PESI : a taxonomic backbone for Europe

Background: Reliable taxonomy underpins communication in all of biology, not least nature conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem resources. The flexibility of taxonomic interpretations, however, presents a serious challenge for end-users of taxonomic concepts. Users need standardised and continuously harmonised taxonomic reference systems, as well as highquality and complete taxonomic data sets, but these are generally lacking for nonspecialists. The solution is in dynamic, expertly curated web-based taxonomic tools. The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) worked to solve this key issue by providing a taxonomic e-infrastructure for Europe. It strengthened the relevant social (expertise) and information (standards, data and technical) capacities of five major community networks on taxonomic indexing in Europe, which is essential for proper biodiversity assessment and monitoring activities. The key objectives of PESI were: 1) standardisation in taxonomic reference systems, 2) enhancement of the quality and completeness of taxonomic data sets and 3) creation of integrated access to taxonomic information. New information: This paper describes the results of PESI and its future prospects, including the involvement in major European biodiversity informatics initiatives and programs.

Keywords

PESI Euro+Med PlantBase Fauna Europaea European Register of Marine Species Index Fungorum International Plant Names Index (IPNI) AlgaeBase ZooBank European Taxonomic Backbone EU-nomen Taxonomic Indexing Authority File Taxonomy Nomenclature Global Names Architecture INSPIRE LifeWatch EUBON

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.3/5439

Citation

de Jong, Y., Kouwenberg, J., Boumans, L., Hussey, C., Hyam, R., Nicolson, N., Kirk, P., Paton, A., Michel, E., Guiry, M., Boegh, P., Pedersen, H., Enghoff, H., von Raab-Straube, E., Güntsch, A., Geoffroy, M., Müller, A., Kohlbecker, A., Berendsohn, W., Appeltans, W., Arvanitidis, C., Vanhoorne, B., Declerck, J., Vandepitte, L., Hernandez, F., Nash, R., Costello, M., Ouvrard, D., Bezard-Falgas, P., Bourgoin, T., Wetzel, F., Glöckler, F., Korb, G., Ring, C., Hagedorn, G., Häuser, C., Aktaç, N., Asan, A., Ardelean, A., Borges, P.A.V., Dhora, D., Khachatryan, H., Malicky, M., Ibrahimov, S., Tuzikov, A., De Wever, A., Moncheva, S., Spassov, N., Chobot, K., Popov, A., Boršić, I., Sfenthourakis, S., Kõljalg, U., Uotila, P., Olivier, G., Dauvin, J., Tarkhnishvili, D., Chaladze, G., Tuerkay, M., Legakis, A., Peregovits, L., Gudmundsson, G., Ólafsson, E., Lysaght, L., Galil, B., Raimondo, F., Domina, G., Stoch, F., Minelli, A., Spungis, V., Budrys, E., Olenin, S., Turpel A., Walisch T., Krpach V., Gambin M., Ungureanu, L., Karaman, G., Kleukers, R., Stur, E., Aagaard, K., Valland, N., Moen, T., Bogdanowicz, W., Tykarski, P., Węsławski, J., Kędra, M., M. de Frias Martins, A., Abreu, A., Silva, R., Medvedev, S., Ryss, A., Šimić, S., Marhold, K., Stloukal, E., Tome, D., Ramos, M., Valdés, B., Pina, F., Kullander, S., Telenius, A., Gonseth, Y., Tschudin, P., Sergeyeva, O., Vladymyrov, V., Rizun, V., Raper, C., Lear, D., Stoev, P., Penev, L., Rubio, A., Backeljau, T., Saarenmaa, H. & Ulenberg, S (2015). PESI - a taxonomic backbone for Europe. Biodiversity Data Journal, 3, e5848. DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.3.e5848