Walia Special Edition on the Bale Mountains (2011) - Zoologische ...

scale as a balance where one side represents intensive, expensive, and highly detailed data while the
other side has cheap, superficial, broad data. Choosing the appropriate level of scale is a matter of
balancing how much effort you can afford to invest against the level of detail you require to answer
the question (Fig. 1). In general the finer the scale, the more time consuming and expensive the
monitoring is going to be. And remember that over-ambitious projects tend to fail. It’s the simple
ones that work.
Figure 1. The data balance. Your data collection method should balance the limitations faced by
time, effort, money and resources against the level of detail required to answer the question. If
you are unsure, then always start with cheapest and lowest effort option.
Finally, it is important not to lose yourself in details when collecting data. Think about what
is really necessary and what is realistic in terms of time, effort and money. Conversely, you do not
want to run the risk of losing the intricacies and mechanisms of a potentially important result by
collecting data that is too broad.
What is Everyone Else Collecting?
The most important aspect to remember when designing databases is to not let yourself be
overwhelmed by the potentially daunting task. Most conservationists have very basic knowledge
about databases and therefore it makes sense to keep it as simple as possible. For example, the
Serengeti Database is simply a collection of folders that are organized by subject (you can do this
even in Windows Explorer) (Fig. 2). The name of each folder is brief description of what it contains.
Each folder starts with a metadata file which describes in detail the data, their origin, and a contact
person (see discussion on metadata in the following section). The data within the folders are stored
as Excel or Access spreadsheets, photos, GIS layers, satellite images, PDFs of papers, GPS points,
etc. This is by far the easiest way to organize the data for a protected area and in many cases it is
perfectly sufficient for an overview. It is also incredibly easy to manage and navigate.
<strong>Walia</strong>-<strong>Special</strong> <strong>Edition</strong> on the Bale Mountains 311