EcoTrends: past, present, and future - an opportunity to promote synthetic analyses
Join us for an update on the progress of the EcoTrends project, an introduction to the functionality of the new EcoTrends website (http://www.ecotrends.info), lessons learned during the project, and a description of plans for the future. We will also use this time to solicit and discuss ideas on how to better incorporate and display data via database design, web services and tools (e.g., mapping, analysis tools, modeling tools, and customizable features) that will further engage and support the research and information management community.
The EcoTrends project, started in 2004, is geared toward making long-term ecological data highly accessible and comperable for cross-site synthesis exploration. The EcoTrends website will be launched prior to the 2009 ASM, and the book, Long-Term Trends in Ecological Systems, will be published in early 2010. All LTER sites have engaged in submitting data to this project and many have been involved in committees and/or working groups. Several of these working groups have already or will soon submit articles to journals such as BioScience.