The Primate Life History Database: a unique shared ecological data resource

Abstract

1. The importance of data archiving, data sharing and public access to data has received considerable attention. Awareness is growing among scientists that collaborative databases can facilitate these activities. 2. We provide a detailed description of the collaborative life history database developed by our Working Group at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center to address questions about life history patterns and the evolution of mortality and demographic variability in wild primates. 3. Examples from each of the seven primate species included in our database illustrate the range of data incorporated and the challenges, decision-making processes, and criteria applied to standardize data across diverse field studies. In addition to the descriptive and structural metadata associated with our database, we also describe the process metadata (how the database was designed and delivered) and the technical specifications of the database. 4. Our database provides a useful model for other researchers interested in developing similar types of databases for other organisms, while our process metadata may be helpful to other groups of researchers interested in developing databases for other types of collaborative analyses.