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Research Ideas and Outcomes :
Research Article
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Heather C Bingham‡, Michel Doudin‡, Lauren V Weatherdon‡, Katherine Despot-Belmonte‡, Florian Tobias Wetzel§, Quentin Groom|, Edward Lewis‡, Eugenie Regan¶, Ward Appeltans#, Anton Güntsch¤, Patricia Mergen|,«, Donat Agosti», Lyubomir Penev˄, Anke Hoffmann˅, Hannu Saarenmaa¦, Gary Gellerˀ, Kidong Kimˁ, HyeJin Kimˁ, Anne-Sophie Archambeau₵, Christoph Häuserℓ, Dirk S Schmeller₰, Ilse Geijzendorffer₱, Antonio García Camacho₳, Carlos Guerra₴, Tim Robertson₣, Veljo Runnel₮, Nils Valland₦, Corinne S Martin‡|
Corresponding author: Heather C Bingham (heather.bingham@unep-wcmc.org)
Received: 08 Jun 2017 | Published: 09 Jun 2017
© 2017 Heather Bingham, Michel Doudin, Lauren Weatherdon, Katherine Despot-Belmonte, Florian Wetzel, Quentin Groom, Edward Lewis, Eugenie Regan, Ward Appeltans, Anton Güntsch, Patricia Mergen, Donat Agosti, Lyubomir Penev, Anke Hoffmann, Hannu Saarenmaa, Gary Geller, Kidong Kim, HyeJin Kim, Anne-Sophie Archambeau, Christoph Häuser, Dirk Schmeller, Ilse Geijzendorffer, Antonio García Camacho, Carlos Guerra, Tim Robertson, Veljo Runnel, Nils Valland, Corinne Martin
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Bingham H, Doudin M, Weatherdon L, Despot-Belmonte K, Wetzel F, Groom Q, Lewis E, Regan E, Appeltans W, Güntsch A, Mergen P, Agosti D, Penev L, Hoffmann A, Saarenmaa H, Geller G, Kim K, Kim H, Archambeau A, Häuser C, Schmeller D, Geijzendorffer I, García Camacho A, Guerra C, Robertson T, Runnel V, Valland N, Martin C (2017) The Biodiversity Informatics Landscape: Elements, Connections and Opportunities. Research Ideas and Outcomes 3: e14059. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.3.e14059
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Abstract
There are a multitude of biodiversity informatics projects, datasets, databases and initiatives at the global level, and many more at regional, national, and sometimes local levels. In such a complex landscape, it can be unclear how different elements relate to each other. Based on a high-level review of global and European-level elements, we present a map of the biodiversity informatics landscape. This is a first attempt at identifying key datasets/databases and data services, and mapping them in a way that can be used to identify the links, gaps and redundancies in the landscape. While the map is predominantly focused on elements with a global scope, the sub-global focus at the European-level was incorporated in the map in order to demonstrate how a regional network such as the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON) can usefully contribute to connecting some of the nodes within the landscape. We identify 74 elements, and find that the informatics landscape is complex in terms of the characteristics and diversity of these elements, and that there is high variability in their level of connectedness. Overall, the landscape is highly connected, with one element boasting 28 connections. The average "degrees of separation" between elements is low, and the landscape is deemed relatively robust to failures since there is no single point that information flows through. Examples of possible effort duplication are presented, and the inclusion of five policy-level elements in the map helps illustrate how informatics products can contribute to global processes that define and direct political targets. Beyond simply describing the existing landscape, this map will support a better understanding of the landscape’s current structure and functioning, enabling responsible institutions to establish or strengthen collaborations, work towards avoiding effort duplication, and facilitate access to the biodiversity data, information and knowledge required to support effective decision-making, in the context of comparatively limited funding for biodiversity knowledge and conservation. To support this, we provide the input matrix and code that created this map as supplementary materials, so that readers can more closely examine the links in the landscape, and edit the map to suit their own purposes.
Keywords
Biodiversity informatics; network; data; indicators
Introduction
As data on the natural world become more complex and more abundant, the challenges of collating, managing, analysing, visualising and sharing them are becoming greater. Biodiversity informatics applies information technology techniques to tackle these challenges, and develops systems that allow data to be stored, accessed and combined in ways that optimally serve its target communities (such as conservation, taxonomy, systematics and ecology communities). At national and international levels, there is a clear need for information to support decision-making, including monitoring of the impacts of biodiversity-related policies. To address these needs, in their Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook,
Computerised taxonomic lists were first discussed in the 1950s (
Within such a diverse landscape, there is high potential for linkages, mutually beneficial relationships, and complementarity. However, there are also risks, including mission overlap, redundancy and duplication of effort. These problems are compounded by issues around data sharing. With considerable shortfalls in data accessibility, discoverability and digestibility (
This paper maps and explores the elements of the biodiversity informatics landscape, and the links between them. The landscape presented is intended to support organisations in identifying potential connections, strengthening collaborations, and working towards avoiding effort duplication, in the context of comparatively limited funding for biodiversity knowledge and conservation.
Methodology
Potential elements to include in the landscape map were initially identified through web searches using the following criteria:
- Includes online access to biodiversity data and/or related information;
- Is global or European-wide in geographic scope; and
- Is connected to other elements in the landscape, by uptaking and/or providing data and information.
Projects with time-bound and/or ad-hoc funding and decision-support tools were mostly excluded, with the focus instead on established datasets, databases and data services. Additional elements were collated via grey literature materials, such as
Linkages between elements were initially identified using publicly-available information. For each element in the map, background information, i.e. metadata, was compiled following a standard format. The map and its linkages were subsequently refined based on expert feedback received through informal discussions, including at a number of international meetings:
- 10th GEO European Projects Workshop, 31 May – 2 June 2016, Berlin (Germany);
- GEO BON Open Science Conference & All Hands Meeting, 4 – 8 July 2016, Leipzig (Germany);
- GEO-XIII Plenary, 7 – 10 November 2016, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation);
- 4th EU BON ("Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network" project) Stakeholder Roundtable, 17 November 2016, Berlin (
Wetzel et al. 2017 ).
Based on the feedback received, it was possible to add and edit elements and the links between them. The final "landscape map" was created using MATLAB. The circular map and linkages were generated from an adjacency matrix using the circularGraph MATLAB script. Post-hoc adjustments to the landscape map (such as colour-shading to highlight different element types) were made in Sketch app. We provide the input matrix and code that created this map as supplementary materials (Suppl. materials
Results
The landscape
The landscape map generated through this study contains 74 elements (Fig.
In order to differentiate global and European-level elements, European elements (e.g. European Nature Information System (EUNIS)) are highlighted in red colour. Within the European context, The European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON;
The elements of the landscape are highly varied in terms of their purpose and scope, and those performing single, specific roles often feed into more complex elements. For instance, site-level biodiversity data collected for a research project (e.g. time-series of species abundance) may be collated and incorporated in a regional or global database, and then used — potentially along with many other such datasets — for a policy-relevant purpose. For example, species abundance data may be used as part of an indicator (the Living Planet Index, in this example) to track progress against a regional or global biodiversity target (Aichi Biodiversity Target 12). Other secondary purposes may include the use of biodiversity informatics databases by conservation organisations to identify areas of biodiversity importance (e.g. use of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in the identification of Key Biodiversity Areas (
The connectedness of elements within the landscape also varies significantly, ranging from one link to 28. The most highly-connected element in the landscape is GBIF (Fig.
Types of elements
The elements of the landscape can be classed in three broad, sometimes overlapping, categories. Firstly, there are elements with a single specific focus, for instance the Catalogue of Life (CoL) is a taxonomic backbone used by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and GBIF to allow taxonomic harmonisation, browsing and reporting operations across various resources in a consistent way, and to provide a means to compare/crosswalk names from one source to another.
Higher-level elements rely on one or more other elements. For instance, AquaMaps harvests species occurrence data from GBIF and OBIS, in addition to life-history parameters from FishBase, enabling it to create and provide access to automated distribution maps for thousands of marine species.
Finally, there are a number of complex elements in the global landscape that rely on several other elements, while also providing more in-depth explorative and/or analytical functionalities to their users. An example is the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Portal, which can combine multiple datasets in interactive maps, drawing on EurOBIS (the European node of OBIS), the Euopean Register of Marine Species (ERMS), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) appendices, and the IUCN Red List of threatened Species, among other sources. Likewise, the European Biodiversity Portal intends to act as a data broker for selected elements of the landscape such as GBIF and the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) network, as well as various sources of remotely-sensed data, along with providing data analysis and visualisation tools.
Linkages with policy-level elements
Many of the elements in the map feed into processes at the policy-level. In order to reflect important relationships between policy and informatics initiatives, five policy-level elements have been added to the map: the Biodiversity Indicators Partnership (BIP); the United Nations' (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); the UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020; the EU Biodiversity Strategy; and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). Since these are not informatics initiatives, they are differentiated from the map’s other elements by a grey background. The inclusion of the policy-level elements provides context on how informatics products contribute to global processes that define and direct political targets with regard to biodiversity and sustainable development.
Additionally, the policy-level elements are themselves connected. One example is the BIP (Fig.
Many of the indicators brought together under the BIP are subsequently taken up by the IPBES process (e.g. the indicator under the BIP on coverage of protected areas, derived from Protected Planet), while other indicators under IPBES stem directly from individual informatics elements (e.g. the 'Species Protection Index' indicator under IPBES, which draws data from Map of Life (MOL)). A further example of policy-level impact is the path (
There are opportunities for the indicator curators that have emerged to track progress against the UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity to assess progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the EU Biodiversity Strategy. The BIP, in particular, is already evolving to fill this niche. One key policy-level portal not shown on the map is Environment Live, which has been built to support country-level reporting under Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and UN-related assessments such as the Global Environment Outlook (
Network analysis
Network analysis shows that the biodiversity informatics landscape is well-connected and is not divided into disconnected, separate communities (Fig.
The network of biodiversity informatics organisations. The network visualisation was created using NodeXL (Version 1.0.1.229) (
The ten most connected elements are are follows:
- GBIF (Fig.
2 ) - OBIS
- COL
- EOL
- WoRMS
- FishBase
- ITIS
- EUNIS
- AquaMaps
- Index Fungorum (Fig.
4 )
Discussion
The biodiversity informatics landscape is diverse in terms of the scope, objectives and methodologies of its underlying elements. The map presented here shows that this diversity also extends to the degree of connectedness of elements within the landscape. Although a network analysis demonstrated that the landscape is well-connected overall, there is undoubtedly scope for improved connections, and enhanced data-sharing between elements. The map should not be considered exhaustive in terms of existing elements or linkages, and readers should be aware that this is a snapshot of the landscape as it is in 2017. Furthermore, although extensive consultation took place during the building of the map, it was beyond the scope of this exercise to consult the responsible institutions behind all the elements.
With many organisations acting independently to maintain informatics products, there are instances of effort-duplication, and possibilities for new linkages can also be viewed as missed opportunities that currently limit the efficiency of the landscape. This is particularly important as funding for such projects is relatively limited, and the cost of data creation and curation is significant (
Effort duplication
Although the majority of elements offer something unique to the landscape, their broader missions sometimes overlap. An example is the potential for effort duplication between iNaturalist and PlutoF, both of which are citizen science initiatives, and both of which contribute observation data to GBIF. Like iNaturalist, PlutoF is now dynamically linked to GBIF as a result of the EU BON project, resulting in near-real-time updates. Both iNaturalist and PlutoF are supplied by data from citizen scientists and verified by other members of their communities. iNaturalist and PlutoF share many common features, not least in terms of data standards, and hence interoperability. Enhanced collaborations between the two might therefore result in more significant outcomes.
A further example is that of the elements providing taxonomic information, which are common within the map. This appears to be a section of the landscape where organisations have responded positively to instances of effort duplication. Over time, elements with a specific focus have been subsumed by lists that are broader in scope. An example is the amalgamation of FishNet2, MaNIS, HerpNET and ORNIS into VertNet, a single vertebrate data hub (
Other sections of the map stand out as possible areas of overlap. For example, there are four different elements dealing with invasive species at the global level, and sharing similar objectives. The Global Invasive Species Database (GISD) aims to share specialist knowledge on invasive species with a broad audience. The Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) provides country-level inventories of introduced and invasive species. The Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN) provides a platform for sharing information on invasive species. The Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International Invasive Species Compendium (CABI ISC) collates a range of science-based information on invasive species to support decision-making. GISD, GRIIS and GISIN do not act in isolation (IUCN’s Invasive Species Specialist Group is involved in managing both GISD and GRIIS), and appear to have good data-sharing processes among themselves, but it is nevertheless unclear to what extent there is overlap in their workflows and outputs, and with those of CABI ISC. Discussions with the curators and users of these initiatives would be needed to establish whether effort duplication is an issue for these elements, and whether there are potential areas in which efficiency could be improved.
Similarly, the informatics landscape is supported by several different taxonomic backbones. Many of the other elements in the landscape depend on these backbones to standardise their taxonomic information. One example is the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS). Two further backbones, Species 2000 and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), together form the Catalogue of Life (CoL). The GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, referred to as the Nub taxonomy, has been assembled from 54 different sources, including WoRMS, ITIS and CoL (
The existence of multiple different taxonomic backbones has the potential to result in inconsistencies in the way taxonomic information is stored and presented across the landscape, which in turn has potential implications for the interoperability of the different elements. In one example, Species+ uses the standardised taxonomies adopted by CITES (Conf. 12.11 (Rev. CoP17)). This varies from the CoL backbone used by elements including the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. For Species+, changes to nomenclature to reflect accepted use in biology must be adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Conventions (i.e. national governments), which occurs every three years. This reflects a robust process for accepting changes, but also provides an example of how inconsistencies between taxonomic datasets may arise.
For taxonomic backbone data, linkages could be strengthened, for example by improving the harmonization efforts of taxonomic datasets and backbone data. Examples exist that have already reduced redundancies, such as VertNet (described above). However, tighter linkages between backbones (e.g. from PESI to CoL) could be fostered by future projects and initiatives. A further approach to aligning different taxonomic initiatives and making their data available is UTIS, which gathers information from various taxonomic sources (PESI, CoL, WoRMS, Natura2000 and TreatmentBank).
Opportunities
Based on the network analysis, it appears that fostering interaction between more members of the community, particularly those on the periphery, would benefit the whole community, making it more resilient. More links would also benefit individual actors, making them less reliant on a few partners for their connection to the network.
Beyond additional linkages and improved interoperability, there are broader opportunities that have the potential to impact the entire biodiversity informatics landscape. One such opportunity is the rise of technologies like Google Earth, which could in the future act as a hub for multiple datasets. Sharing and synthesising biodiversity data into a unified global map has been described as a key challenge for informaticians (
Currently, work is ongoing to create a global biodiversity observation network through GEO BON, with multiple thematic, regional, and national biodiversity observation networks (BONs) in development (
Next steps
The map presented here has been produced at a time when biodiversity observation networks are in development, and when biodiversity informatics initiatives are proliferating. It provides a useful resource for organisations involved in developing new initiatives, or expanding the remits of those that exist. It can be used to identify work that is already being done, in addition to probable gaps that could be filled. It may additionally help the custodians of existing initiatives to identify potential linkages with other elements, including at the policy-level.
The inclusion of elements specific to Europe has particular relevance to the emerging EU BON, highlighting those niches that are already occupied, and also gaps where EU BON might most meaningfully contribute. Further work could include identifying specific entry points in the landscape for EU BON's products. An additional next step could be to assess the sustainability of the landscape's elements from a business planning perspective, identifying elements at risk of being lost, and the potential implications for other elements they are linked to in the landscape. Such an exercise would help to highlight elements that are critical to the long-term sustainability of EU BON.
Beyond datasets and databases, the human dimension of the biodiversity informatics landscape should not be underestimated, as it is crucial to the landscape's functioning and evolution. Communities of practice collectively hold significant knowledge and expertise (for example, on software, infrastructure, and best practice) on which the biodiversity informatics landscape depends. However, the human dimension brings with it a range of working cultures that sometimes create barriers to collaboration, and hence barriers to connections within the landscape. There is a crucial role for funding bodies, including the many national governments that have agreed to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) Data Sharing Principles, to play in encouraging funding-recipients to dismantle barriers to data access, and in funding work that results in a better-functioning, and better-connected, biodiversity informatics landscape. Funding models that do not promote long-term, sustainable work and data-sharing should be overhauled.
Contributing to policy-level processes is one way in which the landscape can most meaningfully have an impact. The wealth of information available in the landscape could undoubtedly be better communicated to policy-makers and other decision-makers. Although work is ongoing to address this (
Annex 1. Element expanded names
For full names of elements see Table
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Short Name |
Long Name |
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Amphibian Species of the World |
Amphibian Species of the World |
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AmphibiaWeb |
AmphibiaWeb |
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AquaMaps |
AquaMaps |
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Arctos |
Arctos |
| ARPHA | ARPHA Writing Tool |
| Barcode of Life | International Barcode of Life |
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BHL |
Biodiversity Heritage Library |
|
BioCASE |
Biological Collection Access Service |
| Biodiversity Literature Repository | Biodiversity Literature Repository |
|
BIP |
Biodiversity Indicators Partnership |
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BISE |
Biodiversity Information System for Europe |
|
CABI ISC |
Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International: Invasive Species Compendium |
|
CITES Appendices |
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Appendices |
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CITES Checklist |
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Checklist |
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CITES Trade Database |
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Trade Database |
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COL |
Catalogue of Life |
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DAISIE |
Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe |
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DEIMS |
Dynamic Ecological Information Management System |
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DOPA |
Digital Observatory for Protected Areas |
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EBSA |
Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas |
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EMODnet Portal |
European Marine Observation and Data Network Portal |
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EnvThes |
Environmental Thesaurus |
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EOL |
Encyclopedia Of Life |
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ERMS |
European Register of Marine Species |
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EU Biodiversity Strategy |
EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 |
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Euro+Med PlantBase |
Euro+Med PlantBase |
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EUNIS |
European Nature Information System |
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EurOBIS |
European node of Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
| European Biodiversity Portal | European Biodiversity Portal |
|
Fauna Europaea |
Fauna Europaea |
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FishBase |
FishBase |
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GBIF |
Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
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GEOSS Portal |
Global Earth Observation System of Systems Portal |
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GFN |
Global Footprint Network |
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GFW |
Global Forest Watch |
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GISD |
Global Invasive Species Database |
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GISIN |
Global Invasive Species Information Network |
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GRIIS |
Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species |
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ICoMM - Microbis Portal |
International Census of Marine Microbes - Microbis Portal |
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ILTER |
International Long Term Ecological Research |
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iNaturalist |
iNaturalist |
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Index Fungorum |
Index Fungorum |
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IPBES |
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |
|
ITIS |
Integrated Taxonomic Information System |
|
KBA |
Key Biodiversity Areas |
|
KNB |
Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity |
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Lifewatch Geoportal |
Lifewatch Geoportal |
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Living Planet Index |
Living Planet Index |
|
MOL |
Map of Life |
|
MPAtlas |
MPAtlas |
| MycoBank | MycoBank |
|
Natura 2000 |
Natura 2000 Network Viewer |
|
OBIS |
Ocean Biogeographic Information System |
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OBIS SEAMAP |
Ocean Biogeographic Information System Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations |
|
ODV |
Ocean Data Viewer |
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OHI |
Ocean Health Index |
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OTN Data Portal |
Ocean Tracking Network Data Portal |
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PESI Portal |
Pan-European Species Directories Infrastructure |
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Plazi |
Plazi |
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PlutoF |
PlutoF |
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Protected Planet |
Protected Planet |
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Red List |
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species |
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SAU |
Sea Around Us |
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SDGs |
Sustainable Development Goals |
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SeaLifeBase |
SeaLifeBase |
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Species 2000 |
Species 2000 |
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Species+ |
Species+ |
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SWOT |
State of the World's Sea Turtles |
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Symbiota |
Symbiota |
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UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity |
United Nations Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 |
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UTIS |
Unified Taxonomic Information Service |
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VertNet |
VertNet |
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WoRMS |
World Register of Marine Species |
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WPI |
Wildlife Picture Index |
Annex 2. Element metadata
Amphibian Species of the World
Short name: Amphibian Species of the World
Long name: Amphibian Species of the World
Website: http://research.amnh.org/vz/herpetology/amphibia/
Responsible Institution: American Museum of Natural History
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: an amphibian taxonomy reference
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
AmphibiaWeb
Short name: AmphibiaWeb
Long name: AmphibiaWeb
Website: http://www.amphibiaweb.org/
Responsible Institution: University of California at Berkeley
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: AmphibiaWeb provides information on amphibian declines, natural history, conservation, and taxonomy
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: global
AquaMaps
Short name: AquaMaps
Long name: AquaMaps
Website: http://www.aquamaps.org
Responsible Institution: FishBase; SeaLifeBase
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: AquaMaps includes standardised distribution maps for over 22,000 species of fish, marine mammals and invertebrates. These maps are computer-generated predictions of natural occurrence of marine species, based on the environmental tolerance of a given species. The maps use colour-coding for showing the likelihood of a species to occur in a given area.
Main users: researchers, fisheries
Geographic scope and realm: global, marine
Arctos
Short name: Arctos
Long name: Arctos
Website: https://arctosdb.org/
Responsible Institution: Texas Advanced Computing Center, University of Texas at Austin
Category: data curator
Description: “a collaboration among multiple scientific collections that serves data on over 3 million natural history museum records”
Main users: collection managers, curators, collection users, researchers, educators
Geographic scope and realm: global
ARPHA
Short name: ARPHA
Long name: ARPHA Writing Tool
Website: http://arphahub.com
Responsible Institution: Pensoft
Category: Data and journal publishing platform
Description: ARPHA-BioDiv is a set of standards, guidelines, recommendations, tools, workflows, journals and services, based on the ARPHA Publishing Platform of Pensoft, designed to ease scholarly publishing of biodiversity and biodiversity-related data that are of primary interest to GEO BON networks
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Barcode of Life
Short name: Barcode of Life
Long name: International Barcode of Life
Website: http://www.barcodeoflife.org/
Responsible Institution: Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL)
Category: data curator
Description: "The International Barcode of Life project is the largest biodiversity genomics initiative ever undertaken. Hundreds of biodiversity scientists, genomics specialists, technologists and ethicists from 25 nations are working together to construct a richly parameterized DNA barcode reference library that will be the foundation for a DNA-based identification system for all multi-cellular life"
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
BHL
Short name: BHL
Long name: Biodiversity Heritage Library
Website: http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org
Responsible Institution: BHL Consortium
Category: data distributor
Description: the Biodiversity Heritage Library is a consortium of natural history and botanical libraries. The aim of this consortium is to digitise and thus make freely available the biodiversity literature held in their collections. The BHL works with the international taxonomic community and other stakeholders to ensure that biodiversity heritage is made accessible. The BHL has so far digitised millions of pages of taxonomic literature.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
BioCASE
Short name: BioCASE
Long name: Biological Collection Access Service
Website: http://www.biocase.org/
Responsible Institution: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a transnational network of primary biodiversity repositories. It links together specimen data from natural history collections, botanical/zoological gardens and research institutions worldwide with information from huge observation databases.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Biodiversity Literature Repository
Short name: Biodiversity Literature Repository
Long name: Biodiversity Literature Repository
Website: http://biolitrepo.org
Responsible Institution: Plazi and Pensoft
Category: Data repository
Description: A community public repository for biodiversity-related publications, images, and data associated with them based at Zenodo
Main users: researchers, collection managers, environmentalists, students
Geographic scope and realm: global
BIP
Short name: BIP
Long name: Biodiversity Indicators Partnership
Website: http://www.bipindicators.net
Responsible Institution: UNEP-WCMC
Category: policy-level element
Description: the BIP is a partnership of international organisations working on indicator development. It brings together indicators that allow biodiversity trends to be monitored in support of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 – 2020, which includes the Aichi Biodiversity Targets. It hosts at least one indicator for 17 of the 20 Targets. More broadly, it supports Multinational Environmental Agreements (MEAs), the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), national and regional governments, and other sectors.
Main users: civil servants, decision-makers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
BISE
Short name: BISE
Long name: Biodiversity Information System for Europe
Website: http://biodiversity.europa.eu/
Responsible Institution: European Environment Agency
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a single entry point for data and information on biodiversity supporting the implementation of the EU strategy and the Aichi targets in Europe.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
CABI ISC
Short name: CABI ISC
Long name: Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International Invasive Species Compendium
Website: http://sites.cabi.org/isc/
Responsible Institution: Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “an encyclopaedic resource that brings together a wide range of different types of science-based information to support decision-making in invasive species management worldwide.”
