In freshwaterecology.info you may find fish, different macro-invertebrate taxagroups, macrophytes, phytobenthos (including diatoms) and phytoplankton. At present there are two levels of access that offer different possibilities of queries:

• without login: taxagroups can be queried; the  Taxa Entry Tool (TET) can be used
• with login: all available ecological parameters and biological traits can be queried; additionally the  Taxa Validation Tool (TVT) with parameter export function can be used

If you want to become a registered member please go to  Registration for your personal login.

In this help section, the following procedures are explained:

• How to query taxagroups:  search,  results
• How to query ecological parameters/biological traits:  search,  results,  export

•  How to find the correct references and citation
•  How to use the Taxa Entry Tool (TET)
•  How to use the Taxa Validation Tool (TVT) including the ecological parameter export
•  How to use the Quick search
•  How to search for Synonyms
•  How to search for Neobiota
•  Additional information

Note: a German manual on how to use the database can be downloaded here.

Search

• First select an organism group by clicking on the corresponding icon.
• Taxagroup: Tick the checkbox of the taxagroup(s) you want to have displayed. You can choose more than one up to all ("Select all") taxagroups. If you do not choose any taxagroup, all taxagroups will be selected automatically.

Note: The taxonomy of the different organism groups was developed by experts in various EU projects. More information on citation can be found in the menu  Terms of use (citation) and  Experts.

• Advanced search: offers the possibility to search for a selected family, subfamily, genus or species. You can either enter the complete taxon ("equals"), the beginning ("begins with") or the ending ("ends with") of the demanded taxon name in the respective field. Additionally, you can search for a specific shortcode.
• Options: higher taxonomic units (like for example genera or families) can be included, excluded or displayed exclusively by choosing the respective radio-buttons.
• Option OTL: you can exclusively display units of the Operational Taxalist Germany by choosing this option.
• Advanced display values: additional columns can be displayed on the results-page by ticking the respective checkboxes. You can choose more than one up to all ("Select all"). Depending on the organism group different advanced display values are available, which are explained as tooltips.
• Click on the Search-button to start the search.

Note: The option to select a country was no longer implemented in version 8.0, as it has not been possible to update the species lists for the individual countries properly. Therefore, always all taxa available for Europe are displayed. At present, we try to establish a link with the Fauna Europaea ( www.faunaeur.org) for more updated species lists.

Results

• As a result, you get a table with the queried taxa on the left and the advanced display values next to them.
• You can change the number of displayed entries per sub-table on the top-left side of the table in the field "Show entries".
• You can filter for a specific taxon by using the "Search" field on the top-right side of the table. You can also search the entire page with Ctrl+F.
• You can change the order within each column as you like by using the arrow to the right of the column header.
  Note: Please note that the sorting only takes place within the family.
• At the very end of every the result table you will find some statistics about the number of classified taxa/species.

Note

Clicking the icon alongside each parameter name will give you some information on:

• the background of the ecological parameter
• the classification system used
• the abbreviations used
• the number and percentage of classified taxa for this parameter

This information can also be displayed in German by clicking on the respective flag.
To use the info-feature, please allow pop-up windows .

Search

• Please login first to query the ecological parameters.
• First select an organism group and then a taxa group(s) within this organism group. Select the advanced search options or the advanced display values as required.
• Click the button "Query ecological parameters".
  Note that this button is only available if you are logged in.
• On the page that now appears, you will find all available parameter groups at the top, also marked by specific icons: different parameter groups are available for different organism groups. By clicking on the corresponding group/icon, you can navigate directly to this group.
  Note: If you want to search for a specific parameter, you can press Ctrl+F and enter the parameter name in the respective search field.
• A list of all available parameters appears under the parameter groups.
• You can query either one or several parameters at the same time. Here, we give an example for the simultaneous query of two parameters (stream zonation preference, feeding type) for macro-invertebrates (namely, caddisflies (Trichoptera)).
• Select the ecological parameter that you are interested in by ticking the checkbox left of the parameter name.
  Note that the "display"-checkbox will be ticked automatically as soon as you choose a parameter. If you want to have additional parameters displayed (without specifying them), please tick the respective "display"-checkbox on the right hand side.
• Define now your specifications for the parameters, e.g.:
  • stream zonation preference: all Trichoptera species exclusively living in standing water bodies or riparian zones of rivers indicated by 10 points within the "littoral"-field; if you want to define more than one criterion within one parameter (e.g. all species living in the eucrenal and/or hypocrenal zone), you can combine these with OR- or AND-relation.
  • feeding type: all species that are exclusively predators indicated by 10 points within the "predator"-field.
  Note: Abbreviations are explained as tooltips, by clicking on the icon and on the  Abbreviations page.
• The individual queried parameters can be combined with OR or AND relation at the top or bottom of the parameter list.
  Note: The default linking is OR.
• Click on the Search-button to start the search.

