Bringing Together Species Observations: A Case Story of Sweden’s Biodiversity Informatics Infrastructures

Abstract

Biodiversity informatics produces global biodiversity knowledge through the collection and analysis of biodiversity data using informatics techniques. To do so, biodiversity informatics relies upon data accrual, standardization, transferability, openness, and “invisible” infrastructure. What biodiversity informatics mean to society, however, cannot be adequately understood without recognizing what organizes biodiversity data. Using insights from science and technology studies, we story the organizing “visions” behind the growth of biodiversity informatics infrastructures in Sweden—an early adopter of digital technologies and significant contributor to global biodiversity data—through interviews, scientific literature, governmental reports and popular publications. This case story discloses the organizational formation of Swedish biodiversity informatics infrastructures from the 1970s to the present day, illustrating how situated perspectives or “visions” shaped the philosophies, directions and infrastructures of its biodiversity informatics communities. Specifically, visions related to scientific progress and species loss, their institutionalization, and the need to negotiate external interests from governmental organizations led to unequal development across multiple infrastructures that contribute differently to biodiversity knowledge. We argue that such difference highlights that the social and organizational hurdles for combining biodiversity data are just as significant as the technological challenges and that the seemingly inconsequential organizational aspects of its infrastructure shape what biodiversity data can be brought together, modelled and visualised.

Farmland biodiversity monitoring through citizen science: A review of existing approaches and future opportunities

“…Even within biodiversity-focused citizen science, programmes have a variety of purposes, from monitoring national and even international-scale trends (Stuber et al 2022 ), to assessing the effects of local actions to promote biodiversity (Griffiths-Lee et al 2022 ). From a data collection perspective, especially with the rise of internet-based platforms, biodiversity informatics infrastructures (Peterson et al 2023 ) and the use of mobile applications (Dehnen-Schmutz et al 2016 ), citizen science has enabled the collection of volumes of data that were previously impossible (Chandler et al 2017 ). It can also reduce costs compared to monitoring by professional biologists (Lasky et al 2021 ), and make use of the species-specific expertise of a great many knowledgeable amateurs (Viola et al 2022 ).…”