First thematic mobilization campaign targets vectors: where biodiversity meets human disease
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 60 per cent of all infectious diseases affecting humans have animal origins. The 2022 GBIF work programme responds to a growing body of research that relies on its GBIF for open data on wild biodiversity to investigate the zoonotic diseases that affect human communities.
Guided by an expert task group, GBIF has partnered with journal publisher GigaScience Press and TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases hosted at WHO a call for data papers describing new datasets relevant to research on vectors of human disease.
The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2022, with accepted papers appearing in a special issue of GigaByte Journal this spring. Prospective authors can also learn more by watching a recent webinar describing the details of the call.
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To support these and related efforts, two node managers from the GBIF network will provide help desk services targeting mobilization of data on wild host, vector and reservoir species connected to human health. Carole Sinou of Canadensys and Dmitri Brosens of the Belgian Biodiversity Platform will support the call for data papers and assist in publishing relevant datasets previously identified by the GBIF community, supplementing the work of the Secretariat in close coordination with other nodes.
This overall effort to improve data on wild species related to human health forms the outlines of GBIF's first thematic campaign and prepares the way for upcoming initiatives around both soil and freshwater biodiversity. GBIF Governing Board chair Tanya Abrahamse shared her thoughts on some of the implications of the developments in this New Year's message.
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Filter occurrences by global IUCN Red List Category
Users of GBIF services can now search and filter occurrences based on global extinction risks as assessed by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. The release of this feature marks a key milestone in the 2019 memorandum of cooperation between GBIF and International Union for the Conservation of Nature (with more to follow).
In related news, the GBIF occurrence index has been updated to reflect the most recent changes to the Darwin Core data standard. Most noteworthy is the introduction of new terms related to invasive information that are fully described here. See our release notes for a running log of changes large and small.
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Four contractors selected to support projects in Asia
The teams responsible for 12 new projects in Asia can now call for help from four in-region consultants, supporting the Biodiversity Information Fund for Asia (BIFA) through co-funding from EU-funded SYNTHESYS+ project.
By leveraging their own wide-ranging experience and deep links to the GBIF network, Vijay Barve, Chihjen Ko, Melissa Liu and Lily Shrestha will sharing guidance on best practices, serve as regional help-desk support and mentor members of the community of practice emerging across South-East, South and North-East Asia.
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Wider call for data papers from Northern Eurasia
A new call for data papers expands on successful efforts to mobilize data from European Russia in 2020 and from the rest of Russia in 2021. Joined again by the Finnish Biodiversity Information Facility (FinBIF) and Pensoft Publishers, the call's partners seek authors willing and able to prepare and share open data on biodiversity from 12 countries extending from eastern Europe through the Caucasus and Central Asia to the Russian Far East. Deadline for receipt of manuscripts is 30 June 2022. Learn more >
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Impact and Action: Virtual Symposium
In the closing days of 2021, GBIF had the privilege of co-hosting a virtual science-policy symposium with the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Moderated by Sandy Knapp of the Natural History Museum, the speakers participating in Impact and Action carried on a lively and thought-provoking discussion of how biodiversity data can further inform research and policy decisions in the coming decades. You'll find each talk in this video showcase , but don't miss the concluding panel discussion! Thanks again to each of our fantastic speakers:
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First hosted portals emerge from pilot programme
A year-long pilot programme has produced a set of five new websites that make it simpler and easier for GBIF nodes to share relevant, targeted segments of biodiversity data with their stakeholders.
The first five turnkey portals, will be followed by several more. Each site is fully hosted by GBIF and reduces the technical resources required for nodes and their partners to maintain a branded, multilingual web presence, at any regional, national, institutional and thematic scale. The portals also feature a next-generation search not yet deployed on GBIF.org (watch this space).
Get the full overview or take your pick and explore examples from SiB Colombia, GBIF.us, PBIF: Pacific Biodiversity Information Facility, the Rotterdam Natural History Museum and the Legume Data Portal.
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Open-data innovations for biodiversity sought for
2022 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge
The call for entries in GBIF's annual open-ended incentive competition has opened, with this year's deadline set for 14 August 2022. The submissions that demonstrate the greatest innovative in using and applying open data and tools on biodiversity from the GBIF network will again vie for €20,000 in total prizes.
In case you missed it in the last newsletter, the top-prize winner in the 2021 Challenge was Bio-Dem, led by Alexander Zizka of iDiv, followed by two second-prize winners: Locating KBAs, developed by Colombian ecologist and geospatial data analyst Daniela Linero Triana, and plantR application and workflow, development team was led by Brazilian ecologist Renato A. Ferreira de Lima.
