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Biodiversity informatics: automated approaches for documenting global biodiversity patterns and processes
Robert Guralnick1, Andrew Hill
1University of Colorado Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309-0265, USA. robert.guralnick@colorado.edu
Bioinformatics (Oxford, England)
|January 9, 2009
Summary
Creating a unified global biodiversity map requires integrating scattered data. This involves building repositories, scalable maps, and flexible pipelines, with phylogenetic approaches enhancing biodiversity assessment for conservation and tracking viral evolution.
Area of Science:
- Biodiversity Informatics
- Computational Biology
- Phylogenetics
Background:
- Biodiversity data are fragmented across collections, reports, and literature.
- A unified global biodiversity map is needed for accessible synthesis and understanding of global biodiversity patterns.
Purpose of the Study:
- To outline the steps necessary for creating a unified global biodiversity map.
- To demonstrate the integration of biodiversity informatics and phyloinformatic approaches.
Main Methods:
- Developing biodiversity data repositories.
- Creating scalable species distribution maps.
- Implementing flexible, user-programmable pipelines for biodiversity assessment.
- Integrating phylogenetic approaches into biodiversity assessment.
Main Results:
- Two case studies showcase the combined phyloinformatic and biodiversity informatic approaches.
- A conservation assessment of North American birds was performed using evolutionary uniqueness data.
- The evolution and geographic spread of influenza A viruses were documented using genomic data.
Conclusions:
- The proposed methods enable the documentation of large-scale biodiversity patterns.
- Integrated approaches facilitate enhanced biodiversity assessment and monitoring.
- Accessible online tools are available for tracking evolutionary and biodiversity data.
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