ABI Development: Collaborative Research: VertNet, a New Model for Biodiversity Networks

这一协作性奖项旨在实施称为VERTNET(http://vertnet.org).)的生物多样性网络和数据共享的创新模式生物多样性正处于人类对环境的多重影响造成的危机之中，为了解决这一危机，迫切需要记录生物多样性的空间和时间变化。脊椎动物自然历史收藏界已经开始通过建立社会和技术基础设施来满足这一需要，这些基础设施提供对描述生物标本在地球上出现的数据的开放获取。诸如MANIS、ORNIS、HerpNET和FISFNet 2等特定于分类单元的数据共享倡议目前总共提供了8500多万条记录，记录了脊椎动物在哪里发生。这些网络总共包括来自12个国家的171件藏品，另外还有52件藏品(20个国家)承诺参与。目前，它们的访问速度已经达到每周近250万条记录。参与这些网络的人数远远超出预期，导致可扩展性、性能、可持续性和吸收新成员的能力等问题日益严重。VertNet将通过转向云计算解决方案来解决这些障碍，在云计算解决方案中，提供商和用户同步对基于云的脊椎动物生物多样性数据网络的更改。云计算是一种按使用付费的模式，利用基于互联网的第三方计算资源，这些资源是快速且动态可扩展的。新的VertNet模式消除了贡献者购买或维护自己的服务器的要求和成本，同时利用了云提供的所有数据完整性和复制服务。在新的模式下，贡献者将使用基于网络的管理界面在云中创建一个“提供商”。后续更新将使用相同的本地应用程序发布自初始发布以来的差异(添加、更改、删除)。云中的数据存储将包含从所有贡献者发布的作为持久和唯一可用的记录的主要数据。此外，它将包含关于数据汇总的摘要信息，并将纳入来自其他来源的数据，如辅助数据查找、用户反馈和数据质量评估。VertNet将通过新的发现和可视化能力提供对数据的开放访问，并将与几个现有的生物多样性和收集管理应用程序集成。VertNet的开发将改变脊椎动物生物多样性数据用于跨学科研究、保护和政策制定的方式。四个前身项目(MANIS、ORNIS、HerpNET、FINGNET 2)建立了生物多样性信息学培训和社区建设的强大传统。VertNet将延续这一传统，其影响将超出受资助机构的范围。具体来说，VertNet将邀请来自美国各地的学生参加生物多样性信息学的两个暑期实习和生物多样性信息学的两个研讨会。此外，本科生将通过加州大学伯克利分校现有的项目获得志愿者学徒机会。另一个有更广泛社区参加的讲习班将讨论数字化和数据共享工作的长期可持续性战略。

This collaborative award is made to implement an innovative model for biodiversity networks and data sharing called VertNet (http://vertnet.org). Biodiversity is in a crisis caused by multiple human impacts on the environment, and documentation of spatial and temporal biodiversity changes is immediately and urgently needed in order to address this crisis. The community of vertebrate natural history collections has begun to meet this need by establishing social and technological infrastructures that provide open access to data describing planetary occurrences of biological specimens. Taxon-specific data sharing initiatives such as MaNIS, ORNIS, HerpNET and FishNet 2 currently provide, in total, over 85 million records documenting where vertebrates occur. Together these networks include 171 collections from 12 countries, with an additional 52 collections (20 countries) committed to participation. Already, they are accessed at a rate of nearly 2.5 million records per week. Participation in each of these networks has far exceeded expectations, resulting in growing issues of scalability, performance, sustainability, and ability to incorporate new members. VertNet will solve these impediments by moving to a cloud computing solution in which providers and users synchronize changes to a cloud-based network of vertebrate biodiversity data. Cloud computing is a pay-per-use model utilizing internet-based, third party computing resources that are fast and dynamically scalable. The new VertNet model removes the requirement and cost to contributors to buy or maintain their own servers while leveraging all of the data integrity and replication services provided by the cloud. Under the new model, contributors will use a web-based administrative interface to create a "provider" in the cloud. Subsequent updates will use the same local application to publish differences (additions, changes, deletions) since initial publishing. Data storage in the cloud will contain the primary data published from all contributors as persistently and uniquely available records. In addition, it will contain summary information about data aggregations, and will incorporate data from other sources such as auxiliary data look-ups, user feedback, and data quality assessments. VertNet will provide open access to data with new capabilities for discovery and visualization, and will integrate with several existing biodiversity and collection management applications. Development of VertNet will transform the use of vertebrate biodiversity data for cross-disciplinary research, conservation, and policy-making.The four predecessor projects (MaNIS, ORNIS, HerpNET, FishNet 2) have built a strong tradition of biodiversity informatics training and community-building. VertNet will continue this tradition, with impacts extending beyond the funded institutions. Specifically, VertNet will engage students from across the United States in two Summer Internships in Biodiversity Informatics and two Workshops in Biodiversity Informatics. In addition, undergraduate students will be offered volunteer apprenticeships through existing programs at UC Berkeley. An additional workshop that involves the broader community will address strategies for long-term sustainability of digitization and data-sharing efforts.