A vision for community involvement and integration

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A vision for community involvement and integration
Robert K. Peet Alan S. Weakley
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Southeastern floristic dataA community web
portal

• The challenge of integrating data of diverse
  provenance.
• Example features Floristic atlas
• Collections
• Communities
• Traits
• Images

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• Technological foundation
• Concept relationships for data integration
• Cache of DIGIR queries for access to many
  collections
• Collection databases with concepts
• Alternative taxonomic perspectives
• Dynamic versioning

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• Why we need a new Atlas
• New names
• New taxon concepts (lumps splits)
• New discoveries
• Taxa new to science
• New collections overlooked collections
• New data sources (Plots, Heritage lists)
• New determinations

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• Challenges in creating a modern Southeastern
  floristic atlas
• Regional floras are generally obsolete and
  incomplete.
• Local atlases follow idiosyncratic taxonomies.
• Few museum collections have been databased.
• Museum collections are rarely determined to
  concept.
• Floristic lists and ecological datasets with
  multiple taxonomic authorities and inconsistent
  taxonomic concepts have defied integration.

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Concepts matter Andropogon virginicus complex
in the Carolinas 9 elemental units 17 base
concepts, 27 scientific names
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• The good news
• Multiple organizations are developing tools for
  concept use and integration.
• The challenge
• Few large-scale compilations of concepts and
  their relationships are available.

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Concept mapping progress

• 65000 relationships of taxon concepts to
  Weakley 2005 concepts
• Based on 800 taxonomic references.

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Toward a new Atlas
http//herbarium.unc.edu/seflora/firstviewer.htm
How to integrate new sources of data??
Carya carolinae-septentrionalis, Radford et al.
1968
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Add dynamic access to NCU collection
NCU RAB
Carya carolinae-septentrionalis
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Add USDA PLANTS records CVS vegetation plot
data
NCU RAB USDA CVS
Carya carolinae-septentrionalis
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But wait !!There is a concept issue

• According to Radford 1968, USDA PLANTS v 4.0,
  Weakley 2005
• Carya carolinae-septentrionalis
• Carya ovata
• According to Stone 1997 in FNA
• Carya ovata var australis
• Carya ovata var. ovata

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Some nominal occurrences might or might not
represent the taxon
Carya carolinae-septentrionalis
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NCU specimen records of Carya ovata must be
interpreted using nominal concepts
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Recall Cleistes

• Cleistes bifaria was split off C. divaricata
  after Radford et al. was published.
• Radford et al. records must be mapped as
  ambiguous.
• Kartesz incorrectly maps all Cleistes in the
  Carolinas as C. divaricata owing to uncritical
  import of records from Radford.

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Data layers

• Specimens
• NCU (80,000 - nominal)
• NCSU (10,000 - nominal)
• Weymouth Woods (2000 - Weakley)
• UNCC (in process, 43,000 - Weakley)
• High-quality databases
• Sorries SE Costal Plain endemics (Weakley)
• NC Natural Heritage Program (Weakley)
• Harmon et al. 2006 West Virginia Atlas (US)
• Selected literature records (idiosyncratic)

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Data layers 2

• Other databases
• Radford et al. (Radford)
• USDA PLANTS (US)
• Site records
• Carolina Vegetation Survey (300,000)
• Total county records in database 1,500,000

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Specimens matching the name
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• ..\..\New Folder\Snap32.jpg

Images matching the name
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Community types with the concept
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Link to Vegetation plots with the taxon
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Next steps?

• Design
• Allow user to select date-specific version of
  Weakley.
• Allow user to select a Weakley, PLANTS, or FNA
  perspective (or others?).
• Data needs
• Map relationships to PLANTS v 4.0
• Map relationships between PLANTS and FNA
• Date-stamp changes in Weakley
• More distribution layers

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Issues

• Geographic circumscription
• Community building
• Concepts
• Preferred perspectives
• Additional floras
• Monographs
• How empower community
• How encourage community

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Issues-2

• Adding county occurrence data
• Adding state data (WV, WEWO, NCSC, UNCC)
• How to encourage other collectors of records to
  participate
• Adding individual literature and site data
  records
• Empowering the user base to contribute
• Governance / Ownership / QC roles. Who does what?

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Issues-3

• Guidelines and best practices for determinations
• Regional web portal.
• UNC website to transition into regional website
• Annotation comment ?
• Relationship to state websites (eg VA, TN, FL,
  AL)
• Possible 2-way flow of information.
• Region enriches state websites vice versa.
• Other functions

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Links

• ConceptMapper
• http//152.2.14.231/conceptmapper/
• Weakley flora
• http//herbarium.unc.edu/flora.htm
• NCU Atlas of the SE flora
• http//herbarium.unc.edu/seflora/firstviewer.htm
• Thanks
• NSF (SEEK, VegBank), NC Bot. Garden