Results

• The Results-page offers a list of only those Trichoptera, that are living in standing water bodies and riparian zones of rivers and feed from prey. The parameter-criterion for which a specification was defined in the query is marked in colour.
  Note: Abbreviations are explained as tooltips, by clicking on the icon or on the  Abbreviations page.
• You can change the number of displayed entries per sub-table on the top-left side of the table in the field "Show entries".
• You can filter for a specific taxon by using the "Search" field on the top-right side of the table. You can also search the entire page with Ctrl+F.
• You can change the order within each column as you like by using the arrow to the right of the column header.
• You can search for specific taxa in the table by using the search field on the top right of the table.
  Note: The sorting only takes place within the family.
• At the very end of every the result table you will find some statistics about the number of classified taxa/species.
• If you click on the icon to the right of the parameter name in the header of each queried parameter, you will get some background information on the ecological parameter (origin, explanation, significance, application, etc.), the classification system used, the abbreviations used and the number and percentage of classified taxa for this parameter.
  Note: To use the info feature, pop-up windows must be activated.

Export

At the end of the results table, you can export the queried results including the references to a csv-file.

Search options

Should you wish to change your query, please do NOT use the "Back" button in your browser, but use the four search options available in the menu on the left.

• New search: Resets the entire search so far and takes you back to the first query page, where you can again select the taxagroup, the advanced display values, etc.
• Change search: Returns you to the first query page with the last selected search criteria still visible; now you can change your selection.
• New parameter: Resets the queried last parameter(s) and returns you to the parameter page where you can specify parameters again; the selection of the first query page (taxagroup, advanced display values, etc.) is retained.
• Change parameter: Returns you to the parameter page with the last selected search criteria still visible; now you can change your selection.

Note: The use of ecological information of individual taxonomic groups and individual ecological parameters must always be cited correctly! Please also consult  Terms of use (citation) for further information.

• Click on the booklet-icon  on the right side of each of your query results to view the correct citation. This also gives you information about the underlying references used by the experts per species and ecological parameter.
• For one specific organism group and one specific ecological parameter it may be necessary to cite several references! To facilitate this procedure click on the reference list-icon  in the headline of each queried ecological parameter. As a result a complete reference list will be displayed. You can easily copy and paste this list into your personal reference list. Additionally, you can click on the grey headline "» Information generated from" to view all underlying references.
• You can export both the reference lists generated via the list-icon or the booklet-icon by clicking on the "Export"-button at the lower end of the list. The information will be exported as rtf-file.

The TET was developed to create standardised taxalists according to the freshwaterecology.info taxonomy. It is available for fish, macro-invertebrates, macrophytes, phytobenthos and phytoplankton. We recommend to use Mozilla Firefox.
To use the TET, please follow these steps:

