How to use the database

In freshwaterecology.info you may find fish, different macro-invertebrate taxagroups, macrophytes, diatoms and phytoplankton. At present there are two levels of access that offer different possibilities of queries:

• without login: taxagroups and countries can be queried, the Taxa Entry Tool (TET) can be used
• with login: all available ecological parameters can be queried
  If you want to become a registered member please contact Daniel Hering (daniel.hering@uni-due.de) and Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber (astrid.schmidt-kloiber@boku.ac.at) for your personal login.

The following procedures are explained:

• How to query taxagroups and countries: search, results
• How to query ecological parameters: search, results
• How to find the correct references and citation
• How to use the TET (Taxa Entry Tool)

How to query taxagroups and countries

Search

Taxagroup: Tick the checkbox of the taxagroup(s) you want to have displayed. You can choose more than one up to all ("Select all") taxagroups.

Country: Tick the checkbox of the country (countries) you want to have displayed. You can choose more than one up to all ("Select all") countries.

Option "Display only taxa occurring in all selected countries": displays only these taxa that occur in each of the selected countries.

Advanced search: offers you the possibility to search for a selected family, subfamily, genus or species. You can either enter the complete taxon ("equals"), the beginning ("begins with") or the ending ("ends with") of the demanded taxon name in the respective field.
You can also search for different identification numbers (ID-AQEM, AQEM/STAR shortcode, DV-Number, TCM-Code, Furse-Code, Perla-Code) by choosing one of them from the selection list.

Higher taxonomic units can be included, excluded or displayed exclusively by choosing the respective option.

Advanced display values: author or shortcode can be displayed by ticking the respective checkbox.
Tick the checkbox of the code that you want to have displayed. You can choose more than one up to all ("Select all") codes.

Move your mouse over the image to explore the functions of the database.

 

Results

The queried taxa are displayed on the left hand side of the table.
The queried countries are displayed on the right hand side of the table. The country abbreviation means that the specific taxon occurs in this country.

Move your mouse over the image to explore the functions of the database.

 

How to query ecological parameters

Note: For the availibility of ecological parameters see About the database.

Search

Example for the simultaneous query of two parameters (stream zonation preference, feeding type):

Tick - for example - the checkbox "Trichoptera" within the "Taxagroup"-selection. Tick the checkbox of the country (countries) you want to have displayed within the "Country"-selection.

Press the button "Ecological parameters" (only available if you are logged in). Select the ecological parameter that you want to query by ticking the checkbox left of the name of the parameter. If you want to have this (or another) parameter displayed within the "Results"-page, additionally tick the "display"-checkbox on the right hand side.
The database offers the possibility to query not only one ecological parameter but also two or more parameters at the same time.

Define the stream zonation preference (e.g.: all Trichoptera species living in standing water bodies and riparian zones of rivers indicated by 10 points within the "littoral"-field) and the feeding type (e.g.: no specification which means that all feeding types will be displayed) that you are interested in. For more information on the coding systems see Abbreviations.
Parameters can be combined with an "or"- or an "and"-relation on the lower end of the site.

Move your mouse over the image to explore the functions of the database.

 

Results

The "Results"-page offers a list of only those Trichoptera, that are living in standing water bodies and riparian zones of rivers. Additionally the feeding types of those species are displayed. The parameter for which a criterion was defined in the query is marked in colour.
Abbreviations are explained as tooltips and on the abbreviations site

Move your mouse over the image to explore the functions of the database.

 

How to find the correct references and citation

The use of ecological information of individual taxonomic groups and individual ecological parameters must always be cited correctly!

Press on the booklet-icon  on the right side of each of your query results (red arrow) to view the correct citation and the underlying references per species and ecological parameter.

For one specific organism group and one specific ecological parameter it may be necessary to cite several references! To facilitate this procedure press on the reference list-icon  in the headline of each queried ecological parameter (orange arrow). As a result a complete reference list will be displayed. Press on the grey headline Information generated from » to view all underlying references.

 

 

How to use the Taxa Entry Tool (TET)

The TET was developed to create standardised taxalists according to the freshwaterecology.info taxonomy. It is available for fish, macro-invertebrates, macrophytes, diatoms and phytoplankton.

Move your mouse over the image to explore the functions of the database.

1. Choose the number of samples that you want to enter in the field No. samples with the according buttons. Up to 230 samples are possible.
2. Enter any unit you need in the field Unit.
3. Press Apply to transfer these setting to the Taxalist below.
   Note: You can change the names of the sample as well as the unit directly in the Taxalist and have e.g., different units for different samples.
   The number of samples can be amended or reduced at any time, even if there are already taxa/species in the Taxalist. Please note that if you amend samples with different units, those already in the Taxalist will stay as originally entered. If you reduce samples already entered values will be lost.
4. If you want to view all available codes tick the checkbox Show codelist.
5. Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
6. Enter at least the first three letters of the genus that you want to insert in the Taxalist in the field Genus and choose then the according genus from the now opening selection list.
7. Enter at least the first letter of the species/taxon that you want to insert in the Taxalist in the field Species and choose then the according species/taxon from the now opening selection list.
   Note: You can use * to view the complete list of species/taxa belonging to the selected genus. You can move from the Genus to the Species field also using the tabulator key.
8. Press Transfer to taxalist to transfer the selected species/taxon to the Taxalist.
9. Enter the values (numbers, percentages, etc.) of the species/taxon in your sample fields.
   Note: You can move from one value-entry-field of a sample to the next using the tabulator key.
10. Tick the checkboxes cf. or juv. if you need these additions.
11. Press the Delete button, if you want to remove a species/taxon from the list.
12. After having entered all your species/taxa, choose your preferred export option (crosstab or list format), and then press the Export button to export the complete taxalist to MS Excel.

Note: If you enter different organism groups the TET will remember the current entries of each organism group; to get a new and empty form, just press the reload button of your browser.