EDIT WP5 Platform for Cybertaxonomy

In order to promote the access to digital environmental data the last number of the IBS NEWSLETTER (http://www.biogeography.org/html/newsletter.html) announces the launching of web page developed by the CSIC team within the EDIT 5.4, which allows us to download environmental cartography from diverse sources in a unified and standardized way (http://edit.csic.es/GISdownloads.html).

The EDIT team in Brussels (former in Madrid) is pleased to announce that the currently developed EDIT mapViewer (http://edit.br.fgov.be/edit_wp5/geo/mapviewer/maps.html) already allows not only the upload of user point data, but also its filtering and symbolization. This is an essential and important difference between the last announcement (dated in 02/15/2008). The next step will be the integration of tools to make easier the printing of the resulting maps. The insertion of user data must be in a comma-separated-values text file format (CSV extension).

An essential part of EDIT Work Package 5.4 (Geospatial Component) is the development of a free available and easy to use tool able to produce maps for those taxonomists not experienced in the use of GIS programs. Geographic information is nowadays an important part of the information associated with any collected or observed specimen, and this information constitutes an important source of data for basic and applied purposes. At present, this web based application is free available in the EDIT Geoplatform mapViewer (http://edit.csic.es:8080/edit_geo/prototype/edit.html) for the use of all taxonomist community. To divulgate its existence, this text is also published in the new issue of the EDIT Newletter (http://e-taxonomy.eu/files/newsletter7_0208.pdf)

The HTML compilation and link collection of relevant European databases on environmental and biological data (http://edit.csic.es/Databases.html), includes:
- Databases on surface units (administrative units and regular equal-area units): Sources of the GIS layers of surface units available at the Geoplatform (http://edit.csic.es/).
- Databases on environmental data: Sources of the GIS layers of environmental variables available at the Geoplatform, together with other interesting databases on various environmental issues at the global and European extent.
- Databases on biological data: Taxonomic databases for the whole biota of for specific groups.

EDIT geoplatform (http://edit.csic.es/GISdownloads.html) provides standard GIS layers of surface units (countries, squares, ...) to evaluate the spatial distribution of occurrence data -spatial completeness-, and standard GIS layers of environmental variables (climate, topography,...) to evaluate weather occurrence data represent adequately the gradients of environmental variation -environmental completeness-.

Taxonomists have to continue doing what they have done during the last three hundred years: to describe the variety of life organisms and their location. Although this colossal task is important by itself its relevance is higher now due to current need of reliable biodiversity data. In the attached report we review the available scientific information on the possibilities and usefulness of the compiled species distribution data for basic and applied purposes, two of the deliverables of EDIT Work Package 5.4 “Geographical platform components” (deliverables 5.35 -Predictive distribution modelling report- and 5.38 -Gap analysis in local inventories report-).