• Select "Taxa Entry Tool (TET)" in the menu on the left.
• Choose the number of samples that you want to enter using the selection list of the field No. samples. Up to 230 samples are possible.
• Enter any unit you need in the field Unit.
• Click Apply to transfer these setting to the "Taxalist" below.
  Note: You can change the names of the sample(s) as well as the unit directly in the taxalist and have e.g. different units for different samples. The number of samples can be amended or reduced at any time, even if there are already taxa/species in the taxalist. Please note that if you change the units for samples, the values already in the taxalist will remain as originally entered. If you reduce the number of samples already entered, values will be lost.
• Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
• Enter at least the first three letters of the genus that you want to insert in the taxalist in the field Genus and choose then the according genus from the now opening selection list.
• Enter at least the first letter of the species/taxon that you want to insert in the taxalist in the field Species and choose then the according species/taxon from the now opening selection list.
  Note: You can use * to view the complete list of species/taxa belonging to the selected genus. You can move from the Genus to the Species field also using the tabulator key.
• Click Transfer to taxalist to add the selected species/taxon to the taxalist.
• Enter the values (numbers, percentages, etc.) of the species/taxon in your sample fields.
  Note: You can move from one value-entry-field of a sample to the next using the tabulator key.
• Tick the checkboxes cf. ("confer") or juv. ("juvenile") if you need these additions.
• Click the Delete-button, if you want to remove a species/taxon from the taxalist.
• After having entered all your species/taxa, choose your preferred export option: crosstab or list format. If you want to add specific advanced display values to your export you can choose them by ticking the respective checkbox(es). Finally, click the "Export"-button to export the complete taxalist to csv-format.

Note: If you enter different organism groups the TET will remember the current entries of each organism group; to get a new and empty form, just press the Reset-button.

The TVT was developed for linking and comparing your own species list with the taxonomic backbone of freshwaterecology.info. It is available for fish, macro-invertebrates, macrophytes, phytobenthos and phytoplankton. This tool can also be used to upload a species list, link it with the ecological parameters of interest and download the entire dataset again. This export function also includes the export of all references used. We recommend to use Mozilla Firefox.

Taxalist upload

Note: the TVT can be used to upload csv-files or xls/xlsx-files created in MS Excel.

• Select "Taxa validation Tool (TVT)" in the menu on the left.
• Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
• Choose the file that you want to validate from your local directory in the field Taxalist file.
• Click Upload to upload your taxalist.
• Choose the field you want to use for linking your taxalist with the freshwaterecology.info-taxonomy in the field Compare with.
• Choose in the field(s) Compare column the column(s) you want to use for linking.
  Note: If you have genus and species in two different columns, select "Taxon name". You can then specify two columns.
• Tick the checkbox 1st row is header, if the first row in your uploaded file contains a headline.
• Choose the csv delimiter and the csv enclosure according to your uploaded file from the selection lists.
• Click Verify to validate your taxalist file.

Note: To get a new and empty form, please press the Reset-button.

Result of the taxalist validation

• The column Status shows whether your uploaded taxon is valid (valid), not valid (not valid) or user-defined (user) according to the freshwaterecology.info-taxonomy.
• The column Exclude allows to exclude taxa from the export, which were not identified by the TVT.
• The columns Valid taxon name show the taxa names of the freshwaterecology.info taxonomy.
• fields are marked in green, if a taxon was correctly identified by the TVT and therefore corresponds with the freshwaterecology.info-taxonomy
• fields remain empty, if a taxon was not identified by the TVT; the field "ID-fwe" is then marked in red
• The columns Imported file display the original headlines and content from your uploaded file.

If you want to replace an unidentified taxon by a correct one:

• Click into the field Genus within Valid taxon name.
• Type the first three letters of the genus and then choose the genus from the selection list.
• Click into the field Species within Valid taxon name.
• Type the first letter of the species or press SHIFT++ (Win) or ALT++ (Mac) to see the whole set of species belonging to the selected genus. Select a species.
• As soon as a species is verified the ID-fwe field will appear in yellow.
• Continue with this process until you have removed all empty fields.

Validated taxalist export including ecological parameters

All validated taxa can now be exported including the ecological information. Proceed as follows:

• Choose the addional export options in the field Advanced display values.
• Choose the ecological information that you want to export by ticking the checkboxes in the selection list Ecological parameters.
• Choose the decimal delimiter that is enabled in the local settings of your computer.
• Choose if missing values should be exported as "empty cells" or as "0 values".
• Click the "Export"-button to export your validated taxalist with ecological parameters to csv-format.

The quick search was developed to display all available parameters of a species/taxon in one place. It is available for fish, macro-invertebrates, macrophytes, phytobenthos and phytoplankton.

