The Brazilian Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio) Information System.

Abstract

The database of the Brazilian Program for Biodiversity Research (PPBio; GIVD ID SA-BR-001) includes data on the environment and biological groups such as plants. It is organized by site, which is usually a grid with 10 to 72 uniformly-distributed plots, and has already surveyed 1,638 relevés across different Brazilian ecosystems. The sampling design is based on the RAPELD system to allow integration of data from diverse taxa and ecosystem processes. RAPELD is a spatially-explicit sampling scheme to monitor biodiversity in long-term ecological research sites and during rapid appraisals of biodiversity that has attracted support from many management agencies, which are using it as their long-term monitoring system. Vegetation surveys include measurements of cover, biomass and number of individuals from woody and herbaceous vascular plants, along with environmental data. We have recently migrated to a metadata catalog and data repository which allows searching for specific groups across all sites. All RAPELD data have been collected since 2001, though the site also allows data from other long-term plots to be archived as associated projects