"Hexacoral'" on-line database upgrade

[Robert W. Buddemeier]

BIOLOGICAL/ENVIRONMENTAL DATABASE UPGRADE

New and expanded data, search capabilities, and tools have been added to
"Biogeoinformatics of Hexacorallia"
(http://www.kgs.ukans.edu/Hexacoral). "Hexacoral" is part of the Ocean
Biogeographic Information System (OBIS: http://www.iobis.org/), and has
been jointly sponsored by NSF and the Land-Ocean Interactions in the
Coastal Zone (LOICZ:  http://www.nioz.nl/loicz) project of the IGBP.

Taxonomic enhancements include several thousand more georeferenced
occurrence records, and continued addition of taxa.  Mapping tools show
locations with associated precision and the environmental
characteristics of the georeferenced points. For scleractinian taxa of
common interest, there is now an interoperable dynamic search and data
link between "Hexacoral" and the NMITA database (Neogene Marine Biota of
Tropical America;  http://porites.geology.uiowa.edu/).

The 30' environmental database, now available without password control,
has more environmental variables and a revised 'selected' database of
the most widely used variables.  Location selection options have been
expanded to include 'zoom and click' map entry, manual entry forms for
point locations or ranges, or upload of range or point location files.
Database output can be viewed, filtered, recalculated, or examined for
correlations and statistical characteristics online; it can then be
downloaded or transmitted to the associated LOICZView geospatial
clustering tool (password required but available on request).

In addition to interoperability with NMITA, searches of Hexacoral as
well as other OBIS sites can be initiated from the OBIS portal.   Obis
partners Fishbase (http://www.fishbase.org/) and Cephbase
(http://cephbase.nrcc.utmb.edu/) now use remote environmental database
and/or mapping tool links to Hexacoral to provide location visualization
and environmental information on their holdings.

Daphne G. Fautin, PI
Robert W. Buddemeier, Co-I

--
Dr. Robert W. Buddemeier
Kansas Geological Survey
University of Kansas
1930 Constant Avenue
Lawrence, KS 66047 USA
e-mail: buddrw at ku.edu
ph (1) (785) 864-2112
fax (1) (785) 864-5317

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