Global Meeting to Discuss the Invasive
Species Profile Schema
Created for the Global Invasive Species
Information Network and
the Secretariat for the Convention on
Biological Diversity
Justification
The Global Invasive Species
Information Network requires building an information network for sharing and
exchange of invasive species data, information, knowledge, and related
metadata. The network aims to connect,
through a distributed approach, as many existing and new invasive species
information systems as possible, by promoting common standards, protocols, and
services designed to achieve connectivity.
Exchanging data, information,
and knowledge about invasive species is a critical component of our response to
biological invasions. With funding from the US Department of State, the
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) selected a
consultant to create a draft schema for a broad invasive species profile, for
use by the Global Invasive Species Information Network. According to the terms
of reference, the consultant’s team was to develop a data exchange standard for
Invasive Alien Species Profiles (or Species Accounts) by consulting the main
actors, comparing and evaluating different schemas and
data formats, and to propose a core set of data elements.
The resulting documents have
been available for public comment since August, and there is a need to convene
an international group of technical experts to discuss the suggested universal
vocabularies and high-level elements.
The consultant’s report
states the following:
The
Invasive Alien Species Profile Schema (IAS-PS) described in this report
proposes preliminary draft standards for the exchange of invasive species
information in the form of fact sheets, projects and case studies, expertise
and checklists via the Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN). It
supports the exchange of data elements important to invasive species science
such as native and non-native status, pathways of spread, host and parasitic
organisms observed, impact, invasiveness, control techniques used. The IAS-PS
does not present schemas for data elements such as observations and survey data
and bibliographies, but instead references existing schemas for the invasive
species community to evaluate and adopt wherever possible.
The
purpose of the IAS-PS is to facilitate data exchange and it should not serve as
a template for information system design. It has been developed as an annotated
XML-Schema document. We stress that the XML schema, and the suggested structure
it encapsulates, will require further technical development. It is intended
that the IAS-PS become the subject of discussion within the invasive species
community and that an appropriate TDWG (Taxonomic Database Working Group)
standard working group will take development of the proposed draft through a
formal standards adoption process.
In order to prepare a
technically sound information document for consideration at the Eighth Ordinary
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the CBD to be held 30-21 March,
2006 in Curitiba, Brazil, a four-night, three-day GISIN experts meeting is
proposed for the week of February 20-24 2006, in Agadir, Morocco.
Funding and logistical
support for the meeting has been obtained from the CBD Secretariat, the Global
Biodiversity Information Facility, the US National Biological Information
Infrastructure, and the Moroccan Ministry of Agriculture. Funding for
additional participants is being sought from several sources to achieve an
adequately diverse participation. Possible funding sources include the Gates
Foundation, FAO, and the Global Invasive Species Programme.
Proposed participants
include members of the Taxonomic Database Working Group, owners of
international invasive species databases, and members of the Global Invasive
Species Information Network and its Steering Committee.