Integrated Global and Regional Taxonomies
Professor Alex Gray
Species 2000 and Cardiff University
A tribute to Frank Bisby
The Diagram
Users
CoL
GSDs
Lists
Conceptual Idea
• Simple
• Easily understood
BUT • Difficult to implement
• Development needed meeting of minds
• Diversity of data
• Scalability
Implementation
• Prototyping
• New tools
• Tools to support taxonomy
• 15 years ongoing development
• Continual revision and extension
1. What is the Catalogue of Life?
• A Resource…
• an electronic synonymic species checklist,
• a tightly integrated taxonomic hierarchy,
• intended for all 1.9 M extant known species.
• ….constructed by international networking
• both checklist and hierarchy constructed from sectors from
many networked databases around the world
• and integrated using an international panel of experts
Organisation Structure
membership
board secretariat Project team
Taxonomic group
IS group
Ownership
organisation
Organization units
• Project Team (science policy, think tank)
– Taxonomy Group (Team members + advisors)
– Information Technology Group (Team members + advisors)
– User Forum, GNA Group (Team members + advisors)
• Secretariat (Reading) & Executive Director – Supporting activities, administrative tasks
• Board of Directors – legal framework, connection to international efforts, politics
Organization units
Global CoL Team 2011
Guy Baillargeon (Chair) Canada (Executive Secretary) Wouter Addink, Netherlands Jerry Cooper, New Zealand Dennis Gordon, New Zealand Nicolas Bailly, Philippines Hugo Navarrette, Ecuador Richard White (Convenor ISG), UK Tom Orrell, USA
Mike Ruggiero, USA
Heimo Reiner, Austria Mark Costello, China
David Eads (Interim Chair), USA Thierry Bourgoin, France Edward Vanden Berghe, USA
Li-qiang Ji, China Thierry Bourgoin, France Edward Vanden Berghe, USA The Team can be 10-20 people strong Subgroup Taxonomy Subgroup Information System
CoL – Progress by year
0
200.000
400.000
600.000
800.000
1.000.000
1.200.000
1.400.000
1.600.000
1.800.000
2.000.000
2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
Year
Number of species by year
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
-
Members
• Currently 46 members
• There are now 100 participating databases
• Potential is an estimated 150 databases and partners
• Aim is to increase number of members and databases
• Species Database Access Agreement
• Species Database Licence Agreement
Members
Species 2000 is interested in hearing from
any individual or organisation which has a
database which (or is intended) to cover the
world's species within one particular group –
a global species database.
Membership of Species 2000 is open
to any individual, project or institution.
Please contact the Secretariat:
Indexing for Life
New multi-hub architecture
World-wide Multi-Hub Network, with Regional Hubs
1. Species 2000 China Node (BioD. Com. CAS)
Keping Ma & Liqiang Ji
2. Australian Hub (ABRS with ALA/CSIRO)
Cameron Slatyer & Donald Hobern
3. New Zealand Hub (NZOR)
Jerry Cooper
4. Catalogo da Vida Brasil (MST/ CNPq/ CRIA)
Vanderlei Canhos
5. ITIS N. America (Smithsonian NMNH)
Tom Orrell
6. Sp2000 Euro-Hub (PESI/ Pan European Species List)
Thierry Bourgoin & Yde de Jong
Challenges for the future
• Filling the gaps with proto-GSD
• Improving coverage of existing GSD
• Improving number synonyms/related terms
• Updating existing GSD
• Expand multi-hub regional network
• Expand coverage to ranks above species
• Include fossils
The crossmapper
• Tool being developed in i4Life
• Aims to compare lists with other lists/GSD
• Produces names only in 1 list
• Suggests relationships between terms
• Output passed to taxonomists
• Approved terms added to GSD
• Terms can be added to regional lists
Part of Flora do Brasil family Lis_Brasil sp2000 Diferença
Apocynaceae 2556 144 2412
Bignoniaceae 2150 88 2062
Melastomataceae 1963 114 1849
Lamiaceae 2116 663 1453
Verbenaceae 1363 216 1147
Malvaceae 1049 346 703
Malpighiaceae 736 61 675
Rutaceae 770 177 593
Acanthaceae 762 179 583
Lauraceae 628 80 548
Begoniaceae 552 16 536
Convolvulaceae 703 184 519
Piperaceae 591 95 496
Sapindaceae 523 75 448
Eriocaulaceae 1786 1400 386
Loranthaceae 390 13 377
Clusiaceae 415 110 305
Polypodiaceae 360 64 296
Ochnaceae 289 14 275
Lythraceae 329 57 272
Turneraceae 284 12 272
Polygalaceae 329 81 248
Moraceae 328 81 247
Lecythidaceae 569 346 223
Cyatheaceae 243 31 212
Olacaceae 210 9 201
Comparison Brasil Flora and CoL
Melhores familias para serem testadas
family Lis_Brasil sp2000 Diferença
Apocynaceae 2556 144 2412 Lista do brasil tem MAIS spp
Melastomataceae 1963 114 1849
Lamiaceae 2116 663 1453
Verbenaceae 1363 216 1147
Malvaceae 1049 346 703
Poaceae 2299 12385 -10086 Lista do brasil tem MENOS spp
Orchidaceae 10203 29310 -19107
Fabaceae 5835 25711 -19876
Asteraceae 3649 31448 -27799
Rosaceae 63 44060 -43997
Relationships
Time line in OpenBio
• Stage 1 – prepare xmapper for OpenBio
• Stage 2 – run xmapper on Flora Brasil &GSD
• Stage 3 – pass output to taxonomy group
• Stage 4 – enhance GSD
• Stage 4 – enhance Flora Brasil
Thank you for listening
Demonstration after this session