GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY INFORMATION FACILITY Beatriz Torres Senior Prog. Off. - Outreach and Cap. Building Strategies for Open and Permanent Access to Scientific Info. in Latin America. Atibaia, Brazil, 7-10 May Promoting open access to biodiversity data and metadata: The GBIF way

Questions for the meeting 1. What are the main challenges and barriers to providing permanent open access to S&T data and information ?

Mobilizing biodiversity data: Huge job ~300 years of Linnean work (identification and naming of species) +1.7 million described species. Biodiversity data is complex

Biological Data Domain - challenges Persistent ? digital and physical data stores, moderately accessible Migration of legacy data, metadata generation, taxonomy (species) 80% ? digital Ecological & Ecosystem Data Persistent physical data stores, accessible with difficulty Digitisation, migration of legacy data, indexing <5% digital Species- & Specimen Data Persistent digital, universally accessible data stores Data migration, cleansing, vouchering, taxonomy (gene & species) 95% digital Molecular Sequence & Gene/Genome Data Sub-domain Digital Status Greatest Informatics Problems Data Status

Challenges - Barriers Cultural: Idiosyncratic duplications of effort – the “Not Invented Here” syndrome “Central database” thinking Potential data providers’ resistance to:Potential data providers’ resistance to: including metadata in their databasesincluding metadata in their databases adopting standards for data and metadataadopting standards for data and metadata

Barriers: Institutional: e.g. No reward system Legal (IPRs) Policies Technological (interoperability)

Question 2 What are some of the most promising existing models or mechanisms for providing this access?

Will present the GBIF Experience (

GBIF’s is a global scientific initiative Mission: Make primary biodiversity data freely and openly available via the internet. –Development of tools, standards & protocols -> interoperability of databases. Digitization. Catalogues of names and capacity building. Started in 2001 Members: Governments + international organizations

Everything GBIF does is in partnership with others Conservation Commons GTI, Species loss (2010 indicators), GSPC, CHM,

GBIF to date has mobilized 122+ mill. biodiversity data records (observational, names and specimen data)

Obligations for GBIF members Share biodiversity data Build a Node(s) -> build a network...

GBIF Policies GBIF is a gateway. It does not own the data it serves -> data belongs to the data providers. Full atribution to data providers (citation format) Data travels with metadata (names of scientists/data providers, restrictions if any... Not serving sensitive data (e.g. location on endangered species). GBIF does not impose IPRs. –Data use and data sharing agreements in place (citation of data sources is a must!) –ProBono Legal Expert Advisory Group –Next: Exploring with the Science and Creative Commons the use of licensing agreements.

Establishing clear rules and a working framework

2006 GBIF Governing Board Recommendation on Open Access To research councils, other funding agencies and private foundations … Promote that proposals for funding for biodiversity research include a plan for the maintenance and sharing of the digital biodiversity data generated in proposed projects; Promote that species and specimen level data and associated metadata that are generated in funded projects are made publicly available through mechanisms cooperating with GBIF, within a specified period after completion of the supported research."

Open Access (legally binding) Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Decision VIII/11, 2006, under Scientific and Technical Cooperation. CBD... Invites Parties and other Governments, as appropriate, to provide free and open access to all past, present and future public-good research results, assessments, maps and databases on biodiversity, in accordance with national and international legislation;

Mobilizing biodiversity data (

Sandwich tern distribution Sterna sandwichensis

New GBIF Portal launching July 2007

PUTTING GBIF- mediated BIODIVERSITY DATA TO USE

Assessing species loss through time (CBD 2010 target and indicators): Indices of biodiversity loss can be calculated, for species of national interest (endangered, commercially-valuable…) Illustrations from Conabio, Mexico and O. M. Chisano Source: Soberón & Peterson 2007

Modeling and prediction of impact of alien invasive species: Long-horned Asian beetle invades the USA from China in wooded crates (Town Peterson)

Distribution model for N.America based on climatic conditions. Places where the Asian long-horned beetle was recorded (Chicago y NY) Red: High probabilities of invasion. (Town Peterson)

Jorge Soberón

Peromyscus maniculatus Main vector of Main vector of Hanta virus Low probabilityty Medium probability High probability Peromyscus maniculatus Jorge Soberón

Effect of global climate change on butterfly species richness: now versus 2020 Present 2020 Peterson et al.

S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S # S Cd. Obregón Tecomán, Col. Comarca Lagunera Planicie Huasteca Gossypium barbadense Source: Jorge Soberón

Diseases: Climate Change effects Where are malaria vectors likely to find appropriate climate and environmental conditions in the future? Here, we present the average of two scenarios created by the Hadley Climate Change Center … for the year quadriannulatus merus melasgambiaearabiensis Red areas will be more appropriate to the mosquitoes in the future, blue areas less Town Peterson with Mark Benedict and Bex Levine

What is next? Moving to... full implementation: New Data Portal (July 2007). Integration of interactive maps, web services, multiple taxonomy display, improved validation and feedback to data providers. Specialized training (DiGIR/Tapir, sensitive data, geo- referencing, data modeling). Now: Development of standards for species (e.g. Plinian Core) Work with IPRs (with the Science & Creative Commons) Open source tools to help data providers –improve data quality –Geo-reference descriptive locality data –Tools to help planning, address conservation issues and decision-making – Involvement in the CBD 2010 indicators

How to contact GBIF? Web site: Data portal: GBIF Secretariat Universitetsparken Copenhagen Denmark Phone: Fax: New GBIF Secretariat headquarters, supported by grant from Aage V. Jensens Fonde

GBIF’s areas of work The types of data that GBIF -> no duplication of any existing effort.

Solution 2 GBIF provides some matching funding to help computerise biodiversity data GBIF urges funding sources to provide funds to digitise biodiversity data GBIF calls upon funding agencies to consider requiring that data in biodiversity projects be made openly available GBIF has assembled a set of guidelines and tools for improving data quality

Three papers on data quality and use are available at