Southern Pine Beetle Information System (SPBIS)

Background

• The Southern Pine beetle Information System (SPBIS) is the computerized database used by the national forests in Region 8 for recording, tracking and evaluating individual infestations, for managing and reporting SPB infestations.
  
• SPBIS - Developed late 1970's and resided at the Ft. Collins Computer Center.
  
• SPBIS - January 1983 - Revised and placed on Apple II computers at the Districts.
  
• SPBIS - 1988 - Revised for Forest Service Data General computers.
  
• SPBIS 2.0 - January, 1999 - Designed to run on IBM RISC 6000 computers using Oracle database management and Oracle forms.
  
• SPBIS 2.1- December, 1999 - Moved SPBIS forms from Exceed to the PC.
  
• SPBIS 3.0 - March, 2002 - Designed to run on Windows 95 and Windows 2000.
  
• SPBIS 4.0 - July, 2003 - Fundamental changes to the program and ORACLE view.

Project Highlights

• SPBIS is a Ranger District based system for the storage and retrieval of information about the location, size and status of individual SPB infestations, scheduled activities, and accomplishments.
• SPBIS 5.0 - 2004 Included a complete reprogramming of the status report, additional validation routines, and increased functionality.
  
• SPBIS is a component of the overall Timber Management Information System (TMIS).
  
• Records from previous years are maintained by FPM and have been utilized to document historic beetle activity trends/patterns, as well as, the effectiveness of SPB suppression.
  
• The data has been used to support Forest Plan revision and implementation.

Partnerships

• Regional Office, all Forest Supervisor Offices, and 85 Ranger Districts in R8
  
• Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team (FHTET)
  
• Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

Budget

• FHP - R8, FHTET, and STDP have funded updates, maintenance, and revisions of SPBIS and development of the PDR application

Technology and Skills

• Written in Visual Basic Code, Oracle Tables, Adobe PDF and SQL queries
  
• Uses Oracle Relational Database Access Method
  
• SPBIS resides on IBM PCs at each Ranger District and Forest Supervisor's Office
  
• SPBIS is menu driven and provides data entry forms with error checking
  
• The SPBIS database holds data for R8 Districts.
  
• FHP provides assistance and training to District and SO personnel.
  
• SPBIS is compatible with FSVeg
  
• The Southern pine beetle status report is posted to the Corporate Database Warehouse.
  
• The Southern pine beetle status report is available on the R8 website.
  
• A PDR application for SPBIS data collection is available for field use.

FHP Staff

• Entomologists are responsible for utilizing SPBIS for their area of responsibility.
  
• Computer Specialist installs and maintains Regional SPBIS programs and tables.
  
• Computer Specialist maintains the integrity of the SPBIS database.
  
• Computer Specialist provides installation, training and assistance to Forest and District users.
  
• Computer Specialist reports database problems and requests assistance from the FHTET.
  
• Computer Specialist develops specialized reports from SPBIS for RO and WO.

Conclusions/Future Direction

• Periodic SPBIS training will be required at the District level due to turnover in District personnel, SPBIS revisions, and cyclic nature of SPB activity.
  
• Erroneous status reports from earlier versions has resulted in neglect of SPBIS on various Districts that needs to be addressed/overcome.

FHP Contact:

Valli Peacher
Forest Service-USDA
2500 Shreveport Hwy.
Pineville, LA 71360
Phone: 318-473-7287
Email: vpeacher@fs.fed.us

 

SPBIS Status Reports

2007

• Oct 1 - Oct 15, 2006
• Apr 1 - Apr 17, 2007
• Jun 15 - Jun 29, 2007
• Jun 15 - Jun 29, 2007 (Chattahoochie / Oconee)
• Aug 1 - Aug 15, 2007
• Jan 1 - Oct 1, 2007
• Jan 1 - Oct 31, 2007

2008

• Jan 1 - Jan 15, 2008
• Jan 1 - Apr 8, 2008
• Jan 1 - Jun 2, 2008
• Jan 1 - Aug 28, 2008
• Jan 1 - Dec 2, 2008

2009

• Jan 1 - Apr 21, 2009

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USDA Forest Service - Forest Health Protection, Southern Region
Last Modified: Monday, 14 January 2013 at 09:40:59 EST