Finding Data using EcoPlots

To access the EcoPlots data search portal, load the TERN EcoPlots webpage on a web browser. TERN recommend using the Google Chrome browser, but should work for all popular browsers. The home page provides further information on EcoPlots and details about the data sources available.

To search for the data in EcoPlots, you can either click on the red “Search Plot data” button or the “Search” button in the menu bar on the home page.

On loading the search page, all site and site-visit information available in EcoPlots will be visible even when users have activated no filters.

The green box with the white chevron allows you to widen the results panel by collapsing the filter panel. The grey bar has information about how many observation counts (or site visit counts if “site visit” tab is selected) are available within the limits of your chosen filters. Rows denote how many individual data entries there are. Page Size allows you to control how many results are viewable per page, and the arrows allow you to navigate between pages with the page number displayed in the centre.

The orange superscripts (next to the Site id data rows in the example above) indicate that the entity has a number of attributes. Cell can be clicked to give extra information about that data item.

Available filters

On the left of the screen is a list of filters that will allow you to customise your data search. Eight different filters can be used alone or in combination during your data search. Each heading with an icon can be expanded to show different options related to that filter. The Clear All Filters button will return you to the default search state, displaying rows of the available site and site-visit information.

Region Types and Regions
Geographic areas where data is available. Support multiple region types, including states and territories, IBRA, NRM, CAPAD, etc.
Data Sources, Datasets, Projects, Sites and Visits
Provide options to select different data sources, datasets, and projects.
Procedures
Specify the methods of sampling used.
Features Types
Select the feature(s) of interest
Parameters
Select Observable properties (both primary and derived) (ie. field species names, growth form, etc.) and calculations.
Species name
Limit results to a particular taxonomic classification; is not case sensitive.
Date Range
Restrict to data collected during a specific time period.
Custom Search
Default search uses OR (results must match at least one of the search terms entered). For multiple search terms, it may be beneficial to use AND. Search is not case sensitive.

More information on definitions for each class is available on the TERN LinkedData Attributes page. The TERN Information Models page contains information regarding the ontological and data vocabularies used.

Tabbed results

Different tabs within the search results panel allow the investigation of search results according to the “feature type” of the observation or sampling.

This example is the result of a “species name” search requesting data for the genus Melaleuca. Results include feature type data recorded for individual plants sampled, individual branch observation data, details about specimens collected, and data about the characteristics of dead wood sampled that has been identified from this genus.

You can navigate between the different tabs to view the different subsets of the data output from the search. It is important to note that multiple tabs generated by your search may indicate that the parameter you have selected may be observed in multiple feature types.

The next pages in this section give an overview of how to: