Global Biodiversity Information Facility GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION FACILITY Beatriz Torres Seminar on GBIF - Norway 25 September

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Present challenges around the world for Natural History Collections l Legislators and university administrators often see museums/herbaria as “exhibit halls”. l How to address?: Planned and current cutbacks in museums and science collections are quite dramatic in many parts of the world (i.e. USA from 10-30% of budget cutbacks to whole collections being closed down). l Decreased funding from research councils for collections. l To preserve collections, scientists need to do a better job of explaining the role of natural history collections in serving science and society.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Biodiversity informatics is the application of information technology to biology with the emphasis on persistent biodiversity data stores. R. Robbins, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Emerging new field: biodiversity informatics

Global Biodiversity Information Facility DNA Phenotypes Proteins Populations Species Ecosystems Abiotic Factors Biodiversity Informatics Adapted from R. Robbins

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Abiotic Factors Bioinformatics Persistent Primary Data Stores DNA Phenotypes Proteins Populations Species Ecosystems Adapted from R. Robbins Map Databases GenBank EMBL DDBJ PDB SwissPROT PIR

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Mission Megascience project aimed at l Making the world’s biodiversity data freely and universally available via the Internet l Sharing primary scientific biodiversity data to benefit science and society.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility l To undertake biodiversity informatics activities that must be accomplished on a worldwide basis l To take on tasks not being attempted by other initiatives but which would be of benefit to those initiatives l To make biodiversity databases interoperable among themselves and with molecular, genetic, ecological and other types of databases, thus increasing the value of all of them l To ensure that scientists around the world can benefit from accessing and using biodiversity data Why was GBIF established ?

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How was it established ? l OECD Sub-Group of the Megascience Forum Working Group on Biological Informatics (96-99) l Recommendations were endorsed by the OECD Ministers (June 1999). l An interim steering committee for GBIF was established to negotiate GBIF’s Memorandum of Understanding ( ).

Global Biodiversity Information Facility When was GBIF started ? l GBIF came into existence on 1 March 2001, when the first 10 countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and pledged a total of US$2M

Global Biodiversity Information Facility What is GBIF ? A distributed facility, comprising a network of Participant NODES that l Share biodiversity data openly and freely l Use common data and metadata standards l Encourage generation of additional content l Data providers retain control and ownership of their data l Gain access to others’ data by sharing theirs (credit to sources)

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Participants l Voting Participants are countries that l Sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) l Establish and maintain a GBIF node l Contribute financially to GBIF’s Work Programme l Associate Participants are countries, economies or international organisations that l Sign the Memorandum of Understanding l Establish and maintain a GBIF node

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Voting Participants 24 l Australia l Belgium l Canada l Costa Rica l Denmark l Estonia l Finland l France l Germany l Iceland l Japan l Republic of Korea l Mexico l Netherlands l New Zealand l Nicaragua l Portugal l Peru l Slovenia l South Africa l Spain l Sweden l UK l USA

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Associate Participants l Argentina l Austria l Bulgaria l Colombia l Czech Republic l Ghana l Madagascar l Morocco l Pakistan l Poland l Slovak Republic l Switzerland l Taiwan l Tanzania l European Commission l ALL Species Foundation l ASEANET l BioNET l BIOSIS l CABI Bioscience l EASIANET l Expert Centre for Taxonomic Identification (ETI) l Inter-American Biodiversity Information Network (IABIN) l Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) l IUCN – The World Conservation Union. l NatureServe l Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) l SAFRINET Société de Bactériologie Systématique et Vétérinaire l Species 2000 l Taxonomic Databases Working Group (TDWG) l UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program l UNEP (World Conservation Monitoring Centre) l World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC) l Wildscreen Trust

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Benefits of GBIF - data providers l Higher visibility of the institution or research project as useful to society l Global dissemination of the data l Source of the data attributed when used l Build strong cases to access more funding l Contribution to the ability of everyone to share in the common store of humanity’s knowledge about biodiversity

