Report prepared for the Experts Meeting Towards the Implementation of a Global Invasive Species
Information Network (GISIN), 6-8 April, 2004. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Page 24
8/30/2004
Respondents also submitted other data
types that should be included in a species
occurrence report including status,
invasiveness, experts/contact persons,
responsible party for management/
control/monitoring, elevation range, bio-
status, reference, vegetation type, and
purpose of introduction. Respondents
commented that it is important to include
information on when a record is entered,
when it is updated, and who updated the
record (including references), as well as the
results of any attempt to control or manage
an invasive species (since this information
would assist in tracking the success and
subsequent monitoring of the population).
Database Development Issues
The most important issues affecting future
development of information systems and the
GISIN, as ranked by respondents were:
agreement on standardization (standards)
of database field formats, identification and
procurement of funding, agreement on
taxonomy/taxonomic authority, agreement
on standardization of a core group of
required IAS data types to be included in
databases, and data ownership and
copyright issues (Table 3).
Table 3: A ranking of GISIN development issues.
Respondents suggested other issues that
affect future development such as obtaining
software and compatibility of software,
sustainability, access to data, data
import/export, technical support for
national/regional databases that may
participate in the GISIN, maximizing access
and GISIN participation, and native species
distributions. A respondent commented that
while it is not particularly important to agree
on taxonomy, agreement on taxonomic
authority (including standards, and
developing the ability to cross-walk from
one nomenclature to another while
documenting this cross-walk) is imperative
to successful data sharing among multiple
databases/agencies.
Survey 3 - Database Development and
Technology Survey
Fifty-six individuals from 24 countries
completed Survey 3 (20 from the USA). One
individual took the survey four times to
represent four different databases, and 11
individuals answered half of the survey.
Database Availability
Thirty-three respondents indicated that the
database they represented is currently
available online (Figure 11). Eleven
databases are available on CD-ROM
(Compact Disk - Read Only Memory), 7 are
privately held, and 5 may be exported as
electronic files. Responses in the Other
category described databases available on
DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), downloadable
from the Web, or that are not currently
available.
Data Extraction Formats
For collaboration purposes, the respondents
were asked to indicate the format in which
data can be extracted from their database
(Figure 12). The majority of respondents
(26) indicated that data can be extracted
from the databases using HTML. Eighteen
respondents indicated a Relational
Database, followed by Extensible Markup
Language (XML) (14), spreadsheet or flat
file (14), Comma Separated Value (CSV)
Future Development Issues of DDSs & GISIN
(1=most important, 5=least important)
Issues
Mode
Average
Agreement on
standardization (standards)
of database field formats
1
1.97
Identification and
procurement of funding
2
2.09
Agreement on taxonomy /
taxonomic authority
4
2.65
Agreement on
standardization of a core
group of required IAS data
types to be include in
databases
4
3.56
Data ownership and
copyright issues
5
4.5
 |
 |
 |