Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data

Jonathan N Pauli¹, Seth D Newsome², Joseph A Cook³, Chris Harrod⁴, Shawn A Steffan^{5

6}, Christopher J O Baker⁷, Merav Ben-David⁸, David Bloom⁹, Gabriel J Bowen¹⁰, Thure E Cerling¹⁰, Carla Cicero¹¹, Craig Cook⁸, Michelle Dohm¹², Prarthana S Dharampal⁶, Gary Graves^{13

14}, Robert Gropp¹⁵, Keith A Hobson¹⁶, Chris Jordan¹⁷, Bruce MacFadden¹⁸, Suzanne Pilaar Birch^{19

20}, Jorrit Poelen²¹, Sujeevan Ratnasingham²², Laura Russell⁹, Craig A Stricker²³, Mark D Uhen²⁴, Christopher T Yarnes²⁵, Brian Hayden²⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706; jnpauli@wisc.edu.
² Center for Stable Isotopes, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
³ Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
⁴ Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile.
⁵ US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Madison, WI 53706.
⁶ Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada E2L 4L5.
⁸ Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, WY 82071.
⁹ VertNet/iDigBio, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
¹⁰ Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
¹¹ Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
¹² Public Library of Science, San Francisco, CA 94111.
¹³ Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012.
¹⁴ Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁵ American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington, DC 20005.
¹⁶ Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK Canada S7N 3H5.
¹⁷ Texas Advanced Computing Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758.
¹⁸ Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
¹⁹ Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, GA 30602.
²⁰ Department of Geography, University of Georgia, GA 30602.
²¹ Private address, Oakland, CA 94610.
²² Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1.
²³ US Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Denver, CO 80225.
²⁴ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030.
²⁵ Stable Isotope Facility, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
²⁶ Biology Department, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 5A3.

PMID: 28325883
PMCID: PMC5373358
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701742114

Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data

Jonathan N Pauli et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017.

. 2017 Mar 21;114(12):2997-3001.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701742114.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706; jnpauli@wisc.edu.
² Center for Stable Isotopes, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
³ Museum of Southwestern Biology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.
⁴ Instituto de Ciencias Naturales Alexander von Humboldt, Universidad de Antofagasta, Antofagasta 1270300, Chile.
⁵ US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Madison, WI 53706.
⁶ Department of Entomology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706.
⁷ Department of Computer Science, University of New Brunswick, Saint John, NB, Canada E2L 4L5.
⁸ Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, WY 82071.
⁹ VertNet/iDigBio, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
¹⁰ Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
¹¹ Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
¹² Public Library of Science, San Francisco, CA 94111.
¹³ Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012.
¹⁴ Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁵ American Institute of Biological Sciences, Washington, DC 20005.
¹⁶ Environment Canada, Saskatoon, SK Canada S7N 3H5.
¹⁷ Texas Advanced Computing Center, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758.
¹⁸ Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.
¹⁹ Department of Anthropology, University of Georgia, GA 30602.
²⁰ Department of Geography, University of Georgia, GA 30602.
²¹ Private address, Oakland, CA 94610.
²² Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 2W1.
²³ US Geological Survey, Fort Collins Science Center, Denver, CO 80225.
²⁴ George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030.
²⁵ Stable Isotope Facility, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
²⁶ Biology Department, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 5A3.

PMID: 28325883
PMCID: PMC5373358
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1701742114

No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

**Fig. 1.**
Organizational structure for the proposed IsoBank. A central executive group would oversee four subcommittees (SC): Information technology, integrative disciplinary, education and training, and analytical expertise. GNIP, Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation; IAEA, International Atomic Energy Association; QA/QC, quality assurance/quality control.

**Fig. 2.**
A schematic of the proposed database structure, outlining how contributors and users would interface with samples, analyses, measurements, and datasets. GNIP, Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation; IAEA, International Atomic Energy Association; VCDT, Vienna Canyon Diablo Troilite; VPDB, Vienna PDB; VSMOW, Vienna Standard Mean Oceanic Water.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

1. Fry B. Stable Isotope Ecology. Springer; New York: 2006.
1. West JB, Bowen GJ, Dawson TE, Tu KP. Isoscapes: Understanding Movement, Pattern, and Process on Earth Through Isotope Mapping. Springer; The Netherlands: 2010.
1. Pauli JN, Steffan SA, Newsome SD. It is time for IsoBank. Bioscience. 2015;65:229–230.
1. West JB, Bowen GJ, Cerling TE, Ehleringer JR. Stable isotopes as one of nature’s ecological recorders. Trends Ecol Evol. 2006;21(7):408–414. - PubMed
1. Medina-Elizalde M, Rohling EJ. Collapse of classic Maya civilization related to modest reduction in precipitation. Science. 2012;335(6071):956–959. - PubMed

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Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data

Affiliations

Opinion: Why we need a centralized repository for isotopic data

Authors

Affiliations

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Other Literature Sources