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  • Preparations to launch DiatomBase enter their final stage
    Preparations to launch DiatomBase enter their final stage

    Preparations to launch DiatomBase enter their final stage

    Last week, 15 taxonomic experts for DiatomBase got together for the first time, during a LifeWatch-WoRMS sponsored workshop. This get-together is the official start of DiatomBase, a world register of all marine, non-marine, recent and fossil diatom species.
  • The Register of Antarctic Species moves forward
    The Register of Antarctic Species moves forward

    The Register of Antarctic Species moves forward

    The launch of the new Register of Antarctic Species (RAS) is planned for July, during the Twelfth SCAR Biology Symposium. Meanwhile, the preparations to get this Portal populated are ongoing, and this included an intensive training of the involved editors in the use of the online platform.
  • LifeWatch Observatory Sensors Meeting
    LifeWatch Observatory Sensors Meeting

    LifeWatch Observatory Sensors Meeting

    On Thursday January 26th 2017, the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) and imec met for the first time to explore opportunities for collaboration on sensor data analysis.
  • PRESS RELEASE - Critically endangered eels arrive in our Flemish rivers after a 6000 kilometer migration
    PRESS RELEASE - Critically endangered eels arrive in our Flemish rivers after a 6000 kilometer migration

    PRESS RELEASE - Critically endangered eels arrive in our Flemish rivers after a 6000 kilometer migration

    With spring hanging in the air, also the glass eels are arriving at the Flemish coast. Coming from the Sargasso Sea they currently are swimming up rivers and channels, a journey full of obstacles. Here and elsewhere in Europe, the numbers of arriving glass eel dropped drastically to a fraction (2%) of the numbers arriving 50 years ago. One of the main reasons for this sharp decline and their status as 'Critically Endangered' species are the many barriers that adult eel experience in their migration route to the sea.
  • New European 'Big Data' e-infrastructure to support biodiversity research
    Lifewatch

    New European 'Big Data' e-infrastructure to support biodiversity research

    On March 17th 2017, the European Commission granted the legal status of European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) to the e-Science and Technology European Infrastructure for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (LifeWatch). With this measure, the EU provides the facility with many administrative advantages enjoyed by international organisations and therefore helps to successfully implement the infrastructure project.
  • Today is Taxonomist Appreciation Day!
    Today is Taxonomist Appreciation Day!

    Today is Taxonomist Appreciation Day!

    Back in 2013, Terry McGlynn – researcher & associate Professor of Biology at the California State University Dominguez Hills – has declared March 19th as a new holiday, being “Taxonomist Appreciation Day”.
  • When OTN meets ETN...
    When OTN meets ETN...

    When OTN meets ETN...

    During the European Telemetry Network (ETN) / Ocean Tracking Network Database (OTN) Workshop (February 14th-17th 2017, Halifax, Canada), the technical teams from ETN and OTN compared their database infrastructure, evaluated and planned for collaborative efforts to carry forward, and discovered new methods, both policy and programming, to strengthen the collaborative efforts of OTN and the ETN.
  • Thanks to many hands the World Register for Marine Species is becoming more complete
    Thanks to many hands the World Register for Marine Species is becoming more complete

    Thanks to many hands the World Register for Marine Species is becoming more complete

    The World register for marine species (WoRMS) aspires to contain all marine species ever described worldwide in one list. With the financial assistance of the project LifeWatch we were able to organize several data grants, meetings and workshops for experts in the course of 2016 designed to further improve this register and continue to complete it. The result? Thousands of new names added, a revision of (tens of) thousands already available names, and the development of new portals and tools, helping the user and editor community in accessing and utilizing WoRMS.
  • Aristotle and marine biodiversity
    Aristotle and marine biodiversity

    Aristotle and marine biodiversity

    Although many people are not aware of this, Aristotle has made many contributions to the field of marine biology. To celebrate his specific contributions, we are featuring 5 stories linking Aristotle's scientific contributions to taxonomy, ecology and species distributions to current day initiatives.