STUDIES OF BIOLOGICAL DATABASES IN TURKEY

Thanks to biodiversity with extensive plant taxa and Turkey being included in the gene pool of the classical crop plants, Turkey is in a position of the diversity center of potential industrial and crop plants. Therefore, plant diversity of Turkey should be determined, protected, monitored and sustained in rationalistic ways. Towards this purpose, some computerized biological databases have been created in the last 15 years. Such enterprises were previously produced by individual studies not connected to each other. However, later, these studies were supported by the govermental organizations according to a master plan. The first computerized database study on the Flora was produced by M. Tekin Babac and his co-workers.This database is a system that gives the distribution of Vicieae tribus’ taxa on a map of the Elazig province (East Anatolia) drawn on the screen.[1].

Later, a similar database was created containing data about higher plants and parasitic fungi of Pütürge in Malatya province (Eastern Anatolia) [2]. The other database created [3] contains data about medicinal and other industrial plants of Elazığ province in eastern Anatolia. By using a commercial database program (dBASEIII +), an extensive database of Turkish Vicia taxa (vetch) was created [3].

After such individual studies, the database projects supported by a govermental organization has developed. One of the first database projects [4], which was supported by "Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey"(TÜBİTAK) is the Database of Turkish Plants (TÜBVET) created by M. Tekin Babac, Adil Güner, Musa Doğan, Atabay Düzenli and Ahmet Şahin. In this database, Davis’s "Turkish Flora and East Agean Islands" [5] was taken as a base and some taxonomic, floristic, geographic, ecologic and curatorial data of the Turkish taxa were entered. In 1993, a standard database management system for Turkish Herbaria of HUB and FUH (6) supported by TUBITAK were written and developed by Sadik Erik, M. Tekin Babac and C. Can Bilgin [6]. After this project, "The Central Database of Turkish Herbaria" (TÜRKHERB) project [7] supported by both TUBITAK and "Republic of Prime Ministry-State Planning Organization" (DPT) was completed in 1997 by M. Tekin Babac, C. Can Bilgin and Erdogan Usta.

By the results of such developments on databases of the Turkish plants, the "Biodiversity Information Research Unit" (BIEN) was founded as a suborganization of TUBITAK (TBAG - The Basic Sciences Research Group) in 1996. Briefly, the purposes of BIEN are to collect and collate data about biodiversity (both animals and plants) in Turkey, and to make some plans on relevant research in these areas, and to provide coordination within/between national and international databases. Therefore, the creation of national databases on the biodiversity are considered initialy. There are three subprojects in the scope of BIEN. One of them was "The Nomenclatural Database of Turkish Vascular Plants" carried out by Prof. Musa Doğan and his co-workers and completed in 2001. The second subproject was "The Database of Turkish Freswater Algae" carried out by Prof. Bülent Şen.The last project which was started in 2002 is "The Database of Turkish Flowerless Plants" (except freshwater algae) carried out by Prof. M. Tekin Babaç.

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PURPOSES OF TURKISH PLANTS DATA SERVICE

It has been aimed to serve TUBVET, which had already been created, via İnternet by TUBIVES. In order to perform this purpose, TUBVET has been reorganized. Therefore, updating of TUBVET was also beeing planned with a different group of scientists. This updating process has almost taken about three years.

The other purposes of TUBIVES were to explain the usage of TUBVET and to get some statistical results. Furthermore, some new requiring programs according to needs were also being planned to be developed.

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LITERATURE

1. Babaç, M.T. (1987). Floristik dağılım haritaları için bir veri tabanı programı. VIII. Ulusal Biyoloji Kongresi (3-5 Eylül, 1986), Bildiri Metinleri-Botanik ve Uygulamalı Biyoloji. Cilt I., s. 324-339. Ege Üniversitesi, İzmir.

2. Babaç, M.T., Altan, Y. ve Gücin, F. (1986). A preliminary study on a computerised floristic information system for Pütürge (Malatya), East Anatolia. 5 th OPTIMA Meeting, 8-15 September, İstanbul (Poster bildiri).

3. Babaç, M.T. ve Evren, H. (1987). Yaylım, Kup, Mastar Dağları'nın (Elazığ) yaralı bitkileri veri tabanı. VIII. Ulusal Biyoloji Kongresi (3-5 Eylül, 1986), Bildiri Metinleri-Botanik ve Uygulamalı Biyoloji. Cilt I., s. 340-354. Ege Üniversitesi, İzmir.

4. Babaç, M.T., Güner, A., Doğan, M., Düzenli, A. and Şahin, A. (1995). TUBVET: A data base of the Turkish Plants. The Fifth International Semposium of Southwest Asia Plants, Bildiriler kitapçığı, Baskıda.

5. Davis, P. H. (1963-1986). Flora of Turkey and The East Eagean Islands. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

6. Erik, S., Babaç, M.T. ve Bilgin, C.C. (1992). HUB ve FUH Herbaryumlarında Veri Tabanı Programı Geliştirme. TÜBİTAK-TBAG1036 nolu proje raporu. Ankara.

7. Babaç, M. T., Bilgin, C. C. and Usta, E.(1997). Türkiye Herbaryumları Merkezi Veri Tabanı. TUBITAK Kesin Proje Raporu.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research based on the TUBVET (project number: TBAG E/81) was financially supported by TBAG-TÜBİTAK. The second phase of project involving establishment and management was financially supported by the BAP (Directory of Scientific Research Projects) of Abant Izzet Baysal University. Therefore, we thank to the TBAG-TÜBİTAK, BAP for grands and to the staff of Biology Department for constructive criticisms.

M. Tekin Babac, Emel Uslu and Yasin Bakış.

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