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Taxonome: a software package for linking biological species data
Thomas A Kluyver1, Colin P Osborne
1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Ecology and Evolution
|June 14, 2013
Summary
Taxonome software links biological data by matching species names and standardizing distributions. This enables easier synthesis of diverse datasets for evolutionary and ecological research.
Area of Science:
- Bioinformatics
- Computational Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- Online biological databases hold vast potential for discovery.
- Inconsistent species nomenclature and spelling hinder data integration.
- Linking disparate datasets is crucial for large-scale ecological and evolutionary studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce Taxonome, a software tool for matching biological names.
- To provide reproducible methods for standardizing species nomenclature and distribution data.
- To facilitate the synthesis of diverse biological datasets.
Main Methods:
- Developed Taxonome software with a graphical user interface (GUI) and Python library.
- Implemented functions for matching biological names to reference sets.
- Integrated tools for standardizing species distribution information using schemes like TDWG.
Main Results:
- Taxonome enables quick and reproducible matching of biological names.
- The software standardizes species distribution data to well-defined regions.
- Facilitates the linking and synthesis of previously disparate biological datasets.
Conclusions:
- Taxonome addresses major barriers in biological data integration caused by nomenclature inconsistencies.
- The tool empowers biologists to synthesize data rapidly for large-scale pattern investigation.
- Enhances potential for evolutionary and ecological discoveries through novel data combination.
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