As mentioned previously, there are three basic outputs of an ecogeographic
survey or study:
- The ecogeographic database - containing the raw data
for each taxon
- The ecogeographic conspectus - summarising the data
for each taxon
- The ecogeographic report - discussing the contents
of the database and proposing future conservation strategies
and collecting missions as appropriate.
The final production phase of the project commences with the synthesis
of all the data collected during the study to produce the final
conspectus and report.
The researcher should know how complete the database is and how
complete the collections surveyed are in terms of covering the
target area. A particular problem is as follows. If a particular habitat is
under-represented in the database, is it because:
- the taxon is absent from that habitat?
- that type of habitat has not been sampled or sampled inadequately?
- the target taxon has not been recognised in such a habitat?
This problem must be considered otherwise the results of the analysis
and the inferences drawn from them could be misleading.
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Copyright © 1997, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.
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