Managing heterogeneous ecological data using Morpho

Ecological and environmental data cover a wide range of topics, from biodiversity surveys to measurements of trace gas fluxes, and are modeled using a tremendous variety of schemas. We have developed Morpho, a data management application designed to assist researchers in managing this heterogeneous collection of ecological data. Our goal in developing Morpho was to ease the burden of data management on scientists while improving access to and documentation for ecological data. Morpho allows ecological researchers to describe their data using a comprehensive and flexible metadata specification, and to share their data publicly or to specific collaborators over the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (KNB). Morpho´s main features include: (1) flexible metadata creation and editing using an XML syntax for metadata exchange; (2) a ´wizard´ interface for collecting metadata; (3) automated metadata extraction while importing data; (4) an XML editor that is configurable using multiple XML DTDs; (5) compliance with the Ecological Metadata Language; (6) powerful metadata search on the network or locally; and, (7) comprehensive revision control for data and metadata.