The FIPbio data portal: towards an integrated freshwater biodiversity data ecosystem

What this was about

Vanessa Bremerich presented the renewed Freshwater Biodiversity Data Portal (FIPbio) of the Freshwater Information Platform, rebuilt on the BIMS engine behind FBIS with funding linked to IGB's investigation of the Oder fish-kill disaster and relying on the InfraFADA taxonomic backbone. The portal will show GBIF freshwater occurrences, Red List status and data gaps per FADA group, implement the GBIF freshwater data publishing guide (including broader 'meta groups'), and link sampling sites to habitat, method, life stage, abiotic sensor and water quality data and remote-sensing time series. Sites are automatically annotated from reference layers and catchment tools (e.g. hydrographr, GeoFRESH, AquaINFRA), with rule-based quality flagging using FADA biogeographic realms.

Why it matters. Freshwater analyses depend on catchment connectivity and sampling context that generic portals ignore; FIPbio tries to encode those freshwater specifics while staying interoperable with GBIF.

In the room

• History: BioFresh (2009-2014) led to the Freshwater Information Platform and a first data portal that became hard to maintain.
• InfraFADA's renewed taxonomic backbone is central; funds from IGB's Oder fish-kill investigation programme were used to renew the portal with the Freshwater Research Centre and Kartoza.
• Built on BIMS (the FBIS engine); serves FIP partners, FADA and Freshwater BON (GEO BON) data mobilisation, e.g. freshwater EBVs.
• It will show all GBIF freshwater occurrences, IUCN Red List status, and data gaps per FADA organism group.
• What it is not: not (yet) an OBIS for freshwaters, which lacks a funded global community; not for national/regional assessments; not yet fully in production.
• Implements the GBIF freshwater data publishing guide, e.g. 'meta groups' such as macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, fish; freshwater fungi, benthic algae and phytoplankton are not covered by FADA and need other checklists.
• Sites carry habitat, ecosystem type, sampling method, life stage and timing, plus abiotic sensor data, water quality and remote sensing (chlorophyll-a, water colour, land use).

Notable moments