Abstract In the last few decades, functional trait-based approaches have undergone an extraordinary expansion in phytoplankton ecology, due to the relative simplicity and the well-defined traits that determine the ecological niche of these organisms. A large quantity of heterogeneous and distributed data has been produced on phytoplankton traits and their use could be made more effective and efficient if data harmonization and interoperability would be improved. The use of controlled vocabularies and thesauri is an acknowledged good practice to establish the foundation for semantic interoperability, a critical requirement for reuse and sharing of data. In fact, thesauri, collectively constructed, bypass ambiguity issues in natural language, facilitating the identification and integration of the information available in multiple data sources and allowing both scientists and computer applications to interpret more effectively the meaning of data. Here we present a semantic resource on phytoplankton functional traits: the PhytoTraits thesaurus (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/index.php). PhytoTraits is the result of the interdisciplinary collaboration of experts both from the phytoplankton functional domain and from information and communication technologies, working together within LifeWatch Italy, the Italian node of the e-science European infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research. PhytoTraits is the first initiative to deal with the semantics of phytoplankton functional traits, focusing on morpho-functional traits towards standardized bio-volume assessment. It reflects the agreement of a scientific expert community to fix semantic properties (e.g. label, definition) of approximately 120 traits. Following semantic web standard technologies, the thesaurus was implemented in Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS), a common data model based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF). PhytoTraits is freely available online, it can be queried through a {SPARQL} endpoint (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/sparql.php) and is also accessible via {API} (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/services.php) for integration with other systems. If adopted as a standard and rigorously applied and enriched by the scientific community, PhytoTraits, providing harmonized concepts with associated unique and resolvable URIs, has the potential to significantly reduce the barriers to data discovery, integration, and exchange.

A thesaurus for phytoplankton trait-based approaches: Development and applicability

Ilaria Rosati;Caterina Bergami;Paolo Tagliolato;Alessandro Oggioni;Alessandra Pugnetti;Angela Boggero;
2017

Abstract

Abstract In the last few decades, functional trait-based approaches have undergone an extraordinary expansion in phytoplankton ecology, due to the relative simplicity and the well-defined traits that determine the ecological niche of these organisms. A large quantity of heterogeneous and distributed data has been produced on phytoplankton traits and their use could be made more effective and efficient if data harmonization and interoperability would be improved. The use of controlled vocabularies and thesauri is an acknowledged good practice to establish the foundation for semantic interoperability, a critical requirement for reuse and sharing of data. In fact, thesauri, collectively constructed, bypass ambiguity issues in natural language, facilitating the identification and integration of the information available in multiple data sources and allowing both scientists and computer applications to interpret more effectively the meaning of data. Here we present a semantic resource on phytoplankton functional traits: the PhytoTraits thesaurus (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/index.php). PhytoTraits is the result of the interdisciplinary collaboration of experts both from the phytoplankton functional domain and from information and communication technologies, working together within LifeWatch Italy, the Italian node of the e-science European infrastructure for biodiversity and ecosystem research. PhytoTraits is the first initiative to deal with the semantics of phytoplankton functional traits, focusing on morpho-functional traits towards standardized bio-volume assessment. It reflects the agreement of a scientific expert community to fix semantic properties (e.g. label, definition) of approximately 120 traits. Following semantic web standard technologies, the thesaurus was implemented in Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS), a common data model based on the Resource Description Framework (RDF). PhytoTraits is freely available online, it can be queried through a {SPARQL} endpoint (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/sparql.php) and is also accessible via {API} (http://thesauri.lifewatchitaly.eu/PhytoTraits/services.php) for integration with other systems. If adopted as a standard and rigorously applied and enriched by the scientific community, PhytoTraits, providing harmonized concepts with associated unique and resolvable URIs, has the potential to significantly reduce the barriers to data discovery, integration, and exchange.
2017
Istituto di Biologia Agro-ambientale e Forestale - IBAF - Sede Porano
Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque - IRSA
Istituto per il Rilevamento Elettromagnetico dell'Ambiente - IREA
Istituto di Scienze Marine - ISMAR
Istituto di Ricerca sugli Ecosistemi Terrestri - IRET
Functional diversity; Phytoplankton trait; Thesaurus; SKOS; Sematic interoperability
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
prod_377221-doc_130308.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Descrizione: A thesaurus for phytoplankton trait-based approaches: Development and applicability
Tipologia: Versione Editoriale (PDF)
Licenza: NON PUBBLICO - Accesso privato/ristretto
Dimensione 1.67 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
1.67 MB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14243/336334
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus ND
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? ND
social impact