T.A.OSTROUMOVA, V.S.OSTROUMOV

Relations
Form for searching samples
Form "Sample" - primary sample Aegopodium kaschmiricum
Form "Sample" - primary sample Komarovia anisosperma
Form "Sample" - secondary sample Komarovia anisosperma
Form "Observations" 1
Form "Observations" 2
Form "Nomenclature history of a sample"
Photo: Aegopodium kaschmiricum
Photo: Komarovia anisosperma

Collection of Umbelliferae (IMAGE) was built in our botanical garden 25 year ago, plant material is used for morphological, anatomical, cytological, phytochemical, molecular-biological (DNA) investigations. Documentation condition is rather good, but the search of the information on the specimens in old journals is time-consuming, and after curator change some information was lost. No doubt, the best method of storage and processing of information is a database. Such a base is now bilt and filled, now the program improving and data correcting is carried out.

The database is MS Access 2.0 application and runs under OS Windows 3.11 and Windows 98, its files take 3.2 MB of hard disk space. The base unit in DB is a plant sample - one or some plants of common origin, collected in one locality on one day, or grown from seeds of one provenance. Every secondary sample refers to its parent sample and both share the informatoin on their origin and nomenclature. Annual observations (the position on the collection, living condition - vegetative/flowering/fruiting) are stored for every sample.

The field lists of the most important database tables are:

• Nomenclature History - ID, origin reference, date, combination reference
• Sample - ID, origin reference, touch, planting year, inventar number, plant material reference, parent reference, sample condition reference (dead/living/merged with parent), last observation, comment
• Origin - ID, primary sample reference, last history reference, region and country reference, location rus. and engl., collectors rus. and engl., date, voucher number, botanical garden, delectus year, number in the delectus, herbarium from Moscow living collectoin y/n
• Observation - sample reference, observation year, growth position reference, bed number, bed position (from - to), annual condition reference, seed collected y/n
• Combination - ID, genus reference, species epitet, author of species, infraspecies epitet and author, synonym reference, accepted/no
• Genus - ID, genus name, refernces:right name, subtribe, tribe, subfamily
• Subtribe - ID, name, number in family system
• Tribe - ID, name, number in family system
• Subfamily - ID, name, number in family system

Our database allows to carry out the sample search by any attribute. It also can print phenological tables. Any of relation DB querues can be easily implemented, and their results can de exported to MS Excell and MS Word.

The database improves information processing, and also it makes the curator to work with the collection better than before, to seek for the correct data on sample origin, to fillful precise annual inventory.

Botanical Garden of M.V.Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119899 Russia.
Tel. (095)939-3471
fax (095)939-2450,
email: ostroum@2.botgard.bio.msu.ru
URL: http://www.botanik.cs.msu.su