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 57
8/30/2004
GISIN, having species summary pages and
related information, would have a major
focus in the middle level. Although GBIF is
currently focused on specimen and
observation data, scientific names and
concepts, it plans to serve species-level
aggregated information once a sufficient
baseline has been developed with the
primary data. GBIF also needs to work on
the integration of digital images and
literature into the system. At this time, the
GBIF team is working mainly on metadata
that describes who is providing the
information and how.
By recent estimates there are 200 to
300 million digital records of primary
biodiversity data existing in the world
and among GBIF participants (about
30 or 40 countries). How many of
these records are available online
today?
Primary data is quite interesting. There are
various estimates of the number of
specimens in museums and collections
worldwide, which are really the foundation
for primary data. The estimates range from
between one and three billion specimens.
Field observations are also important by
providing evidence that the species was
found in a certain place at a certain time.
Recent estimates state there are 200 to 300
million digital records of primary biodiversity
data existing in the world among GBIF
participants (about 30 or 40 countries). How
many of these records are available online
today? GBIF has mobilized 18 million
records in 47 data providers to date. These
integrated and mobilized records shared
through GBIF represent just ten percent of
the total, but this percentage is quickly
growing.
GBIF integrates this data through
participants that have agreed to set up
nodes. These nodes are gateways to data.
They are really the ones that provide the
services.
One of these services involves providing
access to the 18 million primary biodiversity
data records. GBIF has a registry that keeps
track of the nodes and their services, and
the portal operates as an index that caches
and keeps track of the records that all of the
providers are servicing. Integration can only
occur successfully through an organized
structure such as this.
Standards and Protocols
Information exchange standards are the key
to a successful organizational infrastructure.
Several different types of standards are
needed to manage and serve the data
through GBIF. The Darwin Core and the
Access to Biological Collection Data’s
(ABCD) standard are two standards that
GBIF uses for specimen observation data.
The Distributed Generic Information
Retrieval (DiGIR) protocol and the more
sophisticated Biological Collection Access
Service for Europe (BioCASE) protocol
define the methods for transporting the
data. Data exchange standards such as the
Dublin Core keep track of information
sources.
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
GBIF Information model
GBIF Information model
Portal and
Index
Registry
Nodes
Services
Records
GBIF Portal
Participant Nodes
Data Nodes
Taxonomic Name Service
Specimen/Observation
Service
General Resource Service
Name List Service …
Taxonomic Names
Specimen/Observation
Records
HTML Pages
Images …
holds
metadata
for
provides
index of
holds
metadata
for
provide
supply
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