Perspectives on biodiversity informatics for ecology

Abstract

Biodiversity informatics is the application of informatics techniques to ecology and biodiversity sciences. The premise is utilizing natural history collections/data, such as specimens and biodiversity observations, with information and communication technology. During the past two decades, biodiversity informatics has improved dramatically and has been applied increasingly in ecology science. In this paper, I review biodiversity informatics for ecology with a particular focus on the treatment of data. First, I discuss the traditional perspective of data collection and its usage in the ecological community. Then, I provide an overview of the trajectory of changing perspectives of data treatment relative to developing biodiversity informatics (i.e., the infiltration of the data reuse and sharing concepts). Specifically, I discuss the significance of data reuse, which offers numerous benefits for research, and data sharing with their supporting mechanisms and case studies. Finally, I discuss potential future developments in biodiversity informatics relative to the field of ecology.

Specimen‐based records of geometrid, pyralid and crambid moths (Lepidoptera) with location information from the collection of Dr. Hiroshi Inoue

“…The philosophy for the development of Darwin Core is to maintain a standard that is as simple and open as possible, and to develop terms only in cases of a shared demand (Wieczorek et al, 2012). Darwin Core has a long history of community development and is widely used in the field of biodiversity informatics (Canhos, Sausa, De Giovanni, & Canhos, 2004; Osawa, 2019).…”

“…Here, we present the biodiversity data of the lepidopteran families Geometridae, Pyralidae and Crambidae based on the specimen collection of the late Dr. Hiroshi Inoue deposited at the Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO (NIAES). As mentioned by Watanabe (2016) and Osawa (2019), biodiversity data based on specimens are reliable because it is possible to re-examine the deposited specimens. The late Dr. Hiroshi Inoue was a famous taxonomist of Lepidoptera, especially of Geometridae and Pyraloidea, and most of his huge collection was donated to the Natural History Museum, London, in 1992, with nearly 800 primary type specimens.…”

Use of web-based species occurrence information systems by academics and government professionals

“…As a subset of biodiversity information systems, these systems provide access to various types of species occurrence data, such as those originating from specimens in museum natural history collections, field observations made during research studies, observations made by segments of the general public, and signals from tracking devices among others. Although recent studies have analyzed publications to identify the type of research that has been conducted using species occurrence data from web-based information systems [ 7 – 9 ], considering the prevalence of these systems, it is surprising that little research has been conducted on users of these systems and their needs.…”

Specimen‐based records and geographic locations of carabid beetles (Coleoptera) collected mainly by Dr. Kazuo Tanaka

“…However, significant effort is required to collect and maintain such specimens (Edwards, 2000; Osawa, 2019; Troudet, Vignes‐Lebbe, Grandcolas, & Legendre, 2018). Consequently, majority of the recently collected biodiversity data have been observation‐based, that is, without specimens (Osawa, 2019). Such data can be collected much faster than specimen‐based data, and massive amounts of data can be collected via the Internet such as through crowdsourcing (Osawa et al, 2017).…”

“…Such data can be collected much faster than specimen‐based data, and massive amounts of data can be collected via the Internet such as through crowdsourcing (Osawa et al, 2017). However, the importance of biodiversity data collected based on specimens has been recognized in the field of biodiversity informatics because of their reliability and extensibility to other fields (Osawa, 2019).…”