Global data base
Rationale
A continuing problem in analyzing the world’s
vegetation is that the great majority of data have
been collected by different agencies for different
purposes at different scales. This creates problems
for comparing vegetation in a uniform way within
and between regions. The VegClass method provides
a generic (standard) protocol for rapid recording
of vegetation that facilitates uniform comparison
of similarly collected data worldwide.
A core aim of CBM is to provide a readily accessible
database of VegClass sites from as many global environmental
conditions as possible. If sufficient data are
collected this will not only permit users to compare
their data with other global sites but will provide
a working platform for global agencies and conventions
concerned with developing and testing models to forecast
the impact of global change on vegetation. Because
VegClass uses PFTs that are constructed according to
presumed adaptive morphologies, changes in PFT assemblages
can be shown to represent associated changes in the
biophysical environment.
The global data set
CBM has a core data set of more than 1900 VegClass
sites (40x5m transects) collected from many areas
of the world over the past 30 years. These include
for example, hot and cold deserts, cool temperate
and hot tropical and tropicalpine locations as well
as a wide range of land use systems and land use
intensity gradients. Recent data from Central Asia
(Outer Mongolia) and the Central Caucasus mountains
of Georgia (see Activities) have helped fill important
data gaps. Data from earlier collections are currently
being carefully checked before being released later
in 2006.
Refining Plant Functional Classifications for Earth System Modeling: The TRY database
CBM is contributing to the newly developing TRY database."Plant functional classifications were proposed in the early-mid 1990’s as a tool to model vegetation dynamics and ecosystem functioning (esp. biogeochemical cycles) in response to climate and CO2. Since then, plant functional type (PFT) research has been a flourishing field, well beyond the realm of global change research. However a disconnect remains between modelers, working at the regional scale or beyond, who still tend to use rather coarse classifications, with few PFTs that are based on a small number of plant traits (e.g. life form, phenology, photosynthetic pathway), and experimental scientists who focus on a greater range of plant traits, and nowadays tend to prefer continuous descriptions rather than classifications into discrete PFTs. To bridge this gap between knowledge and modeling IGBP, QUEST and DIVERSITAS launched the Fast Track Initiative on Plant Functional Types: Refining Plant Functional Classifications for Earth System Modeling (PFT-FTI , 2006-2009).” CBM has contributed data from about 950 transects and hopes to raise this to 1900 by the end of 2009. For further information see: http://www.try-db.org/index.php?n=Site.AboutTRY
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