a By a "coordinated coupled modelling environment" we mean a technological framework of interoperability that allows researchers to bring together different data and algorithms without undue difficulty for analysis, modelling and prediction. Such a framework could assist us to better understand biodiversity as a comprehensive, complex, integrated system rather than as an assemblage of species (or any other biological organisation). This comprehensive systems-oriented framework would be built from diverse but interlinked data and tools for data discovery and analysis across dimensions of scale of phenomena, time, space and disciplines (biology, chemistry, climatology, economics, sociology, geography). The effect of impacts and processes can then be assessed across temporal, spatial, and organisational (e.g. gene, individual, species, ecosystems) dimensions. For an alternative impression, refer to Virtual Physiological Human (VPH) for an analogous objective, as described by [101]:
“… a technological framework that aims to be descriptive, integrative and predictive.
Descriptive
The framework should allow observations made in laboratories, in hospitals and in the field, at a variety of locations situated anywhere in the world, to be collected, catalogued, organized, shared and combined in any possible way.
Integrative
The framework should enable experts to analyse these observations collaboratively, and develop systemic hypotheses that incorporate the knowledge of multiple scientific disciplines.
Predictive
The framework should facilitate the interconnection of predictive models defined at different scales, with different methods and with different levels of detail, producing systemic networks that breathe life into systemic hypotheses; simultaneously, the framework should enable their validity to be verified by comparison with other clinical or laboratory observations.”
b Based on the Lister definition of biodiversity, [102]: ‘Biodiversity is the variety, distinctiveness and complexity of all life on Earth, including its structures, functions, cultures, and information at all scales (from genetic to global) and in all its contexts (from DNA to self organization)’.
c A valid name is the correct biological name of a taxon, determined according to the relevant rules of nomenclature.
d At the International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI2012), Copenhagen, 21–23 March 2012.
e For a working definition of biodiversity informatics see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity_informatics
f Related ‘future’ initiatives are presently being coordinated at the global level by the FP7 funded CReATIVE-B project (http://creative-b.eu/) and by GBIF (http://www.gbif.org/) through its Global Biodiversity Informatics Conference (Copenhagen, 2–4 July 2012) and subsequent Global Biodiversity Informatics Outlook publication (in preparation).
g The EU vision for 2050 is: “Biodiversity and ecosystem services – the world’s natural capital – are preserved, valued and, insofar as possible, restored for their intrinsic value and so that they can continue to support economic prosperity and human well-being as well as avert catastrophic changes linked to biodiversity loss.” [http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/policy/].
h The EU target for 2020 is to: “halt the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services in the EU by 2020 and restore them insofar as possible, and step up the EU’s contribution to averting global biodiversity loss.” [http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/biodiversity/policy/].
i BiSciCol project [http://biscicol.blogspot.co.uk/p/home.html] is one example of an attempt to do that.
j At the non-European and global levels important projects include: DataONE, iDigBio, Atlas of Living Australia, Catalogue of Life, COOPEUS, CReATIVE-B, EOL, GBIF, GSC Biodiversity WG, TreeBase, CBOL and many more.
k BioVeL in particular is a pilot implementation following the architecture and technical approach envisaged for the ESFRI LifeWatch Research Infrastructure for biodiversity science and ecosystems research.
l A name usage is a statement that includes a name. The GNUB connects names with their usage in the literature, collections, etc.
m See for example, how Atlas of Living Australia approaches this problem: http://www.ala.org.au/aboutthe-atlas/how-we-integrate-data/data-quality-assurance/.
n The situation today can be likened to that which existed in the fields of meteorology and climatology in the 1960’s and 70’s when the emergence of numerical weather prediction drove the demand for new observations and the emergence of a global infrastructure for acquiring data.
o The EC KeyToNature project (http://www.keytonature.eu) developed a series of apps for identifying species in the field.
p For example Artportalen in Sweden (http://www.artportalen.se/default.asp), Ornitho in Italy (http://www.ornitho.it/) and Project Noah in the USA (http://www.projectnoah.org/).
q For example sig.ma (http://sig.ma/).
