Launched in 2007, the GBIF Data Portal is proof of the concept that a worldwide distributed network of biodiversity data providers can be linked together and made searchable from a single point of access.

The Data Portal allows complex searches on any taxon, country or dataset, or on a combination of these parameters. The existing Portal is a direct response to user needs – for example, searches by altitude and depth are now integrated within the existing search filter.

Other improvements, such as the availability of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Mapping Services have been incorporated into the Portal in a beta version. These allow OGC-compliant clients to include, as layers in the generation of maps, GBIF-mediated density coverage for taxa, providers, resources, networks, countries and host countries – all with two resolutions (1.0 degree and 0.1 degree), as well as point data, depending on the resolution. In late 2009, with the upgrade of the GBIF infrastructure, a fully dedicated server will be assigned to this service.

You can see a niche modelling demonstration of GBIF-mediated occurrence data via the Portal, using the OpenModeller server hosted by the Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental (CRIA) in Brazil. The demonstration can be configured to produce models using either terrestrial or marine environmental parameters.

The conservation community is both an important source and user of primary biodiversity data, tools and products. A focused effort is needed to understand the needs of – and services required by – key organisations such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP–WCMC), Conservation International and BirdLife International.

In collaboration with the IUCN and the UNEP–WCMC, we developed a Flash-based widget to give access to GBIF-mediated data that were specific to the protected areas detailed in the World Database of Protected Areas (WDPA).

The multilingual widget offers the following features:

• Browsing of the taxonomy derived from the GBIF specimen and observational occurrence data for the protected area. Selecting a taxon will take you to the GBIF data portal for that taxon.
• Details of the data providers responsible for publishing the data for each area, with links via the GBIF portal to the provider or resource detail page.
• Simple and intuitive map browsing, with variable resolution of data-gridding based on the zoom level. Selecting a cell allows the user to browse the taxonomic content of the cell.