Numerous research institutions and national agencies have established databanks of species composition data that serve a multitude of purposes ranging from purely scientific to applications in nature conservation and landscape planning. Simultaneously, massive amounts of spatially explicit data on site attributes (e.g., climate, soils, topography) have become available. In addition, comprehensive data on specific taxa (e.g., distribution, phylogeny, life-history traits, functional attributes) are becoming available. This emerging availability of large quantities of species co-occurrence, site attribute, and taxon attribute data is transforming the study of ecological communities. The IAVS Working Group for Ecoinformatics (http://www.bio.unc.edu/faculty/peet/vegdata/) was formed to facilitate access to and analysis of such data. There is a great promise in exchanging and merging data sets among databanks. At the same time large data sets of heterogeneous origin pose increasing challenges, both technical and scientific. Vegetation scientists from all over the world reported on progress in vegetation databanking and its analysis and applications,

Organized by:
Robert K. Peet  -- Univ. North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA (peet@unc.edu)
Susan Wiser -- Landcare Research, Christchurch, NZ (WiserS@landcareresearch.co.nz)

Presentations:
PEET, R.K. Introduction and an information infrastructure for vegetation science in North America.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]
VegBank = http://www.vegbank.org

AUSTIN, M.P., A. ZERGER, AND M. CAWSEY. Vegetation Databases: interfacing them with ecological theory and practical analysis.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

SPENCER, N. and S. WISER. Metadata management for New Zealand's national vegetation plot databank.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]
National Vegetation Survey Databank = http://nvs.landcareresearch.co.nz/

SPENCER, N. Demonstration. New Zealand National Plot Database: metadata system.
[PowerPoint]

BURROWS, L.E. Ownership and access to data deposited to a public-good vegetation archive – who’s information is it anyway?
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

KNEVEL, I.C. AND R.M. BEKKER . The LEDA Traitbase – a database on life history traits of plants.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]
LEDA = http://www.leda-traitbase.org/

JENNINGS, M. Applied Informatics for Studies of Vegetation Alliances.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

WENTWORTH, T.R. J.D. FRIDLEY, J.M. GRAMLING, R.T. JOBE, J.A.KAPLAN, M. McKNIGHT, A. SENFT, D.B. VANDERMAST, & R.K. PEET. Fine-scale species-area relationships of the vascular flora of the Southeast.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

LAFFAN, S.W. AND S. BICKFORD. Spatially analysing genetic and taxonomic variability at regional and continental scales.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

PILLAR, V.D. Accuracy and power of randomization tests in multivariate analysis of variance with vegetation data.
[Abstract] [PowerPoint]

PILLAR, V.D. Demonstration. Siavs2004- Program MULTIV for randomization testing; Program SYNCSA for analysis of trait-based community data and identification of plant functional types; Program SYNCSA for analysis of long-term vegetation dynamics.

KUEHN, I. Demonstration. BiolFlor
BiolFlor = http://www.ufz.de/biolflor/
BIOLFLOR - Eine Datenbank mit biologisch-ökologischen Merkmalen zur Flora von Deutschland. 2002, 334 Seiten + CD-ROM, 3-7843-3508-x
Order at http://www.landwirtschaftsverlag.com/bfnen/

PEET, R.K. Demonstration. VegBank. & NatureServe Explorer
VegBank = http://www.vegbank.org
Explorer = http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/

PEET, R.K. AND S. WISER.  Concluding remarks.