scholarly journals Facing e-Biodiversity Challenges Together: GBIO framework-based synergies between DiSSCo and LifeWatch ERIC

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Miguel González-Aranda ◽  
Dimitrios Koureas ◽  
Wouter Addink ◽  
Tim Hirsch ◽  
Christos Arvanitidis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Communities Of Practice ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Technology Platform ◽  
Research Infrastructures ◽  
Essential Biodiversity Variables ◽  
Virtual Research Environment ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Information

The collaboration between LifeWatch ERIC and DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections), both pan-European research infrastructures focusing on biodiversity, can be achieved in a number of ways. The direct initiation of this collaboration can be carried out through their joint support to GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility). This approach will facilitate meeting GBIF’s overall objective stated as: “Connecting data and expertise: a new alliance for biodiversity knowledge” (Hobern and Miller 2019). LifeWatch ERIC supports GBIF in a collaborative way by integrating and providing e-Services according to Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook (GBIO) Framework objectives (Fig. 1), particularly suitable for the Understanding focus area. This concentrates on building modeled representations of biodiversity patterns and properties, based on any possible evidence, using the following components: Multiscale species modelling; Trends and predictions; Modelling biological systems; Visualization and dissemination; Prioritizing new data capture. Multiscale species modelling; Trends and predictions; Modelling biological systems; Visualization and dissemination; Prioritizing new data capture. In this regard, and during the 2nd Global Biodiversity Information Conference, LifeWatch ERIC actively participated in one of the four parallel working groups reviewing different components from the GBIO framework. Each component was selected to capture information on a broad range of different challenges and opportunities. At the same event, DiSSCo mainly focused on the Data layer, as the main provider of data and other types of collections resources in Europe. The Evidence layer is the fertile interface to develop sound synergies for collaboration by both research infrastructures in order to support GBIF through the development of 3 concrete activities: Participation in the co-design, development and deployment of a multi-purpose Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to support DiSSCo, specifically by integrating the collections e-Services and by engaging the various communities of practice; Participation in the co-design and co-implementation of relevant e-Services in LifeBlock (LifeWatch ERIC blockchain-based technology platform); The active participation of DiSSCo for integrating collections data: DiSSCo is one of the main resources needed for the integration of GLOBIS-B GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity work on Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) (Kissling et al. 2018). Thus, EBVs together with species traits will be integrated into LifeBlock platform in order to feed Ecosystem Services needed to further support Biodiversity Ecosystem Services VRE provided by LifeWatch ERIC distributed e-Infrastructure. Participation in the co-design, development and deployment of a multi-purpose Virtual Research Environment (VRE) to support DiSSCo, specifically by integrating the collections e-Services and by engaging the various communities of practice; Participation in the co-design and co-implementation of relevant e-Services in LifeBlock (LifeWatch ERIC blockchain-based technology platform); The active participation of DiSSCo for integrating collections data: DiSSCo is one of the main resources needed for the integration of GLOBIS-B GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity work on Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) (Kissling et al. 2018). Thus, EBVs together with species traits will be integrated into LifeBlock platform in order to feed Ecosystem Services needed to further support Biodiversity Ecosystem Services VRE provided by LifeWatch ERIC distributed e-Infrastructure.

scholarly journals Brazilian Network on Plant-Pollinator Interactions: an update on the initiative of a standard for plant-pollinator interactions data

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25343
Author(s):  
José Augusto Salim ◽  
Antonio Saraiva ◽  
Kayna Agostini ◽  
Marina Wolowski ◽  
Allan Veiga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Species Interactions ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Interaction Data ◽  
Data Standard ◽  
Essential Biodiversity Variables ◽  
Biodiversity Change ◽  
Plant Pollinator

