Experts convened by GBIF will make recommendations on how data shared through the network can best serve the needs of research into invasive alien species (IAS).
The Task group on data fitness for use in research into invasive alien species will gather views from specialists around the world on the data currently available to further such research, and how it may be enhanced.
The establishment of this group is part of a broader global strategy of consulting with expert communities to improve the fitness for use of data accessed through GBIF.org. Previous task groups have made recommendations on data relating to agrobiodiversity research and distribution modelling.
Research into invasive alien species represents a very significant use of species occurrence data published through the GBIF network. Of 407 peer-reviewed studies citing use of GBIF as a data source during 2015, no fewer than 69 journal papers dealt with IAS. An up-to-date list of such research is available via this link.
On behalf of the Convention on Biological Diversity, GBIF Secretariat is also coordinating the Global Invasive Species Information Partnership (GIASIP), aimed at harmonising and improving the information available to policy and decision makers to support actions to address the threats posed by IAS. The latest product of this partnership has been the first version of the Global Register of Introduced and Invasive Species (GRIIS), developed by the IUCN Species Survival Commission Invasive Species Specialist Group as an authoritative inventory of introduced and invasive species recorded in all countries.
The members of the task group are:
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Melodie McGeoch, Chair
Associate Professor, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia
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Quentin Groom
Researcher and informatician, Botanic Garden, Meise, Belgium
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Shyama Pagad
IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group/University of Auckland, New Zealand
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Varos G. Petrosyan
A.N. Seversov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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Gregory M. Ruiz
Senior Scientist, Smithsonian Environmental Reserch Center, United States
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John Wilson
Associate Professor, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) and Centre for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
