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VegBank Data Dictionary: Tables

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DB Table Name	taxonObservation
Table	Taxon Observation
Notes	This table contains the author's determination of a taxon and the overall cover of that taxon.
Description	This table stores information about the original identification by the author of the plot and the taxonomic authority used by that author (i.e. a name - citation pair constituting a taxonomic concept). The table also contains a record of cumulative cover (cover across all strata) of the taxon when not divided into strata.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID TAXONOBSERVATION_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique observation of a taxon in a plot. Observation OBSERVATION_ID required Integer FK no Link to the parent observation event of this taxon observation. Author Plant Name authorPlantName no varchar (255) n/a no The taxon name that the author of the plot used to refer to a taxon observed within the plot. Reference reference_ID no Integer FK no The authority for the taxon that was used by the plot author. If the authority is unknown the author of the plot is the authority. For other than legacy data, this field plus plantName_ID will be sufficient to determine taxonInterpretation.plantConcept_ID. Taxon Inference Area taxonInferenceArea no Float n/a no This is the area in m2 used to infer the presence of a given taxon. Generally this should be equal to observation.taxonInferenceArea, but at times this area may be larger or smaller for a specific taxon. RESERVED VALUE: -1 is used to indicate that no known plot boundaries were used when recording this species on the plot. That is, this species may occur outside the plot area as indicated in the plot and observation tables. Accession Code accessionCode no varchar (100) n/a no Code that uniquely references this record, allowing reference to this record for this version of this database. Better than a primary key, which is automatically generated by a database and not globally unique. VegBank Accession codes are only generated by VegBank, and therefore data integrity can be guaranteed, unlike with a primary key (number).

 

DB Table Name	taxonAlt
Table	Taxon Alt
Notes	This table shows alternate taxa that are to be grouped for a taxonInterpretation.
Description	When this table is used, the taxonInterpretation that is referenced here is interpreting the taxonObservation as the combination of all plantConcepts referenced in this table with the same taxonInterpretation_ID. TaxonInterpretation.groupType shows what type of group this is (one of, union, unknown).
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID taxonAlt_ID no serial PK no Database generated number to uniquely identify this record, and thus taxonGroup. Taxon Interpretation taxonInterpretation_ID required Integer FK no Links to the taxonInterpretation for which several plantConcepts are grouped to form an irregular taxon. The plantConcept referenced here is one member of the group. Plant Concept plantConcept_ID required Integer FK no Links to the plantConcept that is part of the taxonGroup formed by all records in this table with the same taxonInterpretation_ID. Taxon Fit taxonAltFit no varchar (50) n/a closed Indicates the degree of fit with the plant concept being assigned. Values derive from Gopal, S., and Woodcock, C. (1994), Theory and methods for accuracy assessment of thematic maps using fuzzy sets. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing 60(2):181-188. Taxon Confidence taxonAltConfidence no varchar (50) n/a closed Indicates the degree of confidence of the interpreter(s) in the interpretation made. This can reflect the level of familiarity with the classification or the sufficiency of information about the plot (e.g., High, Moderate, Low). Taxon Alt Notes taxonAltNotes no text n/a no These are notes that the interpreter has included with the interpretation (generally, the reason for the interpretation).

 

DB Table Name	telephone
Table	Telephone
Notes	Telephone numbers for the various individuals and organizations in the party table.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID TELEPHONE_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique telephone contact record. Party PARTY_ID required Integer FK no This is the 'link' between a PARTY and an entry in the TELEPHONE table. Phone Number phoneNumber required varchar (30) n/a no Telephone number. Phone Type phoneType required varchar (20) n/a closed This is the type of telephone: home, work, fax, cell, secretary, other.

