Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 " European Institute of Distributed Taxonomy" (EDIT): A new initiative to overcome the taxonomic impediment C. Häuser & K. Riede

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 The challenge: biodiversity loss Mammals:[IUCN „red lists“] –(1990): threatened + endangered: 647 spp. –(2003): threatened (CR, EN, VU): 1130 spp. (= 23% of all mammal species known)! Reptiles: –(1990): threatened + endangered: 207 spp. –(2003): threatened (CR, EN, VU): 293 spp. changes from: –plants: 5,611 : 6,774 spp. –vertebrates: 3,507 : 3,524 spp. –invertebrates: 1,928 : 1,959 spp. n.b.: insects (= 900,000 spp.): only 0.02% of all species could yet be evaluated!!

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 The challenge for taxonomy shortage of (taxonomic) information on biodiversity: biodiversity crisis = information crisis?!! the „taxonomic impediment“: CBD: GTI a gap between conservation and (taxonomic) research, e.g., –no complete biodiversity inventory available yet for any protected area in the World !!?

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 IUCN / WCMC - World Database of Protected Areas

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 The Challenge No inventory data available yet for most protected areas … Species details: „No details are currently available for any species. If you know of a species which exists in this protected area please complete the comment form.“

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 WP7 a «Network of Excellence» (NoE) supported by the European Commission (FP6) funded for 5 years (2007 – 2011) coordinated by the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris (Prof Simon Tillier) EDIT: Towards The European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Who is EDIT (1)? 18 EU institutions: Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris Natural History Museum of Denmark Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid University of Amsterdam National Herbarium Netherlands Natural History Museum Naturalis,,Leiden Centraalbureau Schimmelcultures, Utrecht Free University Berlin – Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Natural History Museum, London Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Stuttgart Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Bruxelles Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren National Botanic Garden of Belgium Museum and Institute of Zoology and Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszaw Hungarian Museum of Natural History, Budapest Comenius University, Bratislava Institute of Botany, Slovakian Academy of Sciences, Bratislava Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Montpellier

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Who is EDIT (2)? 2 network organizations devoted to taxonomic information: - Species Society for the Management of European Biodiversity Data (SMEBD) 2 North American institutions: - US National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution - Missouri Botanical Gardens 2 Russian institutions: - Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences - Komarov Botanical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 EDIT organisation The expert basis The infrastructure basis Coordinating research Internet platform for cybertaxonomy Web-based taxonomy Taxonomy for conservation Training and capacity building Products Resources Coordination and integration WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 Making EDIT USERS NEEDS

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 WP7 objectives Strengthening the input of taxonomic expertise in Europe for biodiversity conservation programmes and policies, especially for inventories, assessments, and monitoring of biodiversity; Integrating user needs for taxonomic expertise from the conservation management side with research agendas for biosystematics and biogeography from leading European centres of excellence; Further development and promotion of standards, techniques and methodologies for state of the art and cost efficient biodiversity assessments including a new approach for an "All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory & Monitoring" (ATBI+M) programme; Establish a European expert task force for undertaking and supporting biodiversity inventories, assessments, and monitoring activities;

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 The Background ATBIs - All Taxa Biodiversity Inventories...attempting to record and document the entire biodiversity occurring at a specific site or area. Where ATBIs have been undertaken at some depth, they have considerably increased the knowledge of the biodiversity of the area, frequently including the discovery of dozens of new species or hundreds of species previously unknown to the region Example: ATBI in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 WP7 (ATBI+M) approach Establish EDIT ATBI+M pilot sites for areas of conservation concern in and outside Europe in need/want of inventory data Support teams of taxonomic experts for field work to update/complete inventories and undertake monitoring on a demand/request basis from sites Test and develop new standards, protocols, and tools for efficient field recording techniques (geo-referencing tools, field-based ID techniques, GUID protocols for records & specimens, etc.) Request inventory data in form of individual primary occurrence records in digital form (compatible with BioCASE/DiGIR standards) Promote and support hosting of primary inventory data in openly accessible web-based information systems (GBIF)

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Call for proposals for ATBI+M pilot site from EDIT partners: (22) 16 proposals for Europe ( and appr. 25 for Overseas sites ) European Pilot sites

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans Establishing Pilot Sites: Workshop Proposed sites and criteria were discussed during a workshop in Stuttgart. 40 participants from 14 countries. Results were published on CD, distributed among all EDIT Team Leaders Feedback by questionnaires (Ranking: 6-1) Database established for ranking, comments and taxonomic expertise

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans Selection of Pilot Sites: Criteria Relevance for conservation Available information on fauna & flora, GIS data state of the art of inventories, on-going monitoring Ecosystem representative of a region, heterogeneous, threatened habitats and species, pristine Logistics and Feasibility Accessibility Infrastructure (field station, accommodation, transport) Support through counterparts and local hosts, including staff Site administration interested to host ATBI (for long term) Interest to seek additional funding for ATBI Potential for Outreach / PR

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans European Pilot Sites: Current status Based on criteria and feedback from EDIT partners, we selected 2 European sites for the first phase (M1-18). Further sites can be added in the future (open, dynamic priority list).

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans Mercantour National Park

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans Overseas Pilot Activities: We supported EDIT scientists to participate in the SANTO Expedition The SANTO Expedition and EDIT All data will be integrated within the geo-referenced EDIT ATBI database and connected to GBIFGBIF

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 Our pilot trip plans Overseas Pilot Sites We now plan to add 1 or 2 Overseas sites in biodiversity-rich countries A workshop on Overseas sites selection will be held in Stuttgart (Germany) March 14-16th 2007 at State Museum of Natural History (SMNS) Some sites are already running complementary activities, and EDIT might bestow a label, without investing much resources. Other sites will not have any ATBI activity unless EDIT will take charge. Several sites have considerable potential for PR and outreach activities.

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 EDIT WP7: next steps Finalize selection process and develop/sign agreements (MoU) with first proposed European ATBI+M pilot sites Terms of Reference (best practise) for individual participation in ATBI+M teams published Call for proposal and selection process for extra-European pilot sites (early 2007) Overseas site selection and Methods (data capture/recording) workshop (March 2007) First field visits by ATBI+M teams to selected pilot sites (from April 2007 onwards) review WP7 approaches, protocols & tools applied (end 2007)

Gtoe meeting Bonn 2007 EDIT (WP7): the challenge integrate taxonomic communities & institutions across Europe demonstrate value/usefulness of (new) taxonomy to outside users, particularly the conservation community improve taxonomic workflow, change attitudes & work practices render digital (taxonomic) data truly sustainable – GBIF ( ! transform taxonomy into an integrated information science

Gtoe meeting Bonn Thank you !