- Title
- Drowning in data, thirsty for information and starved for understanding: A biodiversity information hub for cooperative environmental monitoring in South Africa
- Creator
- MacFadyen, Sandra, Allsopp, Nicky, Altwegg, Res, Archibald, Sally, Botha, Judith, Bradshaw, Karen L, Carruthers, Jane, De Klerk, Helen, de Vos, Alta, Distiller, Greg, Foord, Stefan, Freitag-Ronaldson, Stefanie, Gibbs, Richard, Hamer, Michelle, Landi, Pietro, MacFayden, Duncan, Manuel, Jeffrey, Midgley, Guy, Moncrieff, Glenn, Munch, Zahn, Mutanga, Onisimo, Sershen, Nenguda, Rendani, Ngwenya, Mzabalazo, Parker, Daniel M, Peel, Mike, Power, John, Pretorius, Joachim, Ramdhani, Syd, Robertson, Mark P, Rushworth, Ian, Skowno, Andrew, Slingsby, Jasper, Turner, Andrew, Visser, Vernon, van Wageningen, Gerhard, Hui, Cang
- Subject
- To be catalogued
- Date
- 2022
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/415624
- Identifier
- vital:71271
- Identifier
- xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109736"
- Description
- The world is firmly cemented in a notitian age (Latin: notitia, meaning data) – drowning in data, yet thirsty for information and the synthesis of knowledge into understanding. As concerns over biodiversity declines escalate, the volume, diversity and speed at which new environmental and ecological data are generated has increased exponentially. Data availability primes the research and discovery engine driving biodiversity conservation. South Africa (SA) is poised to become a world leader in biodiversity conservation. However, continent-wide resource limitations hamper the establishment of inclusive technologies and robust platforms and tools for biodiversity informatics. In this perspectives piece, we bring together the opinions of 37 co-authors from 20 different departments, across 10 SA universities, 7 national and provincial conservation research agencies, and various institutes and private conservation, research and management bodies, to develop a way forward for biodiversity informatics in SA. We propose the development of a SA Biodiversity Informatics Hub and describe the essential components necessary for its design, implementation and sustainability. We emphasise the importance of developing a culture of cooperation, collaboration and interoperability among custodians of biodiversity data to establish operational workflows for data synthesis. However, our biggest challenges are misgivings around data sharing and multidisciplinary collaboration.
- Format
- computer, online resource, application/pdf, 1 online resource (10 pages), pdf
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Language
- English
- Relation
- Biological Conservation, MacFadyen, S., Allsopp, N., Altwegg, R., Archibald, S., Botha, J., Bradshaw, K., Carruthers, J., De Klerk, H., De Vos, A., Distiller, G. and Foord, S., 2022. Drowning in data, thirsty for information and starved for understanding: A biodiversity information hub for cooperative environmental monitoring in South Africa. Biological Conservation, 274, p.109736, Biological Conservation volume 274 p. 109736 2022 1873-2917
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Elsevier Terms and Conditions Statement (https://www.elsevier.com/legal/elsevier-website-terms-and-conditions)
- Rights
- Closed Access
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- Visitors: 2623
- Downloads: 32
Collections
Parker, Daniel M (Prof)
de Vos, Alta (Dr)
RU DST/NRF SARChI for Interdisciplinary Science in Land and Natural Resource Use for Sustainable Livelihoods
RU Department of Environmental Science
Bradshaw, Karen Lee (Assoc Prof)
RU Department of Computer Science
SDG 17. Partnerships for the Goals
RU Department of Zoology and Entomology
SDG 15. Life On Land
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | Drowning in data, thirsty for information and starved for understanding.pdf | 786 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |