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CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
The European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy:
Assessing and building taxonomic capacity in Europe
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Undiscovered species
Estimated number of species
Source: WCMC, 1992. Global biodiversity assessment. Chapman & Hall.
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Historical legacy
• Scientific taxonomy and taxonomic collections were invented and developed in Europe from the 18th century on.
• European Taxonomic Institutions have been developed for two centuries
– as instruments of the national or regional policies– in competition with other European institutions– as instruments for the education of the public– often in relation with colonial policies (19th – mid 20th century)
• As education and Public Awareness evolved, European collections progressively became a resource for the scientists themselves, ie an infrastructure for research and expertise
• Now almost all the EU collections (1 billion specimens?) used by scientists, and most not exhibited for the public. They include reference specimens from all over the world, and not only Europe
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Taxonomic bias
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
2002-03Names
0
20
40
60
1992-93Authors
New fish species
Source: P. Bouchet
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Taxonomic bias (2)New nematode species
1992-93
2002-03
Names
Authors
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Source: P. Bouchet
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
The need to upscale
5
10
15
20
UNDISCOVERED
1.8
18
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
Kn
own
spe
cie
s(m
illio
ns)
Source: K. Krishtalka
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
The need to upscale (2)
Source: K. Krishtalka
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
5
10
15
20
Something has tohappen here
1.8
18
Kn
own
spe
cie
s(m
illio
ns)
?
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
The micro-world
Source: M. Blaxter
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
EU Fauna: State of the art
Source: P. Bouchet
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
EU capacities
Source: Fauna Europaea, P. Bouchet
Descriptions (232 species)
46%
40%
2%
12%
Descriptors (N = 123)
55%
13%
2%
30%
Amateurs describe proportionnaly more than professionals!
In Europe more than half of the species are described by people who are not paid for that.
Professionals
Retired professionalsStudents
Amateurs
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Terrestrial & Freshwater European animal species
Source: Fauna Europaea, P. Bouchet
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
Unequal strengths
Data produced on Mollusca (external means collected elsewhere in the world)
Source: P. Bouchet
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
biodiversity hotspotholder of large amounts of biodiversity data
EDIT partners (27)
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
1. Current state of taxonomy
CETAF as a catalystCETAF Related Projects, 1996-2005
• ENBI: European Network for Biodiversity Information
• ENHSIN: European Natural History Specimen Information Network
• BioCASE: A Biological Collection Access Service for Europe
• FAUNA EUROPAEA: to assemble a database of the scientific names and distribution of all living multicellular European land and fresh-water animals
• Euro+Med PlantBase: The Euro+Med PlantBase provides an on-line database and information system for the vascular plants of Europe and the Mediterranean region.
• SYNTHESYS: To provide transnational access grants to 20 CETAF natural history museums and botanical gardens
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
Partners
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
Partners – European Institutions
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
Work Packages
EDIT coordination and management
WP1
CoordinationAnd integration
Integrating the expert and expertise basis
WP2
Integrating the infrastructure basis
WP3
Coordinating researchWP4
Resources
Internet Platform for Cybertaxonomy
WP5
Unifying Revisionary taxonomy
WP6
Applying taxonomy to conservation
WP7
Training and Public Awareness
WP8
Products
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT Functional StructureEuropean
Commission
CDCCoordinator
Scientific AdvisoryCouncil
Contractors
=
Members
of the Consortium
CETAF
MNHN Project leader
Network OfficeConsortium Board
of Directors
Stakeholders
Network Steering Committee
WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8
INTEGRATING ACTIVITIES
JOINT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
SPREADING EXCELLENCE ACTIVITIES
2. EDIT
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
European taxonomic capacities: assessing, developing and mobilising the workforce
3. European taxonomic capacities
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
EDIT
European
Global
Professionals
(”EDIT”)
European
Global
Non-professionals/Amateurs
Integration:top-down,
organisation
Integration:bottom-up
(”grass-root”)
The taxonomist workforce
Source: H. Enghoff
3. European taxonomic capacities
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
3. European taxonomic capacities
The Expertise basis
• Information service on taxonomic expertise
• Involving taxonomic societies
• Integrating research teams
• Integrate existing infrastructures (Pan-European Species directories Infrastructures)
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT Exemplar Groups
3. European taxonomic capacities
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
3. European taxonomic capacities
Stakeholders
• Identifying and engaging taxonomy stakeholders for each EDIT activity
• Bibliometric maps (scientific users)
• Thematic workshops (names, collections...)
• Case studies on best/worst practice
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
Building a better capacity in taxonomic
work
4. Building a better capacity
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDITScratchpads
Your data1
Published & reviewedon your site
3Uploaded &
tagged
2
Source: V. Smith
4. Building a better capacity
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT Scratchpads
…and more!
Import, manage, search & browse:
Taxonomies
Specimens
Literature Images
Source: V. Smith
4. Building a better capacity
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
4. Building a better capacity
Source: C. Haeuser
Since June 2007 in the Mercantour / Alpi Marittime NPs
1st EDIT ATBI+M pilot site:
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
4. Building a better capacity
Source: C. Haeuser
Non-European candidate sites
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
4. Building a better capacity
Source: C. Haeuser
2008: New ATBI sites
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
4. Building a better capacity
From the field to baseline biodiversity data:
Conservationmanagement
Individual users of baseline
biodiversity data
GBIF
WP5, WP7 Online accessibility
& tools
WP5, WP6, WP7
Organization of teams and
field activities
StandardaizedATBI
data recording, aggregation.
& management
WP1, WP7, WP8
WP2, WP3, WP7
Fieldwork → Development → Application
Source: C. Haeuser
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
2. EDIT
Planning for the future
5. Preparing for the future
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
5. Preparing for the future
Future Scoping Group conclusions
• That taxonomy faces exciting challenges and opportunities in the future to meet the demand for an ever more profound understanding of the diversity of life (…)
• Pivotal to the development of taxonomy are the rapidly expanding fields of high throughput DNA sequencing, automated digital data-gathering and biodiversity informatics (…)
• Scientific collaborators and users of taxonomy will require new ways of working and interacting with taxonomists. It is essential that taxonomists and their users respond to this need. (…)
• (…) there will have to be substantial, even radical, changes in how taxonomy is done and its supporting infrastructure operated, to exploit these opportunities to the full. “Business as usual”, even if scaled up, is simply not an option.
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
5. Preparing for the future
Source: J. Van Goethem
Training: Collected Data
CBD CoP9
GTI Side Event
22/5/2008
5. Preparing for the future
Training the next generation
• EDIT Summer School of Taxonomy, 1-15 Sept. 2008, Mercantour/Alpi Marittime (French Research Ministry grant)
• Experts-in-training programme
• Gender Action Plan grants
