Demystifying the Landscape of Ecological Data Repositories in the United States

Abstract

The landscape of repositories holding ecological data is complex and promotes the isolation of data from subdisciplines in separate repositories. Ecological synthesis can involve data from many subdisciplines and therefore may require researchers to navigate multiple data repositories to aggregate data for analysis. Additional challenges to coordinating the cyberinfrastructure needed to manage the nation's ecological data include the absence of an overall strategic approach, including a plan for the sustainability of data repositories, and the lack of technical and financial resources for managing data generated by individuals and small projects. Development of a strategic vision for infrastructure to manage ecological data at a national scale is of prime importance for simplifying and integrating the complex landscape of ecological data repositories. As part of that vision, an ecological data center could provide services that would make the current system of repositories and aggregators function better for both individual data providers and data users.