Recent Progress (last update July 2008)
The data gathered to date can be viewed by PFT or rate type through the Model Shopping Tool (MoST at www.eur-oceans.eu/models). Where access is open the datasets can be requested.

Current priorities are ranked as follows: make recommendations for conversion of existing data to model-usable units, synchronise rate names and units with WDC Data Warehouse, add critical recently published data to the database, submit abstracts to WDC on data subsets unique to the project such as nanozooplankton and ichtioplankton.

Goals
The aim of this project is to construct a single point access database for end-to-end ecosystem model parametrization by:
1) compiling recent data on key species vital rates (growth, feeding, hatching, energy expenditure, energy requirements) measured in controlled laboratory experiments (lower trophic levels, fish larvae) and in situ (top predator bioenergetics), and
2) transform data into carbon/nitrogen flux units (or energy requirements in J/kg for top predators) for model assimilation.

Access
Vital rates datasets can be viewd through the Model Shopping Tool (MoST at www.eur-oceans.eu/models). Access is open to most.

As of June 2008, shared datasets include (by PFT)
Bacteria -                   production (3500 dtpns)
Cocolithophorids -   production (1000 dtpnts)‏
Diatoms -                   production and respiration
Nanozooplankton -   ingestion, clearance, growth (2000dtpnts)
Microzooplankton -    growth & respiration  (450 dtpns in prep)‏
Mesozooplankton -   ERP, hatching, growth, respitration & mortality
Fish Juveniles -         growth & respiration in prep
Fish Adults -               respiration & clearance in prep‏

NOT VISIBLE (but contributed)
microzooplanton – Rivkin & DGOM Partners,
ciliates – S. Sailley & C. Klaas
macrozooplankton-gelatinous – R. Moriarty

Submit YOUR dataset
If you would like to have access to the data, please become a partner by submitting yours. Here is an example of the level of metadata detail the database needs (download xls file).

What happens to the data after?
Your data will be submitted to Pangaea's World Data Center hosted at the Alfred Wegner Institute, for storage and sharing with the marine research community. Due to the long queueing time for WDC inclusion, the Vital Rates Database will remain online until the data is accessible via WDC.

Funding
Development is primarily funded through EUROCEANS Data Transformation Call as well as with the support of Alfred Wegner Institute, EUROCEANS WorkPackages for Model Interfacing (WP 3.1) and Ecosystems End-to-end (WP 4)

Who is doing the ground work?
Two post-docs will be doing the real work, one for lower trophic levels,  Joachim Hejnes (CV) at AWI, and one for upper trophic levels, Matthias Bernreuther at Hamburg University.