Using Data Mining Techniques for Exploring the key Features of Plant Dynamics Upon a Newly Built Plant Trait Database

Abstract

Most data mining techniques have rarely been used in ecology. To address the specific needs of scientists analysing data from a plant trait database developed during the LEDA project, a web-based data mining tool has been developed. This paper presents the DIONE data miner and the project it has been developed in. It addresses the nature of plant trait data from a data mining perspective and points out problems that arise when preparing data for being mined. Furthermore it contains information about data mining results on plant trait data achieved so far and conclusions towards the applicability of data mining to the fields of ecology, and the newly emerging field of research recently addressed as ecoinformatics.