Biodiversity informatics and co-operation in taxonomy for interactive shared knowledge base in Indochina
Paul Keβler
Human pressure on the environment has steadily increased throughout the last few decades, especially in South and Southeast Asia. This part of the world is also particularly rich in biodiversity such that sustainable methods for managing the environment, based on appropriate biological knowledge are in high demand.
The present project is an initiative in the emerging area of biodiversity informatics and aims to develop a knowledge base on two major “hotspots” of biodiversity: the rain forests in the Western Ghats of India and the Northern Annamite rain forests of Lao PDR. The knowledge base, built on a tree species identification system (IDAO), will be instrumental in understanding and assessing the biodiversity of these highly significant areas, as it would provide and facilitate dissemination of scientific and traditional knowledge. The knowledge base will draw from existing reference herbariums, which will however need to be completed with extensive field trips. Developed as an open source web-based application, the knowledge base will be made available on-line, on CD-ROMs for personal computer platform as well as on Simputer, a PDA operating on Linux with local language support.
The result would primarily address the needs of stakeholders that are involved in maintaining and preserving these diverse rain forests, including the large scientific community working in these geographical areas and also the government agencies. The partnership builds on the foundations of the pre-existing scientific collaboration between the various partners who have specialized in developing IT&C applications for taxonomy (IDAO) on one hand, and taxonomy itself on the other hand. The existing collaborative efforts are both at institutional level and through regional networks like European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN).
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Last updated 5 September 2005