MarBEF

Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning - MarBEF

 

marbef_logoMarBEF, a network of excellence funded by the European Union and consisting of 94 European marine institutes, is a platform to integrate and disseminate knowledge and expertise on marine biodiversity, with links to researchers, industry, stakeholders and the general public.

MarBEF brought together the dispersed units of scientific excellence in Europe and created a virtual European centre of excellence in marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. MarBEF stimulated the creation of teams with the right mix of skills, expertise and resources. It has brought together the critical mass of researchers who generated a series of project proposals in topics related to marine biodiversity. By doing so, MarBEF also strengthened the European contribution to international programmes, such as the Census of Marine Life and future IGBP and DIVERSITAS initiatives.

The mix of outstanding and committed individuals has made it possible for MarBEF to address one of the biggest questions in marine biology: that of elucidating the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.

MarBEF espoused the philosophy of data sharing. Access to very large scale data sets has brought unique benefits, the most important of which is that such data sets can reveal patterns not apparent in small scale data. The core facility is a distributed database containing information about all of the marine species known to occur in European waters, with details of sites from which they have been recorded (www.eurobis.org). The biological data and associated physical data will form the basis for ongoing research into marine biodiversity research across Europe, ranging from long-term, large-scale studies to small-scale, short-term investigations. This system is designed for sharing data: only by pooling our data resources across Europe can we become truly competitive when addressing the big questions in marine biodiversity and ecosystem science.

 

 

Data systems used within MarBEF:

eurobis

The European Ocean Biogeographic Information System (EurOBIS) is a distributed system that allows you to search multiple datasets simultaneously for biogeographic information on marine organisms. EurOBIS has been developed within the MarBEF network and acts as the European node of OBIS. This system integrates individual datasets on marine organisms into one large consolidated database. Through collaboration with OBIS the scientific community has rapid free access to data on marine species distributions, and ocean environmental data. The ultimate goal of EurOBIS is to provide the end-user with a fully searchable biogeographic database, focused on three main parameters of a distribution record: taxonomy, temporal and geographical cover. Within EurOBIS the European Register for Marine Species (ERMS) functions as the taxonomic backbone and each species list from every incoming dataset will be matched with this register.

logo_erms1

 

The European Register of Marine Species (ERMS) is an authoritative taxonomic list of species occurring in the European marine environment, defined as up to the strandline or splash zone above the high tide mark and down to 0.5 (psu, ppt) salinity in estuaries. The register is actively maintained and daily updated in the framework of the MarBEF EU Network of Excellence by a board of taxonomic editors, which are world experts on the taxonomy of their relevant taxa. It is anticipated that the Register will become a standard reference (and technological tool) for marine biodiversity training, research and management in Europe.

 
vlimar

The European Marine Gazetteer integrates all different geographic names used in the MarBEF data pages. Geographic names that occurr in the gazetteer can be names of sites of marine biodiversity importance (MarBEF and BIOMARE sites), geographic covers of datasets or geographic entities occurring in the ERMS2 database. If you browse the European Marine Biodiversity Gazetteer you will find all datasets related to the geographic entities. Any additional information about the geographic site can be found under 'site description'. This Eurpean Marine gazetteer is part of the VLIMAR Gazetteer.
MarBEFWiki

 

A wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. A Marine Biodiversity Wiki is essentially a database for creating, browsing, and searching through information on marine biodiversity. VLIZ have developed the basic structure which can be accessed through the front page of the MarBEF website. The Marine Biodiversity Wiki links in depth with the Coastal Wiki (developed by ENCORA), to avoid duplication of material and while also solely concentrating on providing information on marine biodiversity.

 
logomoa

The MarBEF Open Archive (MOA) contains the digital version of published works that are held within the MarBEF Publication Series (i.e. any class of publication where at least one author is a network member and in which MarBEF is acknowledged). In addition, those papers where MarBEF has bought unrestricted 'Open Access' are automatically part of this archive. MOA can only archive those publications for which the publishers agree on the concept and principles of open digital archives [list of green publishers].
marbef_logo

 

Among one of the largest sources of information on the current status of marine biodiversity science in Europe is the online Register of Resources (RoR). This index includes details of over 1,000 European marine biology experts and their institutional affiliations, with links to relevant research projects, datasets and publications.