S02 - Species-centered projects, tools and methods

Unsolicited contributions considered? Yes

Abstract

Species level information is one of the fundamental components of the biodiversity information landscape. The epitome of species level information is the species page. There are literally thousands of species pages on the web around the globe, at all scales and dealing with different subdomains (images, morphology, culture, etc.) or with various aims (management, field guides, floras, faunas, taxonomic monographs). Further, species level information also covers other dimensions such as identification keys, phylogeny trees, geographic distributions or check-lists. In contrast to occurrence (primary) data, species level information is not prime material for analysis; it is rather a final product: the result of analysis and study. It is also the case that with species pages one page or one approach cannot cover all user needs, and there is room for different species pages of different types, referring in principle to the same taxa, but aiming at different purposes, or different audiences. This symposium offers a venue for those involved in species-centered initiatives to present their projects and ideas, and an opportunity to learn of success stories and innovations, as well as to identify common ground that could help to define and improve standards and recommended practices. This symposium is directly linked to the TDWG Species Information Interest Group, and its current task groups (Plinian Core and Invasive Species), which in turn have linkages with other TDWG groups in: Structured Descriptive Data (SDD), DELTA, Taxonomic Concept Transfer Schema (TCS) Interactions, Audubon Core, and data quality, among others.