Enhancing discovery and reuse of survey and monitoring data with new guide

Ecological monitoring data, whether gathered through traditional on-the-ground surveys or emerging approaches around sensor networks, forms the gold standard for understanding biodiversity on a changing planet. However, the lack of a standardized way of collecting such essential information about methods has limited its reuse, leaving researchers and practitioners unable to leverage the power of survey datasets to monitor changing biodiversity trends.

Survey and Monitoring Data Quick-Start Guide: A how-to for updating a Darwin Core dataset using the Humboldt Extension takes a key step toward closing this gap. Authored by GBIF programme officer for science support Kate Ingenloff with contributions from data administrator Cecilie Svenningsen and members of the Humboldt Extension task group, this reference provides practical guidance that enables existing data publishers to help meet the growing demand for more structured, interoperable and reusable survey and monitoring datasets.

In early 2024, Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) ratified the Humboldt Extension for Ecological Inventories, the product of a multi-year community effort to enhance the utility of the Darwin Core (DwC) standard, the most widely adopted exchange format for biodiversity data. The standardized vocabulary of 55 new terms that Humboldt introduces allows data publishers to capture consistent contextual information about survey and monitoring activities and maximize the reusability of the resulting records. Efforts underway within the GBIF Secretariat will significantly improve discovery, access and comparison of datasets available through GBIF.org.

"The ecologists and data scientists who contributed to the development of the Humboldt extension took great care to integrate it with the data systems that already provide global views of biodiversity," said Rob Guralnick, curator of biodiversity informatics at the Florida Museum of Natural History and member of the TDWG Humboldt extension task group. "Enabling Humboldt's wider adoption and implementation promises to expand the discovery, interoperability and utility of biodiversity data needed to enable new and essential views of planetary health and change."

Using the quick-start guide, GBIF data publishers already familiar with preparing, publishing and managing DwC occurrence datasets can begin make use of Humboldt's extended capabilities. Its clear, step-by-step process explains how to reshape existing datasets into richer sampling-event ones.

“The development of the Humboldt extension has been a collaborative effort of the biodiversity data community spanning many years, informed and improved by extensive consultation," said Ingenloff. "We're excited to share the quick-start guide and empower data publishers to increase the scale, discoverability and reuse of survey and monitoring data.”

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