Communicating infrastructures: what biodiversity metadata tell us

The conceptual framework of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) was proposed to structure biodiversity study globally, filling the gaps in biodiversity monitoring and ruling observations among different researchers. To organize raw data processing and accessibility with structural models, a workflow has been proposed to build data at global scale for species distribution and abundance by easing data integration from different providers. We present the case study of LTER-Italy[1] sites to discuss their contributions in building EBV data basing our analysis on metadata compiled by the site managers. We have conducted an interactive survey on site and dataset metadata hosted in the DEIMS-SDR[2], the LTER-Europe online metadata repository, and we present the potential of its metadata models not only to make data findable and understandable, but also to describe the EBV-related research activities at a network level. In particular, we classify the LTER-Italy sites according to two types of contributions: the actual site contribution, based on DEIMS-SDR Data Set Metadata (EML), and the potential contribution, based on DEIMS-SDR Site Metadata (EMF). To assess the actual contribution, we verify if metadata are compliant in term of standards and correctly completed as required by the workflow, while to assess the potential contribution we consider the monitored EBVs documented by site managers. Through this approach, we document the EBVs coverage and bias of LTER-Italy, and discuss both the usefulness and the limits of metadata to enable an ICT platform in building EBVs data.

[1] Long Term Ecological Research network (Italy)

[2] Dynamic Ecological Information Management System - Site and Dataset registry