• Select "Quick search" in the menu on the left.
• Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
• Enter a genus in the Genus field.
• Enter a species in the Species field.
  Note: You can use the following two wildcard characters: "%" matches none, one or more characters; "_" matches exactly one character.
• Press the Search button to start the quick search.
• The results page shows all available ecological/biological parameters including the citation ( icon).

Note: If you want to see all species of a genus, press the "Search" button immediately after entering the genus.

• Press the symbol of the respective organism group in the results table to see the ecological information of a species.

The synonym search was developed to display all available synonyms for a species in one place. It is available for fish, macro-invertebrates, macrophytes, phytobenthos and phytoplankton. The synonym result table links directly to the ecological/biological parameters of the "Quick search".

• Select "Synonyms" in the menu on the left.
• Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
• If relevant, enter a taxagroup (e.g. family) in the field Taxagroup.
• Enter a genus in the Genus field.
• Enter a species in the Species field.
  Note: You can use the following two wildcard characters: "%" matches none, one or more characters; "_" matches exactly one character.
• Select advanced display values as required.
• In the results table, the taxa are immediately linked to the "Quick search".
• Press the Search button to search for synonyms.

Note: If you want to see all synonyms of an organism group/taxagroup/genus, press the "Search" button immediately after entering the organism group/taxagroup/genus.

• In the result table, the taxa are immediately linked to the "Quick search". Press the symbol of the respective organism group to see the ecological information of a species.

The neobiota search was developed to display all available neobiota per organism group in one place. It is available for macro-invertebrates and macrophytes. The neobiota results table links directly to the ecological/biological parameters of the "Quick search".

• Select "Neobiota" in the menu on the left.
• Choose an organism group from the selection list Organism group.
• Enter a genus in the Genus field.
• Enter a species in the Species field.
  Note: You can use the following two wildcard characters: "%" matches none, one or more characters; "_" matches exactly one character.
• Press the Search button to search for neobiota.
• In the results table, the neobiota status is shown and the taxa are immediately linked to the "Quick search".

Note: If you want to see all neobiota of an organism group/genus, press the "Search" button immediately after entering the organism group/genus.

• In the results table, the taxa are immediately linked to the "Quick search". Press the symbol of the respective organism group to see the ecological information of a species.

i-icon

To provide details on the different ecological/biological parameters, the round purple icon has been introduced next to the parameter names or in the header of the result table of the queried parameters. If you click on this symbol, you will get some background information on the ecological parameter (origin, explanation, significance, application, etc.), the classification system used or the abbreviations used.

Note: You should allow pop-up windows to use this function.

The information can be displayed in English or German by clicking on the respective flag.

Directly below each ecological parameter you will find information for which higher systematic units it is available and what percentage of the taxa are classified.

Booklet-icon

To facilitate the correct citation of the ecological/biological parameters per species and to make the literature used for classification visible, the purple icon has been introduced next to each query result. By clicking on the booklet-icon you can see the correct citation ("To be cited as"). The references used by the experts per species and ecological/biological parameter can be found under "Information generated from".

The citations can be exported to an rtf-file by clicking on the "Export" button.

Reference list-icon

It may be necessary to cite more than one reference for a specific organism group and a specific ecological/biological parameter. To facilitate this procedure, the grey icon (to the right of the icon) has been introduced in the header of each queried parameter. By clicking on the icon, a complete reference list for the respective parameter can be displayed ("To be cited as"). You can simply copy this list and paste it into your personal reference list. Additionally, you can click on the grey heading "Information generated from" to display all underlying references.

In addition, the citations can be exported to an rtf-file by clicking on the "Export" button.

Search options

Should you wish to change your query, please do NOT use the "Back" button in your browser, but use the four search options available in the menu on the left.

• New search: Resets the entire search so far and takes you back to the first query page, where you can again select the taxagroup, the advanced display values, etc.
• Change search: Returns you to the first query page with the last selected search criteria still visible; now you can change your selection.
• New parameter: Resets the queried last parameter(s) and returns you to the parameter page where you can specify parameters again; the selection of the first query page (taxagroup, advanced display values, etc.) is retained.
• Change parameter: Returns you to the parameter page with the last selected search criteria still visible; now you can change your selection.