World of webs: a collection of the world's food webs by geographic and habitat location: data

Food webs map the flows of energy and materials through ecosystems. In the real world these networks are complex and dynamic, but share patterns across a wide range of systems. The project associated with this data collection seeks to assemble all of the world’s food webs in one database. A major component of the collection has been sourced from the ECOWeB database (Ecologists' Co-Operative Web Bank) originally hosted by Rockefeller University. A significant collection of food webs collected by Ross Thompson are also included. The US National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) has a collection which will be incorporated. The original formats of the food webs are text-based, including spreadsheets and string data. The project also seeks to convert these diverse file formats into a common format. Food webs in the collection have been collected over time, beginning in 1978. The collection will be continuously updated and in 2010, 60-70 food webs were included. Food webs are attached to different geographic, as well as habitat locations providing data on what animals eat and what animals are eaten. Each food web is associated with a publication.

食物网（food web）刻画了生态系统内能量与物质的流动过程。现实世界中，这类网络兼具复杂性与动态性，但在各类生态系统中却存在共通的模式。本数据集所依托的研究项目旨在将全球所有食物网整合至单一数据库中。该数据集的主要组成部分源自最初由洛克菲勒大学（Rockefeller University）托管的ECOWeB数据库（Ecologists' Co-Operative Web Bank）。此外，本数据集还收录了由罗斯·汤普森（Ross Thompson）收集的大量食物网数据。美国国家生态分析与合成中心（National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis，NCEAS）所收录的一批食物网数据亦将被整合至本数据库。这批食物网数据的原始格式均为文本类，涵盖电子表格与字符串数据。该项目同时致力于将这些格式各异的文件统一转换为标准格式。本数据集收录的食物网数据历经多年收集，最早可追溯至1978年。该数据集将持续更新，截至2010年，其收录的食物网数量已达60至70个。每条收录的食物网均关联特定的地理区域与栖息地信息，可提供动物的摄食对象与被捕食关系数据。每条食物网均关联一篇学术文献。