Main users: researchers, site managers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: global
CITES Appendices
Short name: CITES Appendices
Long name: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Appendices
Website: https://www.cites.org/eng/app/index.php
Responsible Institution: United Nations Environment
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: Appendices I, II and III to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) list species that are protected from overexploitation. Each appendix corresponds to a different level of protection.
Main users: governments (civil servants, decision-makers), researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
CITES Checklist
Short name: CITES Checklist
Long name: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Checklist
Website: http://checklist.cites.org/
Responsible Institution: United Nations Environment
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the Checklist of CITES Species allows users to search all CITES-listed species, including scientific names and synonyms. It also provides information on historical changes to the level of protection afforded to species.
Main users: governments (civil servants, decision-makers), researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
CITES Trade Database
Short name: CITES Trade Database
Long name: Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora Trade Database
Website: http://trade.cites.org
Responsible Institution: United Nations Environment
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the CITES Trade Database contains information on imports and exports of CITES-listed species. These are reported by national authorities, usually on an annual basis. Data in the database are freely available, and specific datasets can be accessed from the website using search queries.
Main users: governments (civil servants, decision-makers), researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
COL
Short name: COL
Long name: Catalogue of Life
Website: http://www.catalogueoflife.org
Responsible Institution: Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: the Catalogue of Life is the most comprehensive database of species currently available. It contains information on the names, relationships and distributions of species.
Main users: researchers, policy and decision-makers in governments and international organisations, the general public
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
DAISIE
Short name: DAISIE
Long name: Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe
Website: http://www.europe-aliens.org/
Responsible Institution: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Natural Environment Research Council
Category: data creator, data curator, data distributor
Description: “a ‘one-stop-shop’ for information on biological invasions in Europe, delivered via an international team of leading experts in the field of biological invasions, latest technological developments in database design and display, and an extensive network of European collaborators and stakeholders”
Main users: researchers, site managers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
DEIMS
Short name: DEIMS
Long name: Dynamic Ecological Information Management System
Website: https://data.lter-europe.net/deims/
Responsible Institution: Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Natural Environment Research Council
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a place where you can register your research site, data products/activities and datasets.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
DOPA
Short name: DOPA
Long name: Digital Observatory for Protected Areas
Website: http://dopa.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Responsible Institution: Joint Research Centre
Category: data distributor
Description: DOPA is a set of web services and interfaces which allows users to monitor multiple aspects of protected areas. It combines spatial data from the WDPA with species richness, ecoregion, land-use and population data.
Main users: park managers, park agencies, other decision-makers and researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
EBSA
Short name: EBSA
Long name: Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas
Website: https://www.cbd.int/ebsa/
Responsible Institution: Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: data portal for Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs)
Main users: researchers, marine spatial planners, fisheries
Geographic scope and realm: global
EMODNet Portal
Short name: EMODNet Portal
Long name: European Marine Observation and Data Network Portal
Website: http://www.emodnet.eu/
Responsible Institution: EMODnet Secretariat
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: “a network of organisations supported by the EU’s integrated maritime policy. These organisations work together to observe the sea, process the data according to international standards and make that information freely available as interoperable data layers and data products”
Main users: decision makers, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, marine
EnvThes
Short name: EnvThes
Long name: Environmental Thesaurus
Website: http://vocabs.ceh.ac.uk/evn/tbl/envthes.evn
Responsible Institution: Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network
Category: data curator
Description: “thesaurus for long term ecological research, monitoring, experiments”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
EOL
Short name: EOL
Long name: Encyclopedia Of Life
Website: http://eol.org
Responsible Institution: EOL Secretariat
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: the Encyclopedia Of Life aims to bring knowledge of different life-forms of animals, plants, protists and bacteria from books, journals, databases, websites and specimen collections to one place. The EOL is free and open to access for all.
Main users: general public, educators, students, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
ERMS
Short name: ERMS
Long name: European Register of Marine Species
Website: http://www.marbef.org/data/erms.php
Responsible Institution: ERMS Executive Committee
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “an authoritative taxonomic list of species occurring in the European marine environment”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists,
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, marine
EU Biodiversity Strategy
Short name: EU Biodiversity Strategy
Long name: EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/strategy/
Responsible Institution: European Commission
Category: Policy-level element
Description: “The EU Biodiversity Strategy aims to halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU and help stop global biodiversity loss by 2020. It reflects the commitments taken by the EU in 2010, within the international Convention on Biological Diversity.”
Main users: Policy-makers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, terrestrial and marine
Euro+Med PlantBase
Short name: Euro+Med PlantBase
Long name: Euro+Med PlantBase
Website: www.emplantbase.org/
Responsible Institution: Dipartimento di Scienzeambientali e Biodiversità ed Orto botanico, Università degli Studi di Palermo
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “an on-line database and information system for the vascular plants of Europe and the Mediterranean region, against an up-to-date and critically evaluated consensus taxonomic core of the species concerned.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, Mediterranean
EUNIS
Short name: EUNIS
Long name: European Nature Information System
Website: https://eunis.eea.europa.eu/
Responsible Institution: European Environment Agency
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “brings together European data from several databases and organisations into three interlinked modules on sites, species and habitat types”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
EurOBIS
Short name: EurOBIS
Long name: European Ocean Biogeographic Information System
Website: http://www.eurobis.eu/
Responsible Institution: Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: EurOBIS aims “to centralize the largely scattered biogeographic data on marine species collected by European institutions and to make these data freely available and easily accessible.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, marine
European Biodiversity Portal
Short name: European Biodiversity Portal
Long name: European Biodiversity Portal
Website: http://biodiversity.eubon.eu/
Responsible Institution: EU BON
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: The European Biodiversity Portal was developed by the European Biodiversity Observation Network (EU BON, eubon.eu). It is an online platform, which facilitates the delivery of relevant biodiversity information and analysis to a range of end users (including researchers, policy-level users and other biodiversity stakeholders), thus supporting the biodiversity science and policy interface.
