This project aims to mobilize biodiversity data that has not yet been published in GBIF. Currently scattered across different universities, the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), companies and NGOs, this data is is not easily accessible for use in research, conservation, and decision-making.
By mobilizing the data and making it available through GBIF, the project seeks to improve the availability and quality of biodiversity information for use by researchers, policy-makers, and the wider public.
The project will also provide training in data carpentry skills required for biodiversity data publication to individuals from different organizations. Participants will learn how to organize and format data, create metadata, and use the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) to publish data in GBIF.
Finally, the project will work on publishing data from a new collection management system called PLADIAS-SK, including developing new dataflows for publishing according to the Darwin Core (DwC) standard.
To measure the impact of the project, several indicators will be used. First, the number of new records mobilized and published in GBIF will be tracked, as well as the number of organizations that have contributed data. Second, the number of individuals trained in data carpentry and IPT use will be recorded, as well as the number of datasets published by these individuals.
Project progress
At final reporting the project’s aims were successfully achieved, focusing on building capacity in biodiversity data publication. In this respect, a fully functional content management system of the distribution data on vascular plants of Slovakia, PLADIAS-SK, was installed and it now contains more than 900,000 records on distribution of vascular plants in Slovakia. The system is also connected to GBIF.
In May 2024 the project held its workshop ‘Unlocking Slovakias Biodiversity Through Data Publishing’, where participants learned data carpentry skills, how to organize and format data, create metadata, and publish biodiversity data using the Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT) to share data with GBIF.
Following the workshop, the project developed a pipeline to facilitate the publication of individual datasets from the PLADIAS system to GBIF. With the import of data from the Slovak version of the TURBO(VEG) database, containing phytocoenological relevés that had not previously been published as distribution data, this effort resulted in more than 900,000 TURBO(VEG) records on distribution of vascular plants in Slovakia being published to GBIF.
Networking at the workshop also enhanced collaboration for future publication and as a result, three additional datasets were published by HBH, a private company involved in environmental impact assessments, further expanding the project’s impact.
The project workshop was publicly announced on the GBIF website and detailed reports were published by both GBIF Norway and the Plant Science and Biodiversity Centre of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. PLADIAS-SK and its integration with the GBIF portal were also presented by the project lead during a lecture at the Slovak Botanical Society Conference in September 2024, for which many conference participants engaged in discussions about the potential for sharing datasets through the portal.
Post-project, the PLADIAS-SK to GBIF pipeline will support future data sharing and future biodiversity data contributions.
