Description of the key Entities for the Dendro Fire database.

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References:

References are documents of tree-ring related research.  They may be reports, journal articles, Power-point presentations, posters and the like.  References may be tied to groupings of tree-ring data (tree-ring features or events), so that the data may be recovered by searching the attributes of a reference, or a reference may be discovered by searching the attributes of data.

 

Attributes of References:

Publication (Ecoscience, Ecological Applications, etc.)

Reference (as it might occur as a citation in a publication)

Title

Abstract

Publication Date

Volume

Issue

Pages

Notes

Type (journal article, poster, M.S. Thesis, etc.)

Authors(s)

Geographic Keyword(s)

Thematic Keyword(s)

Feature Group(s)

Event Group(s)

 

Reference Copies:

Reference copies are the locations of copies of for a reference.

 

Attributes of Reference Copies:

Library

Accession Code

URL (for online copies)

 

Trees:

 

Attributes of Trees are:

Tree ID

Species

Latitude

Longitude

Accuracy

Sample(s)

Notes

Publish

 

Tree Features:

Tree features are any features of the wood that a dendrochronologist wants to record.  Some features are used as proxy evidence for events, or are otherwise important in analysis.

 

Attributes of Tree Features are:

Year

Position (early earlywood, middle earlywood, late earlywood, latewood)

Feature (fire scar, pith, bark, growth release, etc.)

Accuracy (in years or fractions of a year)

Interpreter

Preferred (indicates whether or not the particular interpretation of a tree feature has been corrected)

Notes

Publish

Feature Groups:

Feature groups are groupings of tree features.  There are different types of groups, including (and most likely) a “site” grouping. A site is a somewhat ambiguous term applied to a geographic area.  A site may contain other sites or overlap other sites. Other types of groupings are possible, but currently undefined.  Grouping by species or elevation band are examples of other groupings.

 

Attributes of Feature Groups are:

Name

Abbreviation

Group Type

Notes

Events:

For the purposes of this application, “Fire” would be the only type of event.  However, any other type of event in which features of trees are used as proxies could be included.  Examples of other events are volcanic eruptions (from frost rings) or insect outbreak (growth suppression). 

 

Attributes of Events are:

Event Type

Date

Accuracy (Accuracy in days for the date assigned to the event. This allows for the searching of an event who’s date is determined by proxies of differing temporal resolutions.)

Tree Feature Evidence

Notes

Publish (Whether or not this event should be available to the general public.)

 

Event Groups:

If event data including Tree Feature evidence is recorded, this grouping may be used instead of feature groups (and the feature groups may be generated from the event groups, assuming the same reasons for the grouping were employed for both).

 

Attributes of Feature Groups are:

Name

Abbreviation

Group Type

Reference(s)

Notes

Collection Trips:

A collection trip is an expedition to the field to collect wood samples.

 

Attributes of collection trips are:

Begin date

End date

Collector(s)

Sample(s)

Notes

Samples:

Samples refer to the wood taken from trees for analysis.

 

Attributes of Samples:

Sample ID

Sample Height

Sample Type (core, radius, ¼ cross-section, ½ cross-section, complete cross-section)

Wood Source (snag, log, stump, live tree)

Notes

Curator

 

Collections:

Collections are generic groupings of samples. They refer to the physical material, not the data derived from them. Examples are "The Bristlecone Pine Collection" or "The Navajo Land Claims Collection". May or may not be of interest to the ITRDB.

 

Attributes of Collections:

Collection ID

Collection Name

Notes