ECOSCOPE
ECOSCOPE is a data-hosting infrastructure that contributes to improved organisation of data collection, management, transfer through remote access to various types of observations for biodiversity research and for assessments for decision makers.
Missions
The purpose of ECOSCOPE is to set up an observation data portal for biodiversity research, with data to document and study current ecological status, its dynamics, mechanisms and potential future trends.
The scientific basis of ECOSCOPE is to compile and combine several types of data, collected over long periods of time and thus to provide complementary observations. To do so, ECOSCOPE fosters the compilation of data from various research programmes that differ in spatial or temporal scale, the ecosystems or taxa studied, the level of organisation (from genes to ecosystems), the sources and methods of data collection and the variables measured.
The compiled data include
- variables characterising species and communities (distribution, abundance, phenology, etc.) with other biological variables (morphology, diet, genome, reproduction systems, life cycle, etc.),
- environmental data (climate, nitrogen, soil, etc.),
- socio-economic data (agricultural practises, production systems, management and selection, human population densities, infrastructures, etc.).
The portal aims to
- provide access to metadata and observation datasets for research, to data visualisation tools and services, to data analyses and products for a large user community and thus promote and spread good practices;
- foster reflection on the concept of Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) to provide a general outline of the state and dynamics of biodiversity;
- contribute to national, European and international incentives on data and observation and foster access to other research communities.
Operation
ECOSCOPE is a multi-organisation project led by the Foundation for Research on Biodiversity. The activities are undertaken under the auspices of the Ministry of Research and scientists, in close collaboration with the Ministries of Environment and Agriculture as well as societal stakeholders.
Certified as an Observation and Experimentation System for Environmental Research (Système d’Observation et d’Expérimentation pour la recherche en Environnement — SOERE) by the National Alliance for Environmental Research (AllEnvi) for the 2011-2015 period, ECOSCOPE is certified as a Biodiversity Data Infrastructure in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Roadmap for national infrastructures of the Ministry of Research. The work programme for 2016 involves the deployment of the metadata portal, the organisation of national scientific conferences and the creation of practical workshops on the management, interoperability and analysis of data.