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Introduction |
BugsCEP is not only a database but also a set of tools for storing, managing and interpreting beetle data. It is built to be useful for ecologists and entomologists working with either modern or fossil data, and can be used to store the species lists and sample abundances from pitfall trapping and Quaternary sampling alike.
The major components of BugsCEP can be accessed from the main toolbar, which is shown towards the top of the screen, as shown below.
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Other tools are only available from within the specific components -
for example: Countsheet export & site reports are available from the
Countsheet Manager within the Site Manager
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The tools |
| Species data retrieval | ||
| The main interface allows you to browse by species
and reador extract: - published ecological information with references - published distribution data with references - synonyms - RDB - Red Data Book status (only UK so far, but facilities for more) - known (Quaternary) fossil record - sites and dates (if present) - coded ecological summary (Koch* and internal BugsEcoCodes) - taxonomic notes and limited size attributes |
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| Search by habitat (and more) | ||
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Lists of species that match specified criteria can be obtained
(EcoCodes, RDB and biology and distribution text). |
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| Site & collection data storage | ||
| Users can store their collection/sample data as any
number of countsheets (species/sample-abundance cross tabulations)
per site. Site summary information, including latitude & longitude can be stored, and output in reports. BugsCEP can create a number of reports that summarise/list the ecological & distribution data for all species found at a site, with references, saving hours of literature searching! Species lists and countsheets can also be imported from MS Excel files. Lists are automatically sorted into taxonomic order¤ |
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| MCR Climate reconstruction | ||
| Mean summer and winter temperatures can be reconstructed
from species lists, sample by sample, using the MCR method (Atkinson
et al, 1978). BugsCEP will produce simple thermal diagrams in MS Excel, along with exporting the raw data and sample thermal envelopes (climate space maps). It also has the facility to show which species could theoretically survive in any given temperature range - effectively allowing users to predict changes in species distributions with climate change. |
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| Environmental reconstruction | ||
| Ecological summary diagrams can be created, showing
the changing ecological implications of species over samples. A variety of simple statistical treatments are available - including abundance weighting and ln(n+1) transformation. Summary reports can be created to enable analysis of these diagrams sample by sample. Correlation coefficients can be calculated to assess the (dis)similarity between all samples at a site# |
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| Reporting & exporting | ||
| A variety of time saving reports can be created and
exported, including: - summary data for any taxon - all information for species found at a site, with references - abreviated forms of the above - summary information for all sites which include specific species - sample by sample, species by species breakdown of ecological implications of species found at a site - MCR climate reconstructions - BugsEcoCode environmental reconstructions - export countsheet in MS Excel format |
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| Bibliography | ||
| A comprehensive bibliography of over 3100 papers on beetle ecology, distribution and fossil records is included in BugsCEP. | ||
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Notes |
¤ Taxonomy is based upon Lucht (1987)
revised Böhme (2005), and Gustafsson (2005) with changes where noted.
For revision at the Family and subfamily level, see Lawrence &&
Newton 1995.
Bugs Taxonomic Codes are a modified form of the Central European Codes
of Lucht (1987).
# Currently only 'Modified Sorensen' (Bray && Curtis' modification of Sorensen's coefficient of correlation) is available right now. This is the compliment (1-B) of the Bray & Curtis measure of dissimilarity (Krebbs, 1999). See Southwood (1978) for details.
Atkinson, T. C., Briffa, K. R. & Coope, G. R. (1987). Seasonal temperatures in Britain during the past 22,000 years, reconstructed using beetle remains. Nature (London), 325, 587-592.
Böhme, J. (2005). Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. K. Katalog (Faunistiche Übersicht) (2nd ed.). Spektrum Academic, Munich.
Gustafsson, B. (2005). (CATCOL2004.XLS) revised 2005-02-01 Bert Gustafsson NRM. Original title Catalogus Coleopterorum Sueciae 1995 ISBN 91-86510-40-1 (layout T.Hägg)
Koch, K. (1989-92). Die Käfer Mitteleuropas. Ökologie, 1-3. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld.
Krebs CJ, (1989), Ecological methodology. Harper Collins Publishers, New York, USA, p. 654.
Lawrence, J. F. & Newton, A. F. Jr. (1995). Families and subfamilies of Coleoptera (with selected genera, notes, references and data on family-group names). In, J. Pakaluk & S. A. Slipinski (eds.) Biology, Phylogeny, and Classification of Coleoptera, 2, 779-1008. Museum & Institute of Zoology, Warsaw.
Lucht, W.H. (1987). Die Käfer Mitteleuropas, Katalog. Goecke & Evers, Krefeld.
Southwood TRE, (1978), Ecological methods, with particular reference to the study of insect populations. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2nd ed., 524p.
