Lynn Kutner NatureServe

1
Implementing Benchmark Data Content Standards

• Lynn Kutner - NatureServe
• Rob Riordan - NatureServe Sabra Schwartz
  Arizona Heritage Data Management System

2
BDCS Session Goals

• What are the Benchmark Data Content Standards
  (BDCS)?
• Importance improve data quality, meet customer
  needs, demonstrate organizational credibility.
• BDCS in NatureServe Network goals.
• Report Card - Need for it and How to do it.
• Meeting Key Standards - How can we help you
  (sharing information, resources and ideas).

3
Why have Data Standards?

• Define our high priority / core datasets (both
  records and fields).
• Framework to measure and report on the currency,
  consistency, and completeness of our data.
• Identify data development and management
  priorities.
• Credibility demonstrate to partners and clients
  that our data meet documented quality standards.

4
Benchmark Data Content Standards (BDCS)

• Establishes priorities and network-wide
• content goals for customer needs
• Standardized dataset for regional, national and
  international data products and services.
• Guidance for high-quality data
• Content standard based on current methodology.
• Data sharing, aggregation, and products
• Facilitate data exchange and the aggregation of
  spatial (i.e. EO) data.
• Measure the state of the data
• Measure and report on the completeness,
  currentness, and quality of our data for internal
  and external uses.

5
BDCS How to get a copy

• Download from
• https//transfer.natureserve.org/download/longterm
  
• /Benchmark_standards/
• Contact Lynn
• lynn_kutner_at_natureserve.org
• [phone]

6
BDCS Top Priorities

• Element Occurrence Rank (EO Rank)
• Subnational Protection Status
• EO Last observed date
• County / watershed (attribute data used in data
  products and NatureServe Explorer)
• Duplicate EOs across borders.
• Incremental progress tackle subsets of EO
  records (by Grank, federal status, other
  statuses, taxa?)

7
BDCS Top priorities EO RANK

• EO Rank
• Highest priority to indicate if the EO is there
  or not indicate E (extant) vs. X / H
  (extirpated / historical) or F (failed to find)
• If information is available, rank with range
  ranks
• Reduce degree of uncertainty in range ranks
  ("AC")
• Issues
• How to prioritize. By taxa? By area? By date?
• How many EOs need ranks before useful?
• How to deal with incomplete data, lack of specs,
  and variations in data available to rank?

8
BDCS Top priorities S Protection

• Subnational Protection Status (s_protection_status
  )
• Important for analyses of "state / province
  listed taxa"
• Standard value / approach for none ??
• all OTHER statuses entered (when possible) in
  "Other Status"

9
BDCS Top priorities Last Obs Date

• Last Observation Date (last_obs_date)
• Used as criteria to select "current extant" EOs
• Indicate most recent observation in a
  jurisdiction
• Incremental Progress
• Enter missing lastobs dates
• enter the first four characters as a numerical
  year for search analyses.

10
BDCS Completeness All EO data
BDCS Subset 1 Element Occurrence records for
Imperiled (G1/G2) or Federal status (COSEWIC or
USESA) elements
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BDCS Completeness Summary
Number and Percent of member programs - data
completeness
12
BDCS Top priorities Duplicate EOs

• across member program borders

Orangefoot Pimpleback (Plethobasus cooperianus)
Fat Pocketbook (Potamilus capax)
Illinois
Illinois
Kentucky
Kentucky
____ Illinois EO ____ Kentucky EO
13
BDCS in Network Goals

• BDCS has been a goal for NatureServe for a few
  years.
• The goal for FY 2007 reads Goal 1 Strengthen
  the quality and consistency of core data holdings
  across the entire organization by addressing
  weaknesses relative to the Benchmark Data Content
  Standards.
• U.S. Section Council has adapted goal for
  improving completeness of EO Rank field

14
Milestones for FY 07 Goals

• Address funding needs for the central botanical
  data. Devise and implement strategy to address
  the problem, including funding, partnership and
  technological solutions.
• Finalize methods for an improved element ranking
  system that is better aligned with conservation
  listings from other organizations (e.g. IUCN,
  SARA, SARO) including guidelines for applying
  weighting criteria.
• U.S. Section members will improve completeness of
  the EO Rank field by 15, as defined by U.S.
  Section Council.

15
Milestones for FY 07 Goals

• NatureServe Canada will develop a partnership
  investment strategy and work plan to improve
  quality and quantity of Canadian CDC data for
  Species at Risk in Canada.
• LAC Section members will evaluate and document in
  metadata their current data resources, and
  cooperatively develop benchmark standards for
  data sets based on NatureServe methodology.
• Evaluate status of spatial representation of
  Element Occurrences across the network and
  establish benchmarks for future annual
  improvements.
• Publish first annual benchmark data report card.

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U.S. Section Goal Improve EO Rank field
completeness by 15

• Improvement across Section and not per program
• Subset of database for G1-G2 (T1-T2) and
  federally listed species
• E for extant is acceptable when data does not
  exist to rank A-D
• New award next year for Program with greatest
  data improvement!

17
Why EO Rank was selected

• Customers are asking for it (e.g. Forest
  Industry)
• Demonstrates that the Network has high quality
  data which is continuing to improve
• Part of legislative dollar commitment is to show
  product improvement (discussed at meeting with
  federal agencies)
• Field of top five identified key fields in most
  need of improvement

18
How do we meet the goal?

• Need Commitment from Member Programs to improve
  the completeness of EO Rank field add to local
  work plans?
• Assistance from NatureServe central (e.g. QC
  queries)
• Possible funding opportunities to assist Member
  Programs

19
Data Quality Report Card Purpose, Need,
Execution

• Why produce a report card at all?
• Context of Data Excellence Program desire of
  federal agencies to see measurable results from
  their investments.
• Clients are requesting more documentation of data
  quality federal agencies, FESTF, Sustainable
  Forestry Initiative, etc.
• Transparency and public accountability
• Good marketing tool Data Quality is Job 1
• What are the most important metrics we should
  measure / include in a report?
• How should the metrics be reported by state,
  regionally, nationally, network-wide?
• Who are the most important audiences for the
  report?

20
Meeting Key Standards How can we help you

• What would it take?
• Obstacles? Solutions?
• Fundraising ideas? Build into regional projects?
• Helping each other - sharing solutions, resources
  and tools (such as QC processes)?

21
QC Tools from NatureServe

• Data checks in Data Exchange prep memo.
• Sample SQL queries in the knowledgebase
• http//support.natureserve.org/customer/default.ht
  m
• USESA functions
• EO latitude / longitude QC
• EO_RANK / S_RANK QC (srank SH or SX and
  eorank not H or X)
• SQL for EO subsets and EO data completeness
• https//transfer.natureserve.org/download/longterm
  /Benchmark_standards/BDCS_sql_for_nhp.zip
• Cross border duplicate EOs (tool 95 done, not
  yet implemented).