 

DB Table Name	userDefined
Table	User Defined
Notes	This table contains the definitions of user-defined variables. The table structure stems from desire to keep the user-defined variables separate from the main body of the database.
Description	This table contains the definitions of user-defined variables. The table structure stems from desire to keep the user-defined variables separate from the main body of the database.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID USERDEFINED_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique user-defined variable. User Defined Name userDefinedName no varchar (50) n/a open Name of the user-defined variable. User Defined Metadata userDefinedMetadata no text n/a no Metadata about this user-defined variable. User Defined Category userDefinedCategory no varchar (30) n/a closed Category of variable; included to facilitate queries for specific types of data. User Defined Type userDefinedType required varchar (20) n/a no Database data type of the user-defined variable. Table Name tableName required varchar (50) n/a no Name of table with which this user-defined variable is associated. For example soilBHorizonColor may be defined by the data contributor as associated with the observation table. Accession Code accessionCode no varchar (100) n/a no Code that uniquely references this record, allowing reference to this record for this version of this database. Better than a primary key, which is automatically generated by a database and not globally unique. VegBank Accession codes are only generated by VegBank, and therefore data integrity can be guaranteed, unlike with a primary key (number).

 

DB Table Name	embargo
Table	Embargo on Plot
Notes	Embargo of plot data.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition Embargo ID embargo_ID required serial PK no Database generated unique key for each record in this table. Plot ID plot_ID required Integer FK no Foreign key to the plot to which this embargo applies. Embargo Reason embargoReason required text n/a closed Reason why the plot is embargoed. This field, as all fields in this table, are private and cannot be viewed or downloaded by VegBank users. Embargo Start embargoStart required Date n/a no Start date for the embargo. Embargo Stop embargoStop required Date n/a no Stop date for the embargo. Default Status defaultStatus required Integer n/a closed Level of embargo for users that do not have special permission found in userPermission table.

 

DB Table Name	revision
Table	Revision
Notes	This table constitutes a log of changes in data deposited in the database.
Description	This table was designed to store as a single, stand-alone table information about attributes in any of the database tables.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID REVISION_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique revision. Table Name tableName required varchar (50) n/a no Name of the table where the change occurred. Table Attribute tableAttribute required varchar (50) n/a no The name of the attribute where the chance occurred. Table Record tableRecord required Integer n/a no The number of the record in which the change occurred (i.e., the value of the primary key associated with the value in which the change occurred) Revision Date revisionDate required Date n/a no The date on which the revision was made. Previous Value Text previousValueText required text n/a no The previous value as a character string. Previous Value Type previousValueType required varchar (20) n/a no The data type of the attribute changed. Previous Revision previousRevision_ID no Integer FK no Pointer to a previous record of a revision.

 

DB Table Name	soilObs
Table	Soil Observation
Notes	This table stores observation on soil horizons made during the plot observation event.
Description	soilObs is child of observation in recognition of the fact that the horizons observed vary among plot observation events as a results of real change plus changes in investigators, methods and circumstances.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID SOILOBS_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique soil observation. Observation OBSERVATION_ID required Integer FK no Link to the observation event to which this soil observation is associated. Soil Horizon soilHorizon required varchar (15) n/a closed The horizon to which this observation applies. Soil Depth Top soilDepthTop no Float n/a no The depth at which the horizon observation starts. Soil Depth Bottom soilDepthBottom no Float n/a no The depth at which the horizon observation ends. Soil Color soilColor no varchar (30) n/a no Soil color (USDA guidelines recommended). Soil Organic soilOrganic no Float n/a no Percent organic content of the soil (for methods see observation.methodsNarrative). Soil Texture soilTexture no varchar (50) n/a closed Soil texture class.The texture classes sands, loamy sands, and sandy loams (plural terms) correspond to sand, loamy sand, and sandy loam (singular terms) in the textural triangle. Soil Sand soilSand no Float n/a no Percent sand in the soil horizon. Soil Silt soilSilt no Float n/a no Percent silt in the soil horizon. Soil Clay soilClay no Float n/a no Percent clay in the soil horizon. Soil Coarse soilCoarse no Float n/a no percent coarse fragments in the soil, prior to removal for textural analysis Soil PH soilPH no Float n/a no pH of the soil (for methods see observation.methodsNarrative). Exchange Capacity exchangeCapacity no Float n/a no Cation exchange capacity (for methods see observation.methodsNarrative). Base Saturation baseSaturation no Float n/a no Percent base saturation (for methods see observation.methodsNarrative). Soil Description soilDescription no text n/a no Text description of the soil.

