Overview
The goal of the Species Interactions of Australia Database (version 1.1)
is to build the infrastructure to share, analyze, and display
information about species interactions in Australia. It is a
joint project of Gerry Cassis, University of New South Wales, and
John Pickering, at the University of Georgia and Discover Life.
It is funded by the Atlas of Living Australia.
Ultimately, we hope the infrastructure will serve the global community to
study species interactions worldwide.
Structuring species interaction data
- Terms
We use a controlled vocabulary of hierarchical terms to specify species interactions.
Our top-level term is Associate which contains Commensal, Competitor, Consumer, Mutualist, Neutral, and Transmits.
Terms have sub-categories separated by colons (e. g., 'Associate:Consumer:Herbivore'). In turn
we further divide sub-categories. For example, 'Associate:Consumer:Herbivore:Graminivore' (feeds or subsists on grasses)
and 'Associate:Consumer:Herbivore:Granivore' (feeds on seeds) are among our sub-categories of herbivores.
We list the terms here in a text file
(version 2.1 that now includes appropriate terms from
Australian Faunal Directory 'Ecologies' file linked below).
This file includes comments (following hash symbols) and synonyms (following semicolons).
In processing data we normalise (<--normalize<--Normalize<--NORMALIZE) each synonym to its corresponding category in the hierarchy.
Thus, for example, the term 'Granivorous' is a synonym of 'Associate:Consumer:Herbivore:Granivore'.
Rather than enforcing a vocabulary on data providers and users, our goal is to use natural language processing to
permit them to use numerous other terms such as 'Granivore', 'Seed predator', 'Eats seeds', 'Seed-eater', 'Feeds on seeds', etc.
- Schema
In structuring species interaction data as simply as possible, we assume a one directional schema that
allows us to store data efficiently. Our schema requires four fields to describe interactions between entities.
These are
- Subject -- The name of a taxon that interacts, as described by the verb, with an object.
For simplicity purposes we define this subject as the ASSOCIATE.
- Verb -- One of the hierarchical terms above that describes the INTERACTION.
- Object -- The name of the taxon that is acted upon by the subject.
For simplicity purposes we define this object as the HOST.
- Source -- A URL or unique reference that documents an interaction event. These include globally unique specimen identifiers and
the Australian Faunal Directory's taxon pages.
In addition to the required fields, providers can enrich datasets with any number of additional fields.
Thus, users may query associates of hosts or conversely, hosts of associates,
by specific taxa, interactions, sources, or additional modifiers that cover space, time, life stage, and phylogeny.
When taxa are balanced in their interaction, such as with Mutualist and Neutral interactions,
then both taxa are ASSOCIATES of each other and data providers can list either in the Subject or Object fields.
Australian species names
- Species lists
- Interactive checklists
Processed version: ala-csv-2013-06-27
Source: Australian Plant Name Index
Source:
Australian Faunal Directory
-
Arachnida 7,358 species
-
Coleoptera 23,590 species
-
Diptera 8,321 species
-
Hymenoptera 10,876 species
-
Lepidoptera 10,214 species
-
other Insecta 12,556 species
-
Crustacea 7,630 species
-
Mollusca 9,144 species
-
Vertebrata 7,193 species
-
other Fauna 17,355 species
Species interaction datasets
- Source data from Australian Faunal Directory
All species interactions excluding Hemiptera
(dollar delimited .txt file, 11,345 records)
Hemiptera species interactions including Heteroptera
(dollar delimited .txt file, 3,553 records)
QUERY
Problem records
(dollar delimited .txt file, 3,765 records, undergoing correction)
[e. g., 'Wallabia rufogrisea' should be 'Macropus rufogriseus (Desmarest, 1817), Red-necked Wallaby']
Processed version: ala-csv-2013-06-26
Source records:
- Australian bees and their host plants
- Australian mangroves and their interactions
Specimen datasets
- Heteroptera Test Case
American Museum of Natural History/University of New South Wales specimen PBI database
-
with AMNH_PBI unique specimen identifier prefix
(extracted records with latitude < 10°N; longitude > 90°W);
- with UNSW_ENT unique specimen identifier prefix
(extracted records with latitude < 10°N; longitude > 90°W);
Contributors
- How to contribute
Please help us gather and share photographs and other information on species interactions.
If you have information that you wish to contribute, we can process it from various media,
including on-line resources, email attachments, CD-ROMs, and other physical media.
Alternatively you can upload images, spreadsheets, and other files to an account
on our servers that we will provide to you free of charge.
These accounts have passwords and can be accessed from Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, via software packages that support ssh/scp.
As a provider, you will maintain full ownership of your information, including copyright
where appropriate. You can specify the terms and conditions of how we may use your information.
If you wish to contribute in any way, please contact us.
- Whom to contact
- Australia: Celia Symonds, University of New South Wales -- c.symonds@unsw.edu.au
- United States: Becka Walcott, Discover Life -- dl@discoverlife.org -- USA-706-542-1115
Computer scripts
- Programs used to extract data from various sources and format them for SIAD
Links
- TDWG Meeting, New Orleans, 18 October, 2011
- Species Interactions -- Draft: 16 October, 2011
- Scientific questions -- Draft: 20 September, 2011
- Progress Report, 8 August, 2011
- Proposal, 3 June, 2010
- Contacts
- Gerry Cassis, University of New South Wales -- gcassis@unsw.edu.au
- John Pickering, University of Georgia & Discover Life -- pick@discoverlife.org