Main users: researchers, decision-makers, policy level users, the public
Geographic scope and realm: Europe, marine and terrestrial
Fauna Europaea
Short name: Fauna Europaea
Long name: Fauna Europaea
Website: http://www.fauna-eu.org/
Responsible Institution: Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “Europe's main zoological taxonomic index. Scientific names and distributions of all living, currently known, multicellular, European land and freshwater animal species are available in one authoritative database.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
FishBase
Short name: FishBase
Long name: FishBase
Website: http://www.fishbase.org
Responsible Institution: FishBase Consortium
Category: data distributor
Description: FishBase provides online access to a variety of information and fish species data. This includes taxonomy, distribution, morphology, behaviour, habitats, ecology, biometrics, population dynamics, as well as data on reproduction, metabolism and genetics.
Main users: researchers, fisheries, zoologists
Geographic scope and realm: global, fish species
GBIF
Short name: GBIF
Long name: Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Website: http://www.gbif.org
Responsible Institution: GBIF Secretariat
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: global biodiversity database that provides access to point data on species occurrences. GBIF brings together over 15,500 datasets from over 1,000 publishing institutions. Fifty-four countries currently contribute to GBIF, alongside forty-three other participants and affiliates. The data stored by the facility are largely on species’ distributions and changes over time.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
GEOSS Portal
Short name: GEOSS Portal
Long name: Group of Earth Observations Portal
Website: http://www.geoportal.org/
Responsible Institution: Group on Earth Observations
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) that will link Earth observation resources world-wide across multiple Societal Benefit Areas - Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sustainability, Disaster Resilience, Energy and Mineral Resources Management, Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture, Infrastructure & Transportation Management, Public Health Surveillance, Sustainable Urban Development, Water Resources Management - and make those resources available for better informed decision-making.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
GFN
Short name: GFN
Long name: Global Footprint Network
Website: http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN
Responsible Institution: Global Footprint Network
Category: data curator, data distributor, data creator
Description: The Ecological Footprint is the Global Footprint Network’s main tool, which is a data-driven metric demonstrating how close the world is to living sustainably.
Main users: decision-makers, the public
Geographic scope and realm: global
GFW
Short name: GFW
Long name: Global Forest Watch
Website: http://www.globalforestwatch.org
Responsible Institution: World Resources Institute
Category: data creator, data distributor, data curator
Description: GFW is a mapping application that uses satellite imagery, crowdsourcing, and external datasets to provide near-real-time information on forest loss.
Main users: governments, the private sector, NGOs, journalists, universities, and the general public
Geographic scope and realm: global; terrestrial
GISD
Short name: GISD
Long name: Global Invasive Species Database
Website: http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/
Responsible Institution: IUCN
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a free, online searchable source of information about alien and invasive species that negatively impact biodiversity.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists, site managers
Geographic scope and realm: global
GISIN
Short name: GISIN
Long name: Global Invasive Species Information Network
Website: http://www.gisin.org/
Responsible Institution: Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a platform for sharing invasive species information at a global level”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists, site managers
Geographic scope and realm: global
GRIIS
Short name: GRIIS
Long name: Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species
Website: http://www.griis.org/
Responsible Institution: Institute for Environmental Protection and Research
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS) presents validated and verified inventories of introduced and invasive species at the country level”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists, site managers
Geographic scope and realm: global
ICoMM - Microbis Portal
Short name: ICoMM - Microbis Portal
Long name: International Census of Marine Microbes - Microbes Portal
Website: https://vamps.mbl.edu/portals/icomm/icomm.php/microbis
Responsible Institution: Josephine Bay Paul Center
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the ICoMM Microbis Portal is a database which serves legacy (including geospatial and environmental data), lipidomic and pyrosequencing data, as well as associated contextual data. The Microbis Portal links to lipid structures and a mass spectrometry library containing lipid data derived from microbes from both modern and ancient environments.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
ILTER
Short name: ILTER
Long name: International Long Term Ecological Research
Website: https://www.ilternet.edu/
Responsible Institution: ILTER Coordinating Committee
Category: data curator
Description: “the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) consists of networks of scientists engaged in long-term, site-based ecological and socio-ecological research.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
iNaturalist
Short name: iNaturalist
Long name: iNaturalist
Website: http://www.inaturalist.org
Responsible Institution: California Academy of Sciences
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: iNaturalist allows users to identify species they observe and record their locations. Users can develop their own projects using the platform, and collaborate with other users to gather specific types of data. Data can be exported from the website, and research-grade observations are available to scientists through GBIF. iNaturalist presents citizen science observations online alongside datasets from other biodiversity informatics projects including Catalogue of Life, uBio and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Main users: public, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global, terrestrial and marine
Index Fungorum
Short name: Index Fungorum
Long name: Index Fungorum
Website: http://www.indexfungorum.org/
Responsible Institution: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Category: data curator
Description: “the Index Fungorum, the global fungal nomenclator coordinated and supported by the Index Fungorum Partnership, contains names of fungi (including yeasts, lichens, chromistan fungal analogues, protozoan fungal analogues and fossil forms) at all ranks.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: global
IPBES
Short name: IPBES
Long name: Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
Website: http://www.ipbes.net/
Responsible Institution: IPBES Secretariat
Category: policy-level element
Description: “the intergovernmental body which assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to society, in response to requests from decision makers.”
Main users: Policy-makers
Geographic scope and realm: Global; marine and terrestrial
ITIS
Short name: ITIS
Long name: Integrated Taxonomic Information System
Website: http://www.itis.gov
Responsible Institution: Interagency Taxonomy Steering Committee, USA
Category: data distributor
Description: ITIS provides easily accessible database of taxonomic data and a directory of taxonomic expertise. The database is reviewed periodically to ensure high quality with accurate classifications, revisions and additions of newly described species. As ITIS develops, it aims to include the authority (author and date), taxonomic rank, associated synonyms and vernacular names where available, a unique taxonomic serial number, data source information and data quality indicators. Changes to taxonomic information in the database and expert reviews will be tracked.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global (initial emphasis on North America), terrestrial and marine
KBAs
Short name: KBAs
Long name: Key Biodiversity Areas
Website: www.keybiodiversityareas.org/
Responsible Institution: BirdLife International and Conservation International
Category: data distributor, data curator
Description: Key Biodiversity Areas are places of global significance for biodiversity conservation, identified based on their importance for maintaining species populations.
Main users: Governments, intergovernmental organizations, NGOs, the private sector, and other stakeholders
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
KNB
Short name: KNB
Long name: The Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity
Website: https://knb.ecoinformatics.org/
Responsible Institution: University of South Carolina Beaufort
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “an efficient way to share, discover, access and interpret complex ecological data. Due to rich contextual information provided with KNB data, scientists are able to integrate and analyse data with less effort.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
LifeWatch Geoportal
Short name: LifeWatch Geoportal
Long name: LifeWatch Geoportal
Website: http://maps.elie.ucl.ac.be/lifewatch/geoviewer.html
Responsible Institution: Earth and Life Institute
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “LifeWatch offers a place where researchers can share expertise and information; it is also a structure providing access to numerous databases as well as tools for analysis and modeling.”
Main users: Researchers; environmental managers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe; marine and terrestrial
Living Planet Index
Short name: Living Planet Index
Long name: Living Planet Index
Website: http://www.livingplanetindex.org
Responsible Institution: Zoological Society of London and World Wide Fund for Nature
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the Living Planet Index is a measure of global biodiversity. The index is focused on vertebrates, and is based on population trends.
Main users: policy-makers, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
MOL
Short name: MOL
Long name: Map of Life
Website: https://mol.org/
Responsible Institution: Map of Life Steering Committee
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “built on a scalable web platform geared for large biodiversity and environmental data, Map of Life endeavors to provide ‘best-possible’ species range information and species lists for any geographic area.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
MPAtlas
Short name: MPAtlas
Long name: MPAtlas
Website: http://www.mpatlas.org/
Responsible Institution: Marine Conservation Institute
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a tool to provide real-time information on current and proposed MPAs and their effectiveness in protecting marine life”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
MycoBank
Short name: MycoBank
Long name: MycoBank
Website: http://www.mycobank.org/
Responsible Institution: Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute
Category: data curator
Description: "an on-line database aimed as a service to the mycological and scientific society by documenting mycological nomenclatural novelties (new names and combinations) and associated data, for example descriptions and illustrations."
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Natura 2000
Short name: Natura 2000
Long name: Natura 2000 Network Viewer
Website: http://natura2000.eea.europa.eu/
Responsible Institution: European Environment Agency
Category: data distributor
Description: data portal for Natura 2000 sites. “Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas, set up to ensure the survival of Europe's most valuable species and habitats. Natura 2000 is based on the 1992 Habitats Directive, but also incorporates sites designated under the 1979 Birds Directive.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
OBIS
Short name: OBIS
Long name: Ocean Biogeographic Information System
Website: http://www.iobis.org
Responsible Institution: IOC-UNESCO International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) programme
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: OBIS provides access to information on the distribution of marine species. It is a part of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. The aim of OBIS is to create a comprehensive picture of marine life from existing smaller datasets.
Main users: researchers, fishery scientists and managers, policy makers, educators, amateur naturalists, environmental NGOs, consultants, nature conservation organisations, and students.
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine
OBIS SEAMAP
Short name: OBIS SEAMAP
Long name: Ocean Biogeographic Information System Spatial Ecological Analysis of Megavertebrate Populations
Website: http://seamap.env.duke.edu
Responsible Institution: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University
Category: data distributor, data curator
Description: OBIS-SEAMAP is an interactive online database for megavertebrates (marine mammals, seabirds and sea turtles) and sharks . The database includes both spatial and temporal data. The data is collected from ship and aerial surveys, satellite telemetry and acoustic monitoring, as well as PhotoID around the world.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global, marine
ODV
Short name: ODV
Long name: Ocean Data Viewer
Website: http://data.unep-wcmc.org/
Responsible Institution: UNEP-WCMC
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the Ocean Data Viewer offers users the opportunity to view and download a range of spatial datasets that are useful for informing decisions regarding the conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global, marine
OHI
Short name: OHI
Long name: Ocean Health Index
Website: http://www.oceanhealthindex.org ; http://ohi-science.org
Responsible Institution: Ocean Health Index
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the OHI is the first comprehensive global measurement of ocean health that includes people and human impact as part of the ocean ecosystem. The Index takes advantage of data and information across disciplines, thus providing a broad picture of the health of oceans. More specifically, the Index evaluates how well the ocean provides 10 key benefits to people – and how well it is protected to do so in the future.
Main users: decision- and policy-makers, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global, marine
OTN Data Portal
Short name: OTN Data Portal
Long name: Ocean Tracking Network Data Portal
Website: http://members.oceantrack.org/
Responsible Institution: Dalhousie University
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the OTN Data Centre is responsible for the collection, aggregation, cross-referencing, and dissemination (both public and private) of acoustic detection data.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
PESI Portal
Short name: PESI Portal
Long name: Pan-European Species directories Infrastructure Portal
Website: http://www.eu-nomen.eu/portal/
Responsible Institution: Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “EU-nomen enables the correct use of species names and their classification, to more accurately manage information on animals and plants. This is the first all-taxa inventory for European species.”
Main users: taxonomists, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Plazi
Short name: Plazi
Long name: Plazi
Website: http://plazi.org/
Responsible Institution: Plazi
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: A service to mine text and data from scientific literature for information on species, including taxonomic treatments, images, observation records and traits. Plazi makes this information discoverable and citable using digital object identifiers. TreatmentBank (http://treatmentbank.org) is the repository for treatments and data therein; the Biodiversity Literature Repository (http://biolitrepo.org) for extracted scientific illustrations. Both are accessible to humans and APIs.
Main users: taxonomists, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
PlutoF
Short name: PlutoF
Long name: PlutoF
Website: https://plutof.ut.ee/
Responsible Institution: Universias Tartuensis; NATARC; Research Group for Biological Informatics
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “PlutoF platform has been designed for storing and managing biodiversity data over the web. PlutoF provides database and computing services for the taxonomical, ecological, phylogenetical, etc. research. The purpose of the platform is to provide synergy through common modules for the classifications, taxon names, analytical tools, etc.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Protected Planet
Short name: Protected Planet
Long name: Protected Planet
Website: http://www.protectedplanet.net
Responsible Institution: IUCN and UNEP-WCMC
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: Protected Planet is the online interface for the World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA). It is a product of UNEP and IUCN, managed at UNEP-WCMC. The WDPA is mandated by the Convention on Biological Diversity, and draws together national datasets on protected areas. The majority of the data are sourced from national governments, and these are supplemented by data from NGOs and other protected area managers.
