Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Encyclopedia
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity
available via the Internet
using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the world; GBIF's information architecture makes these data accessible and searchable through a single portal. Data available through the GBIF portal are primarily distribution data on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes for the world, and scientific names data.
The mission of the Global Biodiversity information Facility (GBIF) is to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide to underpin sustainable development
. Priorities, with an emphasis on promoting participation and working through partners, include mobilising biodiversity data, developing protocols and standards to ensure scientific integrity and interoperability, building an informatics architecture to allow the interlinking of diverse data types from disparate sources, promoting capacity building and catalysing development of analytical tools for improved decision-making.
GBIF strives to form informatics linkages among digital data resources from across the spectrum of biological organisation - from genes to ecosystem
s, and to connect these to issues important to science, society and sustainability by using georeferencing and GIS
tools. It works in partnership with other international organisations such as the Catalogue of Life
partnership, Taxonomic Database Working Group
(the international biodiversity information standards organisation), the Consortium for the Barcode of Life
(CBOL), the Encyclopedia of Life
(EOL), and GEOSS.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
available via the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
using web services. The data are provided by many institutions from around the world; GBIF's information architecture makes these data accessible and searchable through a single portal. Data available through the GBIF portal are primarily distribution data on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes for the world, and scientific names data.
The mission of the Global Biodiversity information Facility (GBIF) is to facilitate free and open access to biodiversity data worldwide to underpin sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
. Priorities, with an emphasis on promoting participation and working through partners, include mobilising biodiversity data, developing protocols and standards to ensure scientific integrity and interoperability, building an informatics architecture to allow the interlinking of diverse data types from disparate sources, promoting capacity building and catalysing development of analytical tools for improved decision-making.
GBIF strives to form informatics linkages among digital data resources from across the spectrum of biological organisation - from genes to ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s, and to connect these to issues important to science, society and sustainability by using georeferencing and GIS
Geographic Information System
A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
tools. It works in partnership with other international organisations such as the Catalogue of Life
Catalogue of Life
The Catalogue of Life, started in June 2001 by Species 2000 and Integrated Taxonomic Information System , is planned to become a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms on Earth by the year 2011. 66 taxonomic databases with contributions from more than 3,000 specialists from...
partnership, Taxonomic Database Working Group
Taxonomic Database Working Group
"Biodiversity Information Standards " is a non profit scientific and educational association that is affiliated with the International Union of Biological Sciences...
(the international biodiversity information standards organisation), the Consortium for the Barcode of Life
Consortium for the Barcode of Life
Consortium for the Barcode of Life runs the International Barcode of Life project, a collaborative effort which aims to use DNA barcoding to generate a unique genetic barcode for every species of life on earth...
(CBOL), the Encyclopedia of Life
Encyclopedia of Life
The Encyclopedia of Life is a free, online collaborative encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing databases and from contributions by experts and non-experts throughout the world...
(EOL), and GEOSS.