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Benefits of GBIF - biodiversity researchers GBIF as a distributed megascience facility will provide l access to a persistent data store for specimen- and species- level data, thus filling a niche similar to that of GenBank for DNA-level data l easy online access to geo-referenced specimen data via a network portal l a complete, global, index to scientific names and thus to the scientific literature electronic and databases l a means to link together data from disparate sources (e.g. DNA, specimen, species observation and ecosystem) to answer complex questions l opportunities for within- and cross-disciplinary collaboration l a means to infuse biodiversity policy and management decisions with real, scientific data

Global Biodiversity Information Facility More benefits of GBIF’s network l Both biodiversity and biodiversity data are unevenly distributed around the world: Developing World Biodiversity Biodiversity Data Developed World l GBIF assist scientists in developing countries to have access to data on specimens housed all over the world (CBD. art. 17).

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Benefits of GBIF - developing countries l Access to data and information associated with a country’s specimens that are housed in foreign institutions l Travel to obtain the data not required l Difficulty of repatriating and expense of housing actual specimens is avoided l Ability to share fully in the common store of humanity’s knowledge about biodiversity l Opportunity for training in the expert development and use of biodiversity information l GBIF support of and in cooperation with others i.e. the CBD (CHM, GTI, 2010 halting biodiversity loss initiative) will help to build in-country capacity and expertise.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Vision for Uses of Biodiversity Data Edu- cation Conser- vation General Public Industry Research Regu- lation Sustainable Development ….. l Reuse of data, avoidance of duplication of effort l Primary data available for different users l Interoperability with other kinds of data (genetic, molecular, geographic, etc.) l Alleviation of gaps in knowledge ….. Primary data

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Biological entities are more complex than all other physical and chemical entities: l At all levels of organization, each biological entity is unique l Phylogenetic (genealogical) history matters a great deal l Biological relationships are intricate, and contingent upon, and therefore complicated by l Ecology (including symbioses & parasitic relationships) l Behavior l Chemical competencies l Sensibility, vagility, mobility, etc. Characteristics of Biodiversity Data

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF’s area of data responsibility l The types of data that GBIF will facilitate are unique; while encouraging no duplication of efforts. l The return on the investments made in the other areas will be enhanced by the data and interoperability provided by GBIF.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF contribution to interoperability Example: Until now, it has not been possible to combine data from GenBank with specimen and ecological data from other sources without painstaking work by a person. With GBIF’s components in place, data can be drawn directly from different sources with a single query. Compiled specimen, genetic, and ecological information

Global Biodiversity Information Facility What does GBIF do ? l In order to promote the sharing and use of scientific biodiversity data GBIF focuses on four areas of activity: l Digitisation of Natural History Collections ( DIGIT) l Electronic Catalog of Names of Known Organisms ( ECAT ) l Data Access and Database Interoperability ( DADI) l Outreach and Capacity Building ( OCB )

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Digitisation of Natural History Collections (DIGIT) To facilitate the expansion of biodiversity knowledge by having legacy and newly acquired primary species occurrence data digitised and dynamically accessible.

Global Biodiversity Information Facility What are GBIF’s primary data ? l Associated notes, recordings, observational databases, etc. l These data must be digitised in order to be shared and fully utilised l Label data on ~ billion specimens in natural history collections

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Data Access and Database Interoperability (DADI) To facilitate the full use of biodiversity and other databases by establishing an information architecture that enables interoperability and facilitates data-mining

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How can GBIF data be made to interoperate with other data ? l By devising and adopting common data and metadata standards and software protocols Catalogue of Life Biodiversity Data Access Name Usage Index Taxonomic Name Service (ECAT) Specimen Data Observation Data Name Lists Unstructured Data URLs XML Data AccessHTML Data Access GBIF Portal ECAT elements have been coloured orange: “Name Lists” are lists of names for a specific purpose (e.g. Red List, regional checklist) Indexing of usage Indexing of usage Index Manager GBIF Data Nodes

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How can GBIF data be made to interoperate? l By carefully thinking through the individual logical and logistical steps needed to accomplish the larger goal Example: Find Global Specimens/Observations Retrieve specimen/observation records (e.g. for a given species or location) held by any part of the GBIF Network Show records of Erinaceus europaeus GBIF 6 records 35 records 17 records 23 records 81 records: 1.Museum AParis 2.Museum ANice 3.Museum AParis 4.Museum A Avignon 5.Museum A Avignon 6.Museum A Marseille 7.Observer X Norwich 8.Observer X Norwich 9.Observer X Southampton...

