faulker045

Data collected from systematic monitoring schemes is highly valuable. That's because harvesting species data from a given set of sites repeatedly over time using a well-defined sampling effort opens the door to key ecological analyses including phenology, population trends, changes in community structure and other metrics related to a range of Essential Biodiversity Variables ( EBVs ). A couple of years ago there was no faithful way to universally standardize data from systematic monitoring schemes. This meant that researchers using this kind of data would need to spend a lot of time deciphering it first. Their job would get even more complicated when trying to integrate data from various heterogeneous sources, each storing their data in different formats, units, etc. Today, the situation looks much better thanks to a massive collaboration between GBIF , EU BON partners and the wider biodiversity community whose aim was to enable sharing of "sampling-event datasets".   I...

GBIF is pleased to announce the release of IPT v2.3.3, now available for download from the IPT website . This version looks and feels the same as 2.3.2 but is much more robust and secure. I'd like to recommend that all existing IPT installations be upgraded as soon as possible following the instructions listed in the release notes . Additionally, a couple new strategic features have been added to the tool to enhance its potential. A description of these new features follows below. Improved dataset homepage Compared with general-purpose repositories such as Dryad or Figshare , the IPT ensures that uploaded biodiversity data gets disseminated in a standardized format (Darwin Core Archive - DwC-A), facilitating wider reuse and enabling the data to be indexed by aggregators such as GBIF.org. Interoperability comes at a small cost though, as depositors choosing to use the IPT must overcome a learning curve in understanding how to map their data to the Darwin Core standard. To make this...