NBII Clearinghouse GFIS Metadata records This RSS Feed contains list of NBII Clearinghouse metadata records that are related to Global Forest Information Service (GFIS)
Tuzigoot National Monument Accuracy Assessment The accuracy assessment field work was performed
in May, 1997 to verify the accuracy of the
vegetation communities spatial data developed by
the USGS-NPS Vegetation Mapping Program for Tuzigoot National Monument.
The data points were randomly distributed stratified according to
vegetation association over the project area
according to protocols developed by the Program.
Points were located by GPS navigation and the
community information was colle ( 01 May 1997 01:25:45 EDT )
Tuzigoot National Monument, Field Plots Data Base for Vegetation Mapping Vegetation field plots at Tuzigoot NM were visited, described, and
documented in a digital database. The database consists of 3 parts -
(1)Physical Descriptive Data, (2) Species Listings, and (3) Vegetative
Strata. ( 01 Oct 1997 01:25:45 EDT )
Arthropods of Economic Importance - Eurasian Tortricidae This CD-ROM holds an interactive identification guide and information source on economically important tortricids in Europe and Asia for all applied entomologists working in agriculture, forestry and horticulture, as well as in plant-protection and quarantine. It contains a pictorial key to the males and females of 189 species, detailed information on their taxonomy (including illustrations of external characters and genitalia, and brief descript ( 31 Aug 2001 01:25:45 EDT )
Virginia Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Monitoring Program: Phytoplankton- Primary Productivity Component The state of Virginia, in cooperation with the US
EPA Chesapeake Bay Program, has monitored
phytoplankton primary production in the Virginia
Chesapeake Bay mainstem and tributaries since July
1989. The program is designed to give
comprehensive spatial and temporal information on
primary production. Sampling is performed in
conjunction with the Maryland phytoplankton,
fluorometry, mesozooplankton, microzooplankton,
jellyfish and water quality mo ( 01 Mar 1999 01:25:45 EST )
A 4500-Year Record of Fire and Vegetation Change in Central Siberia Based on Calibrated Sediment Charcoal Accumulation Sediment charcoal provides evidence of the long-term importance of fire. Unfortunately, there have been no comparisons of particle accumulation rates in sediments with fluxes to the ground that occur during burns. We determined the spatial pattern of charcoal accumulation at ground level in 340 cm2 traps during an experimental burn in a Pinus sylvestris stand on Bor Forest Island, central Siberia, and compared it to charcoal accumulation in Bor L ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
Forest Fire Occurrence in Russia and Canada: Ground, Aerial and Satellite Measurements Growing concern over global change has recently focused attention on the important role of the boreal forest zone in the global carbon budget. Forest fires are the major disturbance regime in boreal forests, with potential impacts on carbon storage and cycling, particularly if current climate change projections materialize. There is now a recognized need for improved monitoring and documentation of boreal fires, particularly in the remote regions ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
Gaseous Crownfire Emissions from the Bor Forest Island Fire Measurements of gaseous carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, methane, and total non-methane hydrocarbons were made in the convection smoke column of a high-intensity experimental stand-replacement fire as part of the first joint East-West fire research activity organized under the Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN). The Bor Forest Island Fire (60�45'N, 89�25'E) was conducted in the Siberian taiga on 6 July 1993, and involved the b ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
Fire History of Bor Forest Island and Surrounding Pinus sylvestris Forests of the Dubches Plain, Siberia We reconstructed the history of fires by sampling and dating fire-scarred trees. Fire years and approximate seasons of burning were determined by dendrochronologically dating the tree rings, and by studying the relative position of fire scars within the annual rings. Before the experimental burn of 1993 at least six fires burned portions of the island during the past six centuries (AD 1481, 1638, 1753, 1796, 1867, and 1956). Intervals between the ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
Fuels and Fire Behavior on the Bor Forest Island Fire A field experiment, Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN), organized under the joint sponsorship of the International Boreal Forest Research Association (IBFRA) and the IGBP International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project, was carried out in north-central Siberia in July 1993. A 49-hectare site, Bor Forest Island, was selected near Bor, located on the Yenesei River approximately 600 km north of Krasnoyarsk. A pure mature stand o ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
Prefire Vegetation, Forest Stand and Site Characteristics of Bor Forest Island, Krasnoyarsk Region, Siberia The experimental site (60�45'N, 89�25'E) is on the Dubches plain in the Western Siberian Lowland. Vegetation is typical of central taiga forests of Western Siberia. The study site is a nearly level, slightly elevated, sandy island surrounded by bogs, which are dominated by mixed-grass/sphagnum and tall sedge. Soils are homogeneous across the island. The soil is a ferric podsol, with a coarse sand texture. The A horizon, of mixed mineral and organ ( 01 Jan 1996 01:25:45 EST )
FGDC Metadata
Metadata is a description of the content, quality, lineage, contact, condition, and other characteristics of data. The description of the data is organized in a standardized format using a common set of terms. Metadata is literally "data about data". Metadata records are similar in concept to library catalog records: details about a book such as title, author, and publisher are recorded in a standard way to ease the search for information.
Biological metadata records work in the same way: information is recorded in a standardized format about a data set (content, quality, condition, and more) for use and analysis. Metadata ultimately makes information about data sets more easily accessible to scientists and researchers.
Metadata is a valuable tool. Metadata records preserve the usefulness of data over time by detailing methods for data collection and data set creation. Metadata greatly minimize duplication of effort in the collection of expensive digital data and foster sharing of digital data resources. Metadata supports local data asset management such as local inventory and data catalogs, and external user communities such as Clearinghouses and websites. It provides adequate guidance for end-use application of data such as detailed lineage and context. Metadata makes it possible for data users to search, retrieve, and evaluate data set information from the NBII's vast network of biological databases by providing standardized descriptions of geospatial and biological data.
The NBII offers an extensive array of metadata resources. Explore the links below and find resources for your organization to use.
Don't "Duck" Metadata! Why Making Metadata Records Matters
Image: Digital Juice
We all recognize that data sharing, collaboration, and resource leveraging are all part of today's science environment. No data set is complete without a metadata record, because these standardized records describe such important features as why the data set was created, who created it, how accurate the data is, what the methodologies were used to develop it, and so much more. These records transcend people and time, preserve institutional memory, help avoid data duplication, publicize research, and reduce workload.
All this must be why metadata was made a requirement for federal agencies back in 1994...So, dispel any previous thoughts you may have had, because NBII is here to tell you that learning to create metadata records is fun! Join your enthusiastic metadata trainers for a day of learning more than you ever wanted to know about metadata, and leave armed with a toolbox of helpful metadata making tips, tricks, software, and more...and most importantly, an appreciation of why no one wants to duck metadata!
The NBII Clearinghouse includes metadata descriptions of biological databases and information products developed and maintained by USGS scientists, as well as data and information developed and maintained by other NBII participants, including federal, state, and local government agencies; private sector organizations; and other partners around the nation and the world.