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How can GBIF data be made to interoperate with other data ? l By developing a complete, electronic listing of all the names of all the species that are known to science, which also accommodates various classifications Argiope bruennichi (Scopoli) 1796

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Electronic Catalog of Names of Known Organisms (ECAT) To facilitate the exploration and rapid expansion of biodiversity knowledge by providing a complete, digital listing of the names of all known organisms

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Why are names so important ? Specimen Data GenBank, etc. Ecological Databases Tree of Life Search Engine(s) l The scientific name is the only data field common to all these different databases l Without a scientific name, there is no access to primary data

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Why are names so important ? GenBank, etc. Tree of Life Ecological Databases GIS layers Specimen Data + l What do we know about its genes? l What is it related to? l What are its predators? l What are its ecological requirements? l Where does this invasive species come from?

Global Biodiversity Information Facility l Establish capacity to take advantage of the data that GBIF facilitates and makes available l Train people l Build infrastructure l Protect intellectual property rights (ownership remains with data providers) How can GBIF benefits be shared by all ?

Global Biodiversity Information Facility Outreach and Capacity Building (OCB) Through training and capacity building, ensure that scientists, NODE managers and decision- makers in every country have access to and can use the world’s biodiversity data and information

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Summary l Sharing of biodiversity data via the web l Data providers retain control over it. l Protection of intellectual property rights l Distributed network architecture l Common standards and protocols l Partnership with other networks l Avoidance of duplication of effort l Promotion of technical developments to deal with complexity of biodiversity data

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF works in cooperation with others l In cooperation with and in support of organisations that need biodiversity information, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity: l Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) l Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) l In partnership with such other initiatives as l Species 2000 and the Integrated Taxonomic Information Service (ITIS)—the “Catalog of Life” l Taxonomic Database Working Group (TDWG)

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Organizational Chart Science Subommittees Standing Committees Governing Board Secretariat Executive Committee ScienceNODES Budget DADI DIGIT ECAT OCB Membership Ad hoc Committee

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Governance l Governing Board (GB) meets twice a year l Establishes policy l Oversees finances through its Budget Committee l Delegates actions between meetings to Executive Committee l Secretariat l Carries out GBIF Work Programme l Coordinates activities of the nodes l Promotes GBIF principles l Encourages participation in GBIF l Recommends policies to Governing Board

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How does GBIF work ? l NODES Committee l Comprises the managers of the Participant nodes l Works with the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) staff of the Secretariat to develop the network of nodes l Participant nodes share software and ideas with each other and with data providers l Secretariat ICT staff advise, coordinate and provide software toolkits

Global Biodiversity Information Facility How to join GBIF l GBIF Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) l Send letter of intent to Chair of the Governing Board l Sign and send MoU and establish GBIF node l Arrange payment of annual contribution (for Voting Participation) l If an individual or institution, participate in GBIF through your country’s node or a node of one of the Associate Participants

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Schedule of Contributions GDP in billions of US $ Annual GBIF contribution > , , , , , ,000 <

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Supplementary Fund l Contributions may come from different sources and may be targeted to specific purposes l Fund monies may be used: l To assist developing countries in sending delegations to Governing Board meetings l To help with infrastructure development l To further one or more of the Work Programme areas l For any other purpose that furthers GBIF goals

Global Biodiversity Information Facility GBIF Accomplishments to Date l 59 Participants have joined to date l Secretariat established l 14 hired (via international searches) by Nov 2002 l Moved into permanent quarters 5 Mar 2003 l Portal opened Mar 2003 l First version of information architecture in place (by Dec 2003) l DIGIT and ECAT seed money awards l Training provided (DiGIR technologies)

Global Biodiversity Information Facility More information about GBIF Beatriz Torres: Phone: Fax: