The Bureau of Laboratories administers the Statewide Biological Database (SBIO).   Although tools for storage and manipulation of species-level data have existed and evolved over the past 20 years, this particular database was developed in the early 1990's in response to the need for centralization of biological data collected over the past 40 years by DEP and its predecessor agencies. This biological data had for many years resided on paper, in drawers, and in several mainframe programs used by the central laboratory in the Biology Section.

The following table shows the amount and kinds of data in the database.

Some of the most useful features of the database include:

• Ease of use.

• Flexible retrievals. Data are entered using a standard, organized protocol. This allows for retrieval of biological data by specific site, waterbody, county, sample date, sample gear, or organism.

This Oracle database resides on a server in Tallahassee, and utilizes 4th Dimension as a front-end interface. In addition to the biotic resources listed above, the DEP database includes toxicity data and limited physical/chemical data related to water quality. Presently, a module for entering vascular plant community data is being developed.

The Biology Section, as well as other DEP programs, utilize this great store of data for many applications. Some examples include:

• Examination of the distribution of specific taxonomic organisms throughout the state;

• Establishment of biological expectations for ecoregional reference sites;

• Determination of the relative degrees of degradation downstream of point and non-point sources of pollution; and

• Integration of biological data into the evaluation of impaired surface waters.