Appendix 1
A moderated mailing list has been established for the Biodiversity Informatics Community. To join the list, e-mail DR (dmr@nomencurator.org). Contributing authors to this White Paper are, in alphabetical order:
Wouter Addink, ETI Bioinformatics, NL
Bart Aelterman, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), BE
Donat Agosti, Plazi, CH
Linda Amaral-Zettler, Marine Biological Laboratory, US
Arturo H. Ariño, Universidad de Navarra, ES
Christos Arvanitidis, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, GR
Thierry Backeljau, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, BE
Nicolas Bailly, WorldFish Center, PH
Lee Belbin, Atlas of Living Australia, AU
Walter Berendsohn, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, DE
Nic Bertrand, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Lancaster, UK
Neil Caithness, Oxford University, UK
David Campbell, The Paleontological Research Institution, US
Guy Cochrane, EMBL - European Bioinformatics Institute Hinxton, UK
Noël Conruyt, Université de la Réunion, FR
Alastair Culham, University of Reading, UK
Christian Damgaard, Aarhus University, DK
Neil Davies, UC Berkeley, US
Bruno Fady, INRA, UR629 Ecologie des Forêts Méditerranéennes (URFM) and CESAB (CEntre de Synthèse et d'Analyse sur la Biodiversité), FR
Sarah Faulwetter, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, GR
Alan Feest, Bristol University, UK
Dawn Field, Oxford University, UK
Eric Garnier, UMR5175 Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle & Evolutive and CESAB (CEntre de Synthèse et d'Analyse sur la Biodiversité), FR
Guntram Geser, Salzburg Research Forschungsgesellschaft, AT
Jack Gilbert, University of Chicago, US
Bernd Grosche, Federal Office for Radiation Protection, DE
David Grosser, Université de la Réunion, FR
Alex Hardisty, Cardiff University, UK
Bénédicte Herbinet, Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité, FR
Donald Hobern, GBIF Secretariat, DK
Andrew Jones, Cardiff University, UK
Yde de Jong, Universiteit van Amsterdam, NL
David King, The Open University, UK
Sandra Knapp, Natural History Museum, London, UK
Hanna Koivula, Finnish Museum of Natural History, FI
Wouter Los, University of Amsterdam, NL
Chris Meyer, Smithsonian Institution, US
Robert A. Morris, UMASS-Boston and Harvard University Herbaria, US
Norman Morrison, University of Manchester, UK
David Morse, The Open University, UK
Matthias Obst, University of Gothenburg, SE
Evagelos Pafilis, Hellenic Center for Marine Research, GR
Larry M. Page, Florida Museum of Natural History, US
Roderic Page, University of Glasgow, UK
Thomas Pape, Natural History Museum of Denmark, DK
Cynthia Parr, Smithsonian Institution, US
Alan Paton, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
David Patterson, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, US
Elisabeth Paymal, Fondation pour la Recherche sur la Biodiversité, FR
Lyubomir Penev, Pensoft Publishers, BG
Marc Pollet, Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO), BE
Richard Pyle, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, US
Eckhard von Raab-Straube, Botanischer Garten und Botanisches Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, DE
Vincent Robert, Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, NL
Dave Roberts, Natural History Museum, London, UK
Tim Robertson, GBIF Secretariat, DK
Olivier Rovellotti, Natural Solutions, FR
Hannu Saarenmaa, Finnish Museum of Natural History, FI
Peter Schalk, ETI Bioinformatics, NL
Joop Schaminee, Wageningen UR and Radboud University Nijmegen, NL
Paul Schofield, University of Cambridge, UK
Andy Sier, Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, UK
Soraya Sierra, Stichting Naturalis Biodiversity Center, NL
Vince Smith, Natural History Museum, London, UK
Edwin van Spronsen, ETI Bioinformatics, NL
Simon Thornton-Wood, University of Reading, UK
Peter van Tienderen, Universiteit van Amsterdam, NL
Jan van Tol, Stichting Naturalis Biodiversity Center, NL
Éamonn Ó Tuama, GBIF Secretariat, DK
Peter Uetz, Virginia Commonwealth University, US
Lea Vaas, Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, NL
Régine Vignes Lebbe, University Pierre et Marie Curie, FR
Todd Vision, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US
Duong Vu, Centraalbureau voor Schimmelcultures, NL
Aaike De Wever, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, BE
Richard White, Cardiff University, UK
Kathy Willis, University of Oxford, UK
Fiona Young, University of Reading, UK
Appendix 2
Mobilising economic benefits
At present, 87% of the world’s population have mobile phone subscriptions and 1.2 billion of these are mobile Web users. In 2011, almost half a billion smartphones were shipped globally, exceeding sales of PCs [103]. In 2010, 300,000+ Smartphone apps were downloaded 10.9 billion times. Prediction is that in 2014 some 77 billion apps will be downloaded representing an estimated US$35 billion market [104]. With the 10 times faster 4G mobile networks as successor of 3G already available in some countries, high speed bandwidth to mobile devices will facilitate online use of services demanding bandwidth such as video-streaming.
Next generation apps, incorporating stable content, smart algorithms and location-awareness in combination with multiple layers of online data delivered over 4G bandwidth (not yet available in Europe), offer the promise of highly innovative information products that can serve markets in both the science and social domains, provided the data are made available to serve these needs.
The EC KeyToNature project [105] developed a series of apps for identifying species in the field demonstrating that there is a market for quality taxonomic reference works that can contribute to cost recovery. This approach however does not come without risk. The mobile devices’ field is evolving extremely fast and apps developed for a device are out of business only one or two years later.