A call for TDWG support in the creation of invasive alien species standards
Annie Simpson1, Elizabeth Sellers1, Hannu Saarenmaa2 and Robert A. Morris3. 1National Biological Information Infrastructure, USGS, Reston, Virginia, USA, 2GBIF Secretariat, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. 3University of Massachusetts at Boston Department of Computer Science, U.S.A. asimpson@usgs.gov, esellers@usgs.govThe need for a global invasive species information network (GISIN) has been discussed in different fora since the year 2000 (1,2). Invasive alien species (IAS) are estimated to cause USD$1.4 trillion in damage per year to world economies, societies, biodiversity, and human health (3). Providing unified access to the world's IAS information systems will dramatically assist decision-makers in our fight to control the effects of IAS, but to achieve this goal, taxonomic and other data standards are needed for the GISIN. At the international meeting to implement a GISIN, held in Baltimore on 4-6 April 2004, its interim Steering Committee was directed to approach TDWG for assistance in creating these needed standards (4). The meeting was attended by 76 experts from 26 countries. A brief overview will be given of the types of GISIN standards needed and of the support offered by members of the GISIN and the Convention for Biological Diversity Secretariat.
1-[CBD/COP] Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. 2002. Scientific and Technical Cooperation and the Clearing-House Mechanism: Report of the Joint Convention on Biological Diversity/ Global Invasive Species Programme Informal Meeting on Formats, Protocols and Standards for Improved Exchange of Biodiversity-Related Information. (25 April 2004; www.biodiv.org/doc/meetings/cop/cop-06/information/cop-06-inf-18-en.pdf)
2-Edwards JL. 2004. Research and societal benefits of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. BioScience 54: 485-486.
3-Pimentel, D., editor. 2002. Biological invasions: economic and environmental costs of alien plant, animal, and microbe species. Boca Raton/London/New York/Washington DC; CRC Press, 369 pp.
4-Saarenmaa, H. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility and GISIN. pp 66-71. In: Sellers, E., Simpson, A., Fisher, J.P., S. Curd-Hetrick, editors. 2004. Experts Meeting on Implementation of a Global Invasive Species Information Network (GISIN), Proceedings of a Workshop. 6-8 April, 2004. Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Full proceedings online at http://www.gisinetwork.org; Article online at http://invasivespecies.nbii.gov/as/GISINProc2004HTML/GISINProc200466.html