Main users: researchers, NGOs, businesses, policy and decision-makers in governments and international organisations
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
Red List
Short name: Red List
Long name: International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species
Website: http://www.iucnredlist.org
Responsible Institution: IUCN
Category: data creator, data distributor, data curator
Description: the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species provides taxonomic, conservation status, and distribution information on species that have been assessed according to the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria.
Main users: researchers, policy-makers, the public
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
SAU
Short name: SAU
Long name: Sea Around Us
Website: http://www.seaaroundus.org
Responsible Institution: The University of British Columbia
Category: data curator, data distributor, data creator
Description: Sea Around Us is a research initiative based at the University of British Columbia. The initiative assesses the impact of fisheries on marine ecosystems around the world. It also offers mitigating solutions to the stakeholders involved in fisheries. The data is presented at spatial scales relevant to policy-making, and where possible, this data is visualised. All data is available freely and downloadable.
Main users: researchers, fisheries
Geographic scope and realm: global, fisheries
SDGs
Short name: SDGs
Long name: Sustainable Development Goals
Website: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
Responsible Institution: United Nations
Category: policy-level element
Description: “the SDGs build on the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and aim to go further to end all forms of poverty. The new Goals are unique in that they call for action by all countries, poor, rich and middle-income to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.”
Main users: researchers, NGOs, businesses, policy and decision-makers in governments and international organisations
Geographic scope and realm: global
SeaLifeBase
Short name: SeaLifeBase
Long name: SeaLifeBase
Website: http://www.sealifebase.org
Responsible Institution: a joint project of Sea Around Us (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada) and The FishBase Information and Research Group, Inc (FIN, Los Baños, Philippines), and is endorsed and monitored by the FishBase Consortium
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the long-term goal of this project is to create and maintain a FishBase-like information system for all non-fish marine organisms, ca. 400,000 spp. Of these, marine organisms (about 240,000 spp) are the target of the current project phase.”
Main users: researchers, fisheries
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine
Species 2000
Short name: Species 2000
Long name: Species 2000
Website: http://sp2000.org
Responsible Institution: Species 2000 Secretariat, hosted at Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Category: data creator
Description: Species 2000 is an autonomous federation of taxonomic database custodians.
Main users: taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
Species+
Short name: Species+
Long name: Species+
Website: http://www.speciesplus.net
Responsible Institution: UNEP-WCMC
Category: data curator, data distributor Type: non-governmental organisation product
Description: Species+ assists parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), in implementing the conventions, along with other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs). Species+ provides users with information on species’ distributions, alternate names, and legal protection under CITES and/or CMS.
Main users: civil servants
Geographic scope and realm: global; marine and terrestrial
SWOT
Short name: SWOT
Long name: The State of the World’s Sea Turtles
Website: http://seamap.env.duke.edu/swot
Responsible Institution: OBIS-SEAMAP team at the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University.
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “this online database and mapping application is built with sea turtle nesting and telemetry data contributed to SWOT since 2004 and also incorporates earlier efforts that produced the WIDECAST nesting database. Since 2012, the data collection and database management are conducted by the OBIS-SEAMAP team at the Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab, Duke University.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
Symbiota
Short name: Symbiota
Long name: Symbiota
Website: http://symbiota.org/
Responsible Institution: Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Wisconsin, Harvard University
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the Symbiota Software Project is working toward building a library of webtools to aid biologists in establishing specimen-based virtual floras and faunas.”
Main users: researchers, taxonomists
Geographic scope and realm: global
UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity
Short name: UN Strategic Plan for Biodiversity
Long name: United Nations Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011 - 2020
Website: https://www.cbd.int/sp/
Responsible Institution: Convention on Biological Diversity Secretariat
Category: policy-level element
Description: “this plan provides an overarching framework on biodiversity, not only for the biodiversity-related conventions, but for the entire United Nations system and all other partners engaged in biodiversity management and policy development.”
Main users: researchers, NGOs, businesses, policy and decision-makers in governments and international organisations
Geographic scope and realm: global
UTIS
Short name: UTIS
Long name: Unified Taxonomic Information Service
Website: http://cybertaxonomy.eu/eu-bon/utis/1.0/
Responsible Institution: Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “the Unified Taxonomic Information Service (UTIS) is the taxonomic backbone for the EU BON project”
Main users: taxonomists, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: Europe
VertNet
Short name: VertNet
Long name: VertNet
Website: http://vertnet.org/
Responsible Institution: National Science Foundation, USA
Category: data curator, data distributor
Description: “a tool designed to help people discover, capture, and publish biodiversity data.”
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
WoRMS
Short name: WoRMS
Long name: World Register of Marine Species
Website: http://www.marinespecies.org
Responsible Institution: Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ)
Category: data curator
Description: WoRMS provides an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine organisms, including information on synonymy.
Main users: researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global
WPI
Short name: WPI
Long name: Wildlife Picture Index
Website: http://wpi.teamnetwork.org/wpi/dashboard
Responsible Institution: hp, Conservation International, team network
Category: data creator, data distributor
Description: the Wildlife Picture Index was developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Zoological Society of London as an indicator derived from primary camera trap data. The WPI monitors ground-dwelling tropical medium and large mammals and birds – species that are important economically, aesthetically and ecologically. The Index can be aggregated upwards from the local site to global level, and also disaggregated to capture trends at regional levels, functional groups of interest and national levels, pending adequate national data.
Main users: policy-makers, researchers
Geographic scope and realm: global, terrestrial
Acknowledgements
This is a product of the “Building the European Biodiversity Observation Network” (EU BON) project (www.eubon.eu), a 7th Framework Programme funded by the European Union under grant agreement No. 308454. The authors would also like to thank Kerstin Brauneder, Chloe Montes, Sanae Chiba, Naomi Kingston, Sarah Ivory and numerous collaborators and other experts for their assistance with/comments on the manuscript. The authors would like to express their gratitude to the National Institute of Ecology (Republic of Korea) for having generously supported the creation of a first version of the landscape map.
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Supplementary materials
The matrix on which Figures 1 - 3 are based. Lists biodiversity informatics elements and their links.
Code used to generate Figures 1 - 3. Based on a script by Paul Kassebaum (https://uk.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/profile/authors/3559574-paul-kassebaum)
High resolution versions of Figures 1 - 3.