Don RobertsonNIWA Wellington

NZ Freshwater Fish Database.

NZ Freshwater Fish Database includes: • site location • species present• abundance and size• sampling method used • a physical description of the site

The latter includes an assessment of habitat type, substrate type, available fish cover, catchment vegetation, riparian vegetation, water widths and depths, and water quality measurements.

NIWA Freshwater Biodiversity & Biosecurity Data

 Four broad categories of freshwater biodiversity & biosecurity data are held by NIWA:  

fish

invertebrates

submerged macrophytes

algae  

Issues with the freshwater fish database.

User demand increasing (e.g. web map visualisation tools) $ costs increasing $ Revenue decreasing Funding provides for only limited data QA & entry Not integrated with other freshwater biodata

No metadata system

These issues constrain the emerging demand for a more comprehensive data management system which meets multi-project, multi-institutional requirements to help better meet clients goals (e.g. goals of the NZBS).

A Possible Solution Gain funding to provide for:

improved data management,

improved application of standards,

improved interoperability across & within institutions,

improved integration of dispersed datasets,

enhanced access,

provision of a national data repository,

facilitation & enhanced use of correlative bio-spatial analyses,

modelling and prediction tools,

facilitation of development and application of new data associations

& map-based management decision tools, to help achieve the goals

of the NZBS.

A Result  

TFBIS funding is approved for a project to upgrade NZ’s freshwater biodiversity & biosecurity data management (including the freshwater fish database) with a project to:

 Design and implement an integrated multi-user web-interfaced

database built using established data management standards, emerging software development standards and protocols; to be a potential repository for all NZ’s freshwater biodiversity and biosecurity data, supported by metadata, species identification guides and map-based tools.  This project could become the national freshwater biodiversity & biosecurity database of choice and, where appropriate, provide links to any associated specimen collections.