European Ocean Biodiversity Information System
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page
Analysing the content of the European Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS): available data, limitations, prospects and a look at the future
Vandepitte, L.; Hernandez, F.; Claus, S.; Vanhoorne, B.; De Hauwere, N.; Deneudt, K.; Appeltans, W.; Mees, J. (2011). Analysing the content of the European Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS): available data, limitations, prospects and a look at the future. Hydrobiologia 667(1): 1-14 + suppl. material (28 pages). dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0656-x
In: Hydrobiologia. Springer: The Hague. ISSN 0018-8158; e-ISSN 1573-5117
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
    Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee: Open access 231200 [ download pdf ]
Keywords
    Biodiversity
    Collections > Data collections
    Data integration
    Geography > Biogeography
    ANE, Europe [Marine Regions]; MED, Europe [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Database; Biogeography; Marine biodiversity; Europe; Data integration;
Authors  Top 
  • Vandepitte, L.
  • Hernandez, F.
  • Claus, S.
  • Vanhoorne, B.
  • De Hauwere, N.
  • Deneudt, K.
  • Appeltans, W.
  • Mees, J.
Abstract
    The European Ocean Biogeographic Information System-EurOBIS-is an integrated data system developed by the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) for the EU Network of Excellence "Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning" (MarBEF) in 2004. Its principle aims are to centralise the largely scattered biogeographical data on marine species collected by European institutions and to make these quality-controlled data freely available and easily accessible. It is in essence a distributed system in which individual datasets go through a series of quality control procedures before they are integrated into one large consolidated database. EurOBIS is freely available online at www.eurobis.org, where marine biogeographical data-with a focus on taxonomy, temporal and spatial distribution-can be consulted and downloaded for analyses. Over the last 6 years, EurOBIS has collected 228 datasets contributed by more than 75 institutes, representing over 13.6 million distribution records of which almost 12.5 million records are species level identifications. It is now the largest online searchable public source of European marine biological data, holding biogeographical information on 26,801 species and 9,221 genera. EurOBIS acts as the European node of OBIS, the Ocean Biogeographic Information System of the Census of Marine Life (CoML). EurOBIS shares its data with OBIS, which in its turn shares its content with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). This article describes the status of the European Ocean Biogeographic Information System, identifies data gaps, possible applications, uses and limitations. It also formulates a strategy for the growth and improvement of the system and wants to appeal for more contributions.
All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors