Application of the relational database approach to a nested study of biological and physical data from a lowland river

In recent years there has been a tendency to consider a wide range of factors when addressing questions of stream ecology. This is particularly true in the study of managed streams where anthropogenic activities are superimposed over natural environmental change. The increasing complexity and number of data items and their links require more sophisticated methods of collation. Relational database design is examined and the translation of the logical data model into a table design and establishment of the database structure is described. Implementation into a particular Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), in this case Microsoft Access, enables specific questions to be addressed to the database. This paper examines the use of databases in facilitating collation and analysis of relatively complex studies. This is illustrated with reference to a multiscale study on the River Frome in Dorset and presents examples of the results of specific questions ranging from simple generation of lists to the linking of faunal groups to location down the river system and substratum type. The benefits of database management to ecologists are discussed. (C) 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.