Report prepared for the Experts Meeting Towards the Implementation of a Global Invasive Species
Information Network (GISIN), 6-8 April, 2004. Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Page 55
8/30/2004
The Global Biodiversity
Information Facility and GISIN
Hannu Saarenmaa, Deputy Director for
Informatics, Global Biodiversity Information
Facility Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15,
Copenhagen, 2100 Denmark
Abstract
The Global Biodiversity Information
Facility (GBIF) provides an information
infrastructure for biodiversity data. This
infrastructure has components such as portals,
providers, and a registry. The providers currently
only provide "primary biodiversity data" in the
Darwin Core format. The Darwin Core is good
for expressing things like "a species has been
found in a certain place at a certain time". In
future other formats and types of data will be
included.
All these types of data and protocols are
defined in the registry. The providers advertise
their data and services there, with entries like "I
provide type A data with protocol B." The
registry is open for anybody to register their
provider, any portal, and search engine to
discover the right providers.
Now how does that fit with GISIN? If we
look at the data types required (diagnostics,
distribution, basic biology, dispersal, impacts,
biotic associations, modes of dispersal, control
methods, bibliographies, and expert contact
information), we realize that distribution is the
only one that can be implemented according to
the existing Darwin Core today. Diagnostics can
soon be covered with Structured Descriptive
Data (SDD). For others we need to select/write a
data exchange format and protocol, and data
provider application.
Technically speaking, GBIF could
include all these information/provider types in its
registry. This would be like a global phone book
of available invasive alien species (IAS) data
and information. However, as we are not only
talking about biodiversity data but pest control
etc., it might be more appropriate that another
registry similar to GBIF's is established for IAS.
The registries, if made using compatible
standardized approaches like Universal
Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI),
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GBIF
is a
global
inte-
grator
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