Biodiversity informatics is the study, design, and application of information technology to gather and manage biological data and support research and decision making in fields like ecology, evolution, and taxonomy. It focuses on the collection, integration, analysis, and interpretation of data about organisms, their distributions, and their relationships across ecosystems.
The ASU Biocollections have played a central role in biodiversity informatics through the development of data infrastructure, research tools and informatics-aligned protocols, while supporting research in systematics, ecology and related fields.
Originally developed at ASU, Symbiota provides a widely adopted framework for digitizing, managing, and sharing specimen data. ASU hosts and co-manages multiple Symbiota-powered portals and associated data, contributing to collaborative networks that enhance the accessibility and usability of biodiversity data for research.
At ASU, field, curation, and collections protocols are designed with downstream data sharing in mind, emphasizing biodiversity standards, consistent taxonomy, and geospatial accuracy. Efforts also focus on the digitization of historical specimens, including imaging, transcription of label data and georeferencing. The ASU Biocollections are a strong proponent of sharing digital biodiversity data and support the full lifecycle of this information, from field collection and digitization to publication through its portals and broad dissemination through aggregators such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
For more than three decades, Arizona State University (ASU) has played a leading role in advancing biodiversity informatics through the development of collaborative infrastructure that supports the digitization, integration, and dissemination of natural history collections data. The Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet) was originally created to support a small network of collections across the southwestern United States. What began as a regional initiative to improve access to specimen data ultimately evolved into a broader vision for decentralized biodiversity data management and integration.
The original SEINet application served as the prototype for Symbiota, an open-source biodiversity content management platform that was developed at ASU and has since grown into one of the most widely adopted systems for managing and mobilizing biodiversity data. ASU has remained central to the platform’s continued evolution by hosting major Symbiota portals, supporting software development and providing technical leadership to the natural history collections community. Through this work, ASU has helped resource-limited institutions digitize and publish their collections while improving the visibility and accessibility of biodiversity data at regional, national and global scales.
Today, the ASU Biocollections continue to play a leadership role in shaping the future of biodiversity informatics through close collaboration with the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute, the Symbiota Support Hub, and the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON). Together, these partnerships are advancing software capabilities that better support the extended specimen concept, promote FAIR and CARE data principles, and facilitate compliance with international biodiversity data standards established by organizations such as Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Through sustained innovation, community engagement and coordinated cyberinfrastructure development, ASU and its partners continue to strengthen Symbiota as a transformative framework for decentralized biodiversity data mobilization and collaborative scientific infrastructure.
Endorsed by the American Bryological and Lichenological Society (ABLS), and guided by a Consortium Committee, ASU remains actively involved in the development and management of both the Consortium of Lichen Herbaria and the Consortium of Bryophyte Herbaria.
Both were among the first Symbiota biodiversity data portals ever created at ASU by Ed Gilbert and Robin Schroeder, under the direction of Thomas H. Nash and Corinna Gries. Initially focusing on biodiversity of lichens and bryophytes across North America, both are now part of the GLOBAL bryophytes and lichen network, with collections from all continents increasingly represented. Individual researchers and institutional collections are welcome to contribute in building taxon profiles, sharing specimen data and assembling biodiversity inventories.
At ASU we are actively developing taxonomic resources integrated into both portals (programming support by Mousa Shaya). The taxonomy of the Bryophyte Consortium follows Bryonames. Nomenclature requires fungal names to be registered in Index Fungorum, Mycobank, or Fungal Names and the taxonomic thesaurus of the Lichen Consortium includes identifiers from these repositories. Which names are considered accepted vs. treated as synonyms reflects the taxonomic opinion of the Consortium.
For the Lichen Consortium, ASU also maintains Consortium Help and Resources, with tutorials, workflows, and software (e.g., Mytabolites, a program for the analysis of lichen secondary metabolites developed by Daryl Lafferty). Integrated into the Lichen Consortium is a Glossary with definitions on terminology used in descriptions and identification keys.
Ecdysis provides online access to digitized specimen records from the ASU Insect Collections (ASUCOB, ASUHIC, ASULOB). Users can search collection data, view available specimen images, and explore geographic distributions. By making these records accessible, Ecdysis supports research, education, and discovery while connecting our collections with users around the world.
The Consortium of Vertebrate Collections is a growing network of research, academic, and museum institutions focused on the study of birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, and reptiles. It provides an online repository for digital specimen information for the ASU Vertebrate Collections (ASUHEC, ASUORC, ASUMAM, ASUFIC, ASUVTC). It is a collaborative venture of iDigBio and Arizona State University and provides a mechanism for network members to manage and share biodiversity data to scientists and the general public.
The National Ecological Observatory Network Biorepository Sample Portal advances biodiversity informatics by operationalizing the concept of “hyper-extended specimens.” By integrating physical specimens with genomic data, trait data, images, linked specimens, identifications, published references, and rich ecological context, we transform specimens into interconnected, data-rich research assets.
This is enabled through highly customized Symbiota infrastructure designed to curate and publish datasets structured around standardized, long-term, event-based collection protocols. In doing so, we are providing a highly valued dataset that informs emerging standards such as the Darwin Core Data Package and the Humboldt Extension for Ecological Inventories.
We are actively developing tools and protocols that capture event-based data at the point of collection, preserve explicit linkages among diverse data types, ensure interoperability across biodiversity data systems, and support seamless discovery, access, and reuse. In doing so, the National Ecological Observatory Network Biorepository provides both a model dataset and a scalable framework for natural history collections to adopt extended specimen practices.
Looking ahead, the ASU Biocollections are committed to maintaining leadership in biodiversity informatics through continued investment in data infrastructure, software, and personnel. Efforts will focus on building workflows that support next-generation biodiversity science, strengthening data standards and documentation, and improving data interoperability between systems.
Building on its strengths in collections and the National Ecological Observatory Network Biorepository, ASU will also contribute to emerging work on extended specimen data. This includes developing approaches that better connect specimens with their associated environmental, genetic, and analytical information, with the goal of making biodiversity data more accessible and useful for research.
