Game of tops: trends in GBIFs community of users

Building on the development of Biodiversity Informatics, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) undertook the task of enabling access to the world¿s wealth of biodiversity data via the Internet. To date, GBIF has become, in many respects, the most extensive biodiversity information exchange infrastructure in the world, opening up a full range of possibilities for science

The tragedy of the biodiversity data commons: a data impediment creeping nigher?

Researchers are embracing the open access movement to facilitate unrestricted availability of scientific results. One sign of this willingness is the steady increase in data freely shared online, which has prompted a corresponding increase in the number of papers using such data. Publishing datasets is a time-consuming process that is often seen as a courtesy, rather than a necessary step in the research process. Making data accessible allows further research, provides basic information for decision-making and contributes to transparency in science. Nevertheless, the ease of access to heaps of data carries a perception of `free lunch for all¿, and the work of data publishers is largely going unnoticed. Acknowledging such a significant effort involving the creation, management and publication of a dataset remains a flimsy, not well established practice in the scientific community. In a meta-analysis of published literature, we have observed various dataset citation practices, but mostly (92%) consisting of merely citing the data repository rather than the data publisher. Failing to recognize the work of data publishers might lead to a decrease in the number of quality datasets shared online, compromising potential research that is dependent on the availability of such data. We make an urgent appeal to raise awareness about this issue

Completeness of Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) about terrestrial mammals in the Iberian Peninsula

The advent of online data aggregator infrastructures has facilitated the accumulation of Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) about biodiversity. Despite the vast amount of freely available data records, their usefulness for research depends on completeness of each body of data regarding their spatial, temporal and taxonomic coverage. In this paper, we assess the completeness of DAK about terrestrial mammals distributed across the Iberian Peninsula. We compiled a dataset with all records about mammals occurring in the Iberian Peninsula available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and in the national atlases from Portugal and Spain. After cleaning the dataset of errors as well as records lacking collection dates or not determined to species level, we assigned all occurrences to a 10-km grid. We assessed inventory completeness by calculating the ratio between observed and expected richness (based on the Chao2 richness index) in each grid cell and classified cells as well-sampled or under-sampled. We evaluated survey coverage of well-sampled cells along four environmental gradients and temporal coverage. Out of 796,283 retrieved records, quality issues led us to remove 616,141 records unfit for this use. The main reason for discarding records was missing collection dates. Only 25.95% cells contained enough records to robustly estimate completeness. The DAK about terrestrial mammals from the Iberian Peninsula was low, and spatially and temporally biased

Data descriptor: freshwater macroinvertebrate samples from a water quality monitoring network in the iberian peninsula

This dataset gathers information about the macroinvertatebrate samples and environmental variables collected on rivers of the Ebro River Basin (NE Iberian Peninsula), the second largest catchment in the Iberian Peninsula. The collection is composed of 1,776 sampling events carried out between 2005 and 2015 at more than 400 sampling sites. This dataset is part of a monitoring network set up by the Ebro Hydrographic Confederation, the official body entrusted with the care of the basin, to fulfill the requirements of the European Water Framework Directive. Biological indices based on the freshwater macroinvertebrate communities were used to evaluate the ecological status of the water bodies within the basin. Samples were qualitatively screened for all occurring taxa. Then, all individuals from all taxa in a quantitative subsample of each sample were counted. Biological indices were calculated to estimate water quality at each sampling site. All samples are kept at the Museum of Zoology of the University of Navarra

Investment in the long-tail of biodiversity data: from local research to global knowledge

In business, the "long-tail economy" refers to a market strategy where the gravity center shifts from a few high-demand products to many, varied products focused on small niches. Commercialization of individually low-demand products can be profitable as long as their production cost is low and, all taken together, they aggregate into a big chunk of the market. Similarly, in the "business" of biodiversity data acquisition, we can find several mainstream products that produce zillions of bits of information every year and account for most of the budget allocated to increase our primary data-based knowledge about Earth's biological diversity. These products play a crucial role in biodiversity research. However, along with these large global projects, there is a constellation of small-scale institutions that work locally, but whose contribution to our understanding of natural processes should not be dismissed. These information datasets can be collectively referred to as the "long-tail biodiversity data"

Mammals in the MZNA Vertebrate Collection of University of Navarra, Spain

In this paper five datasets are described that provide information about records of mammals in the Vertebrate Collection of the Museum of Zoology of the University of Navarra (MZNA-VERT). The datasets contain 3,466 records belonging to 20 species of mammals sampled across the transition zone between the Atlantic and Mediterranean biogeographical regions (north Iberian Peninsula). The datasets include both distributional data (georeferenced records) and basic biometric data of most of the vouchered specimens stored in the museum facilities. The samples originated mainly within research projects and PhD theses carried out in the former department of Zoology and Ecology of the University of Navarra between 1982 and 2011. The Darwin Core Archive Format datasets are accessible through GBIF