 

DB Table Name	soilTaxon
Table	Soil Taxon
Notes	This table stores the valid soilTaxon records that may be used to describe the soil of a plot.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID SOILTAXON_ID no serial PK no Database assigned value for a unique soil type Soil Code soilCode no varchar (15) n/a no SCS Code Soil Name soilName no varchar (100) n/a no Name of soil type Soil Level soilLevel no Integer n/a no Hierarchical level; 1=Order, 2=Suborder, 3=GreatGroup, 4=SubGroup, 5=Family, 6=Series Soil Parent SOILPARENT_ID no Integer FK no Parent soil taxon in the soil taxon hierarchy for this particular framwork. For example, in USDA soils list, the parent of a soil SubGroup would be the GreatGroup. Soil Framework soilFramework no varchar (33) n/a no System in which this soil taxon is part. This field may be used to separate multiple soil taxonomic systems. Each unique soil taxonomic system should have all its soilTaxon records with the same soilFramework value. Correlation of different framework taxa is not currently possible. Accession Code accessionCode no varchar (100) n/a no Code that uniquely references this record, allowing reference to this record for this version of this database. Better than a primary key, which is automatically generated by a database and not globally unique. VegBank Accession codes are only generated by VegBank, and therefore data integrity can be guaranteed, unlike with a primary key (number).

 

DB Table Name	stemCount
Table	Stem Count
Notes	This table is intended to store information about the abundance of tree stems of a specific size.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID STEMCOUNT_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique stem tally. Taxon Importance TAXONIMPORTANCE_ID required Integer FK no Foreign key into the taxonImportance table, thereby associating a taxon identification with the tree stem(s). DBH stemDiameter no Float n/a no The diameter of the stem in centimeters. When diameter classes are used, the stemDiameter is the midpoint between the low end and high end for the diameter class; the offset between this and the endpoints is stored in the stemDiameterAccuracy attribute. DBH err stemDiameterAccuracy no Float n/a no The accuracy of the stem diameter measurements in centimeters. This represents the distance between the diameter class midpoint and endpoint. Ht. stemHeight no Float n/a no The measured height of the stem in meters. When height classes are used, the stemHeight is the midpoint between the low end and high end for the height class; the offset between this and the endpoint is stored in the stemHeightAccuracy field. Ht. Err stemHeightAccuracy no Float n/a no The accuracy of the measured height of a stem, being the offset between the midpoint of the class and the endpoint, in meters. # stemCount required Integer n/a no The number of stems of a single species that have these specific stem diameter and height data in common. Stem Taxon Area stemTaxonArea no Float n/a no This is the area in m2 used to infer the presence of the stem(s) referenced in this record. Overrides similar area field in taxonObservation, taxonImportance, and/or observation. RESERVED VALUE: -1 is used to indicate no known boundaries were used while collecting this stem size.

 

DB Table Name	stemLocation
Table	Stem Location
Notes	This table is intended to store location information about individual tree stems.
Field DB Field Name Req'd? Data Type Misc Flag List? Definition ID STEMLOCATION_ID no serial PK no Database generated identifier assigned to each unique stem observation. Stem Count STEMCOUNT_ID required Integer FK no Foreign key into the stemSize table, thereby assigning a location to a particular stem of a specific size Stem Code stemCode no varchar (20) n/a no Name or code applied to a specific stem in the plot. This is generally a numeric label to associate a field data entry with a stem in the database. Stem X Position stemXPosition no Float n/a no The X-coordinate of the stem position in m. The user will enter the relative position of stems with respect to the plot origin (in meters) with the x-axis defined by the plot azimuth. Stem Y Position stemYPosition no Float n/a no The Y-coordinate of the stem position, as above. Stem Health stemHealth no varchar (50) n/a open Health of the stem referenced in this stemLocation record. Usually used to describe "dead" stems.