The "Late Neogene Terrestrial Ecosystem Database" will include fossil data for the past 5 million years (the Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holocene epochs), the time during which modern species, including humans and modern ecosystems appeared. The purposes of the database are (1) to facilitate studies of ecosystem development and response to climate change, (2) to provide the historical context for understanding biodiversity dynamics, including genetic diversity, (3) to provide the data for climate-model validation, (4) to provide a safe, long-term, low-cost archive for a wide variety of paleobiological data, and (5) by to lower the overall cost of paleodata management. This database fulfills two critical needs: (1) it is an archive of invaluable paleobiological data and (2) it is essential infrastructure for paleoenvironmental research. This new database will integrate four existing databases into a single integrated database. The existing databases are the Global Pollen Database, the North American Plant Macrofossil Database, FAUNMAP (a mammalian database), and BEETLE, a fossil beetle database. These databases are currently in out-of-date PC database management systems, which are not suitable for Web servicing. They will be merged into a new database using state-of-the art software for Web servicing and using a completely new data model suitable for disparate types of paleobiological data. The databases that will be subsumed have become critical infrastructure for paleobiological research. They are used for almost every aspect of this research, from broad-scale synoptic studies to understanding the context of local site studies to using the database as a taxonomic standard. They are also widely used as teaching tools. Their integration will facilitate new lines of research and even more use of these data.