Global trends in research output by zoos and aquariums

Zoos and aquaria, often regarded as preservation-cum-entertainment enterprises, are also actors in the effort to curb the biodiversity crisis: raising awareness, supporting conservation, and conducting research. We assessed trends in zoo and aquaria research topics and study organisms over time worldwide. For the zoos and aquaria registered in the Species360’s Zoological Information Management System and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, we compiled metadata on their research published in the peerreviewed literature indexed in Scopus and carried out a keyword frequency analysis. The production of scientific papers by zoos increased at a much faster rate than the average accrual of scientific papers in the literature. Evolution of research themes ran parallel to that of biological sciences (e.g., development of molecular genetics or increased awareness about conservation). The focus of 48.5% of zoo-led research was on vertebrates, of which mammal research was 33.7%. Whether zoos are effectively contributing to conservation may still be debatable, but our results highlight their institutional efforts to increase knowledge about the species in their care.Los zoológicos y los acuarios, con frecuencia considerados empresas de conservación y entretenimiento, también son actores en el esfuerzo por reducir la crisis de la biodiversidad al crear conciencia, apoyar a la conservación y llevar a cabo investigaciones. Evaluamos las tendencias en los temas de investigación y los organismos de estudios en los zoológicos y los acuarios en todo el mundo a través del tiempo. Compilamos los metadatos de las investigaciones realizadas en los zoológicos y acuarios registrados en el Sistema de Manejo de Información Zoológica de Species360 y en la Asociación Mundial de Zoológicos y Acuarios que han sido publicadas en la literatura revisada por pares indexada en Scopus y realizamos un análisis de frecuencias de palabras clave. La producción de artículos científicos por zoológicos se incrementó a una tasa mucho más rápida que la acumulación promedio de artículos científicos en la literatura. La evolución de los temas de investigación fue paralela a la de las ciencias biológicas (p. ej.: desarrollo de la genética molecular o incremento en la conciencia por la conservación). El enfoque del 48.5% de las investigaciones conducidas por los zoológicos estuvo sobre los vertebrados. De este 48.5%, el 33.7% fueron investigaciones sobre mamíferos. Todavía puede debatirse si los zoológicos están contribuyendo efectivamente a la conservación, pero nuestros resultados resaltan sus esfuerzos institucionales por incrementar el conocimiento sobre las especies bajo su cuidado

Global trends in research output by zoos and aquariums

Zoos and aquaria, often regarded as preservation-cum-entertainment enterprises, are also actors in the effort to curb the biodiversity crisis: raising awareness, supporting conservation, and conducting research. We assessed trends in zoo and aquaria research topics and study organisms over time worldwide. For the zoos and aquaria registered in the Species360’s Zoological Information Management System and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums, we compiled metadata on their research published in the peerreviewed literature indexed in Scopus and carried out a keyword frequency analysis. The production of scientific papers by zoos increased at a much faster rate than the average accrual of scientific papers in the literature. Evolution of research themes ran parallel to that of biological sciences (e.g., development of molecular genetics or increased awareness about conservation). The focus of 48.5% of zoo-led research was on vertebrates, of which mammal research was 33.7%. Whether zoos are effectively contributing to conservation may still be debatable, but our results highlight their institutional efforts to increase knowledge about the species in their care.Los zoológicos y los acuarios, con frecuencia considerados empresas de conservación y entretenimiento, también son actores en el esfuerzo por reducir la crisis de la biodiversidad al crear conciencia, apoyar a la conservación y llevar a cabo investigaciones. Evaluamos las tendencias en los temas de investigación y los organismos de estudios en los zoológicos y los acuarios en todo el mundo a través del tiempo. Compilamos los metadatos de las investigaciones realizadas en los zoológicos y acuarios registrados en el Sistema de Manejo de Información Zoológica de Species360 y en la Asociación Mundial de Zoológicos y Acuarios que han sido publicadas en la literatura revisada por pares indexada en Scopus y realizamos un análisis de frecuencias de palabras clave. La producción de artículos científicos por zoológicos se incrementó a una tasa mucho más rápida que la acumulación promedio de artículos científicos en la literatura. La evolución de los temas de investigación fue paralela a la de las ciencias biológicas (p. ej.: desarrollo de la genética molecular o incremento en la conciencia por la conservación). El enfoque del 48.5% de las investigaciones conducidas por los zoológicos estuvo sobre los vertebrados. De este 48.5%, el 33.7% fueron investigaciones sobre mamíferos. Todavía puede debatirse si los zoológicos están contribuyendo efectivamente a la conservación, pero nuestros resultados resaltan sus esfuerzos institucionales por incrementar el conocimiento sobre las especies bajo su cuidado