Leading IT Project for Species Information in Europe

He is the initiator and leader of Sweden’s part in the construction of a pan-European database network for biodiversity named LifeWatch.

LifeWatch
The idea is to link databases all over Europe containing information on species, genes and ecosystems with computer software programmes for analyses and presentations. Everyone will have free access to the databases through a public portal on the web. Every country funds and is responsible for the construction of the national part of the network. In addition, each country develops parts of the common infrastructure of the network.

‘For instance, in Sweden, we develop web services that present data from different databases in a unified way on the web portal site. We also develop the Swedish site `Species Gateway´ further, where you can report observations of Swedish species. Researchers will be able to build up databases for their research at the site. Thereby, they don’t have to build and maintain databases on their own, at the same time as their data will be made available to the public later on. It’s a win-win situation for everyone,' says Professor Ulf Gärdenfors, director of the Swedish LifeWatch project*.

As the first and so far only country, Sweden began constructing its part of the network’s infrastructure last autumn.

'What we’re building in Sweden is of importance for other European countries, as well. They follow us with great interest and envy because of our early funding of the project,' says Professor Ulf Gärdenfors.

International criteria
Professor Ulf Gärdenfors also participated in the revision of IUCN’s (International Union for Conservation of Nature) global criteria for threatened species, published in 2001. The Swedish Red List, that lists the status of animals, plants and fungi in Sweden, are based on these criteria.

‘In addition, I headed an international group of researchers in the process of developing guidelines on how to employ IUCN’s criteria at a national level. The assessment of a species’ risk of extinction in a country is first made according to IUCN’s global criteria, followed by an assessment of whether populations in neighbouring countries reduce the national risk of extinction. These guidelines are used worldwide today,’ says Professor Ulf Gärdenfors.

*The Swedish LifeWatch project is led by the Swedish Species Information Centre at SLU in collaboration with the Swedish universities of Lund, Gothenburg and Umeå, and the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, the Swedish Board of Fisheries and the Swedish Museum of Natural History. The project is mainly funded by the Swedish Research Council during the period 2011 to 2014. A Swedish LifeWatch-portal is expected to be up and running by the end of year 2013.