. A central issue or a hypothesis to test or to guide the collection of data seems to have been missing.”
Use of studies are not always predictable/obvious
“Some studies with vaguer initial rationales seem to have made possible the identification of important issues”
“…studies started for one reason have proved to be most valuable for quite another reason”
The core LTER concepts:
Collaboration
Sharing data
Two basic approaches to long-term studies: Individuals Institutions
Collaborative studies: Existing research
agencies should seek the cooperation and advice of ecologists involved in fundamental research.
Data developed in such Federal programs, which are in the public domain
RECOMMENDATIONS Provide a minimal set of items:
sample locations and intervals procedures data analysis and summarization sample storage in a suitable depository
Establish a program for a series of sites: there are central ecological hypotheses and
issues which can only be answered or examined with long-term data sets
1978 NSF Response
“The idea was to select the minimum number of monitoring sites, not an exclusive set, that would provide a representative cross section of the major ecosystems in the United States. In considering thetypes of measurements that would be needed in these ecosystems, the emphasis was again on choosing a relatively small number of variables believed to hold maximum potential for long-term applicability and utility of results.”
Minimum set of:
Sites
Measurements
In 1979: The Scope, Research questions, coordination needs, operating procedures and coordination/management office where established
AT THE PRESENT THE NETWORK HAS
All Scientists Meetings every 3 years (ASM)
Broader the scope: Around the world:
International LTER (ILTER): In Europe, Asia, Africa, individual countries
Across disciplines : Social sciences Arts and Humanities
Well established Network Information Management
Synopsis of the History of LTER at: http://www.lternet.edu/node/64832
Luquillo LTER (LUQ)
Long history of the monitoring of the forest flora and fauna
Starting Data Management
• Develop Metadata Standards
• Get Involved in Network Projects
Information Management history A room full of printouts
386 distinct sets of data
0 were useful when revised by an investigator
Interviewing the LUQ scientists First metadata set:
simple Got more complex as
LUQ IMS evolved with the Network NIS
Starting Data Management
• Develop more Standards
• Still Involved in Network Projects
Information Management history Develop an Information
Management SystemMetadata Centralized Readily access to raw data
Integrate standards:Keyword (Controlled
Vocabulary)Unit (Unit Registry)EML (Ecological Metadata
Standards) Develop a Website to
share:All metadata, protocols and
data
A LUQ Example
Ferns studies in LUQ: Sharpe’s “Fern sporophyte growth
observation at the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF)
LUQ Website:
http://luq.lternet.edu/data/luqmetadata75
PASTA (LTER NIS)
https://portal.lternet.edu/nis/mapbrowse?packageid=knb-lter-luq.75.11034160
Good Bye!
