Background
Biodiversity of life refers to the variety of species, as well their distribution and abundance patterns, found on Earth. It is estimated that more than 1.9 million species of living organisms exist in the world, and biologists are constantly trying to catalogate this diversity. As computer power has increased over the past years, biologists are reaching for global assessments of diversity, making global information databases available for study and research.
Open data
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international network whose aim is to provide open access data about all life on Earth. The system is coordinated by a secretariat based in Copenhagen, and data is submitted by scientists and institutions all around the globe. The network contains more than 1,000,000,000 records, including taxonomic data, specimens’ biogeographical occurrence, and the date and location of specimens’ collection. It includes information collected by experts and submitted by nature enthusiasts. The data included in this network is vast and can be further used as research material for original investigations.
https://www.gbif.org/
Example research questions
How does the distribution of species change over time, and how does that correlate with environmental phenomena?
How does the taxonomic diversity vary between localities?
References
Antonelli, A., Smith, R. J., Fry, C., Simmonds, M. S., Kersey, P. J., Pritchard, H. W., ... & Qi, Y. D. (2020). State of the World’s Plants and Fungi (Research Report, Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew); Sfumato Foundation).
Ball-Damerow, J. E., Brenskelle, L., Barve, N., Soltis, P. S., Sierwald, P., Bieler, R., ... & Guralnick, R. P. (2019). Research applications of primary biodiversity databases in the digital age. PloS one, 14(9), e0215794.