The Brazilian Plant-Pollinator Interactions Network*1 (REBIPP) aims to develop scientific and teaching activities in plant-pollinator interaction. The main goals of the network are to: generate a diagnosis of plant-pollinator interactions in Brazil; integrate knowledge in pollination of natural, agricultural, urban and restored areas; identify knowledge gaps; support public policy guidelines aimed at the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services for pollination and food production; and encourage collaborative studies among REBIPP participants. To achieve these goals the group has resumed and built on previous works in data standard definition done under the auspices of the IABIN-PTN (Etienne Américo et al. 2007) and FAO (Saraiva et al. 2010) projects (Saraiva et al. 2017). The ultimate goal is to standardize the ways data on plant-pollinator interactions are digitized, to facilitate data sharing and aggregation. A database will be built with standardized data from Brazilian researchers members of the network to be used by the national community, and to allow sharing data with data aggregators. To achieve those goals three task groups of specialists with similar interests and background (e.g botanists, zoologists, pollination biologists) have been created. Each group is working on the definition of the terms to describe plants, pollinators and their interactions. The glossary created explains their meaning, trying to map the suggested terms into Darwin Core (DwC) terms, and following the TDWG Standards Documentation Standard*2 in definition. Reaching a consensus on terms and their meaning among members of each group is challenging, since researchers have different views and concerns about which data are important to be included into a standard. That reflects the variety of research questions that underlie different projects and the data they collect. Thus, we ended up having a long list of terms, many of them useful only in very specialized research protocols and experiments, sometimes rarely collected or measured. Nevertheless we opted to maintain a very comprehensive set of terms, so that a large number of researchers feel that the standard meets their needs and that the databases based on it are a suitable place to store their data, thus encouraging the adoption of the data standard. An update of the work will soon be available at REBIPP website and will be open for comments and contributions. This proposal of a data standard is also being discussed within the TDWG Biological Interaction Data Interest Group*3 in order to propose an international standard for species interaction data. The importance of interaction data for guiding conservation practices and ecosystem services provision management has led to the proposal of defining Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) related to biological interactions. Essential Biodiversity Variables (Pereira et al. 2013) were developed to identify key measurements that are required to monitoring biodiversity change. EBVs act as intermediate abstract layer between primary observations (raw data) and indicators (Niemeijer 2002). Five EBV classes have been defined in an initial stage: genetic composition, species populations, species traits, community composition, ecosystem function and ecosystem structure. Each EBV class defines a list of candidate EBVs for biodiversity change monitoring (Fig. 1). Consequently, digitalization of such data and making them available online are essential. Differences in sampling protocols may affect data scalability across space and time, hence imposing barriers to the full use of primary data and EBVs calculation (Henry et al. 2008). Thus, common protocols and methods should be adopted as the most straightforward approach to promote integration of collected data and to allow calculation of EBVs (Jürgens et al. 2011). Recently a Workshop was held by GLOBIS B*4 (GLOBal Infrastructures for Supporting Biodiversity research) to discuss Species Interactions EBVs (February, 26-28, Bari, Italy). Plant-pollinator interactions deserved a lot of attention and REBIPP's work was presented there. As an outcome we expect to define specific EBVs for interactions, and use plant-pollinators as an example, considering pairwise interactions as well as interaction network related variables. The terms in the plant-pollinator data standard under discussion at REBIPP will provide information not only on EBV related with interactions, but also on other four EBV classes: species populations, species traits, community composition, ecosystem function and ecosystem structure. As we said, some EBVs for specific ecosystem functions (e.g. pollination) lay beyond interactions network structures. The EBV 'Species interactions' (EBV class 'Community composition') should incorporate other aspects such as frequency (Vázquez et al. 2005), duration and empirical estimates of interaction strengths (Berlow et al. 2004). Overall, we think the proposed plant-pollinator interaction data standard which is currently being developed by REBIPP will contribute to data aggregation, filling many data gaps and can also provide indicators for long-term monitoring, being an essential source of data for EBVs.

scholarly journals Furthering Genomic Research Infrastructures: The Global Genome Biodiversity Network

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharine Barker ◽  
Jonas Astrin ◽  
Gabriele Droege ◽  
Jonathan Coddington ◽  
Ole Seberg
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Genomic Research ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Access And Benefit Sharing ◽  
Culture Collections ◽  
Data Standard ◽  
Research Infrastructures ◽  
Biodiversity Information

Most successful research programs depend on easily accessible and standardized research infrastructures. Until recently, access to tissue or DNA samples with standardized metadata and of a sufficiently high quality, has been a major bottleneck for genomic research. The Global Geonome Biodiversity Network (GGBN) fills this critical gap by offering standardized, legal access to samples. Presently, GGBN’s core activity is enabling access to searchable DNA and tissue collections across natural history museums and botanic gardens. Activities are gradually being expanded to encompass all kinds of biodiversity biobanks such as culture collections, zoological gardens, aquaria, arboreta, and environmental biobanks. Broadly speaking, these collections all provide long-term storage and standardized public access to samples useful for molecular research. GGBN facilitates sample search and discovery for its distributed member collections through a single entry point. It stores standardized information on mostly geo-referenced, vouchered samples, their physical location, availability, quality, and the necessary legal information on over 50,000 species of Earth’s biodiversity, from unicellular to multicellular organisms. The GGBN Data Portal and the GGBN Data Standard are complementary to existing infrastructures such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and International Nucleotide Sequence Database (INSDC). Today, many well-known open-source collection management databases such as Arctos, Specify, and Symbiota, are implementing the GGBN data standard. GGBN continues to increase its collections strategically, based on the needs of the research community, adding over 1.3 million online records in 2018 alone, and today two million sample data are available through GGBN. Together with Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF), Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC), Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), and Synthesis of Systematic Resources (SYNTHESYS+), GGBN provides best practices for biorepositories on meeting the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS). By collaboration with the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), GGBN is exploring options for tagging publications that reference GGBN collections and associated specimens, made searchable through GGBN’s document library. Through its collaborative efforts, standards, and best practices GGBN aims at facilitating trust and transparency in the use of genetic resources.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document