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Call for outstanding graduate research in the
2022 Young Researchers Award
Each year, the Young Researchers Award provides an opportunity for GBIF participants to recognize the creativity and invention of graduate researchers in biodiversity informatics. The call for nominations has opened with a global deadline of 22 June.
Check the call for updates to national deadlines, as the national delegations and nodes that nominate candidates typically need a few weeks to select up to two candidates from each country. Come fall, two researchers whose early-career studies rely on the network's data will earn €5,000 prizes and global recognition, just like last year's winners, Michael Belitz of the United States and Julen Torrens Baile of Spain.
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How does GBIF's data clustering work?
In the latest post in the GBIF Data blog, Secretariat staff Marie Grosjean and Tim Robertson share the details—not just the hows, but the whys—behind this feature, which identifies potentially related records in the GBIF occurrence index.
The goals extend beyond detection of duplicate records to reveal connections between type specimens in scientific collections, DNA-derived sequences and materials cited in published taxonomic treatments. Explore the feature or get a guided tour in the post.
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Participation news
GBIF's formal network now stands at 104 participants, with 63 national governments joined by 41 international organizations. Cameroon has also announced that it will take the next step and become a voting member in 2022, well ahead of its five-year limit for remaining a non-voting associate participant. Look at how and where we're growing!
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Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization
The treaty-based regional body ACTO is responsible for integrating data on region's forests, freshwater, and threatened and traded species through its new Amazon Regional Observatory. “Our collaboration will promote the development of scientific research and the generation of new knowledge and biotechnologies in keeping with sustainable development objectives for the Amazon Region,” said Alexandra Moreira, ACTO General Secretary.
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East Asia Biodiversity Conservation Network
The botanic gardens, arboreta and plant research institutes that comprise EABCN are intent on building capacity to implement the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and conserve regional biodiversity. "Encouraging researchers to share occurrence data previously unavailable through GBIF network supports our interests in regional research and policy on plant conservation and climate change," said Dr Young-tae Choi, Director General of the Korea National Arboretum, Korea Forest Service.
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Intro video remake: now with English voiceover
In 2017, SiB Colombia and GBIF Spain produced a three-minute video animation describing how the GBIF network and data infrastructure work (with partial support from the Capacity Enhancement Support Programme). The Spanish-language clip remains the single best introduction to our collective work, in any language, so we've leveraged work on a set of five more videos to create an English-language remake!
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In Memoriam: Thomas Lovejoy
Staff at the GBIF Secretariat noted with sadness the late December death of the eminent conservation biologist, Dr Thomas Lovejoy. His impact and influence extend far beyond the confines of biodiversity data, yet we want to acknowledge the pivotal role that he played in GBIF's creation.
Dr Lovejoy co-chaired the Biodiversity Informatics Subgroup of the OECD Megascience Forum (now the Global Science Forum) whose 1999 report observed that "[a]n international mechanism is needed to make biodiversity data and information accessible worldwide." His professional reputation gave credibility to the recommendation, so much so that, as former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency official Steve Young noted in this remembrance on Twitter, "without Tom's early backing and direct involvement, the GBIF we know today might never have come into being."
We join Dr Lovejoy's family, friends and colleagues in mourning his passing and hope to uphold his legacy as a relentless and curious defender of all inhabitants of Earth's biosphere.
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Photo credits
(top to bottom): Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) 2021 Jake David MacLennan (CC BY-NC 4.0); Queensland macadamia (Macadamia ternifolia) 2020, Ian McMaster (CC BY-NC 4.0); Asian weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) 2016 Pavan Ramachandra (CC BY 4.0); Northern banded newt (Ommatotriton ophryticus) 2021 Natalia Bulbulashvili (CC BY-NC 4.0); Death's-head hawkmoth (Acherontia atropos) and parasol mushroom (Macrolepiota procera) & via Biodiversity Heritage Library (CC0); Coastal wattle (Acacia cyclops) 2019 Mike Burrell (CC BY-NC 4..0); Fritillaria bucharica 2015 R. Jones (CC BY-NC 3.0); Lincoln's mushroomtongue salamander (Bolitoglossa lincolni) 2017 Wouter Beukema (CC BY-NC 4.0); Dyeing poison frog (Dendrobates tinctorius) 2019 Laurent Barthe (CC BY-NC 4.0); Common valerian (Valeriana fauriei) 2021 Ilya Sukhov (CC BY-NC 4.0); Tom Lovejoy 1974 Jerry Freilich (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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