| 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. |
| Text | 377221 2017 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2017.10.014 Functional diversity; Phytoplankton trait; Thesaurus; SKOS; Sematic interoperability A thesaurus for phytoplankton trait based approaches Development and applicability Ilaria Rosati and Caterina Bergami and Elena Stanca and Leonilde Roselli and Paolo Tagliolato and Alessandro Oggioni and Nicola Fiore and Alessandra Pugnetti and Adriana Zingone and Angela Boggero and Alberto Basset LifeWatch Italy, Italy National Research Council, Institute of Agro environmental and Forest Biology CNR IBAF , Via Salaria Km 29,300, 00015 Monterotondo Stazione, Roma, Italy Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of the Salento, Prov.le Lecce Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy National Research Council, Institute of Marine Sciences CNR ISMAR , Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy Environmental Protection Agency of Puglia Region, Department of Lecce, via Miglietta 2, 73100 Lecce, Italy National Research Council, Institute for Electromagnetic Sensing of the Environment CNR IREA , Via Bassini, 15, 20133 Milano, Italy National Research Council, Institute of Marine Sciences CNR ISMAR , Arsenale Tesa 104, Castello 2737/F, 30122 Venezia, Italy Department of Integrative Marine Ecology, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy National Research Council, Institute of Ecosystem Study CNR ISE , Largo Tonolli 50/52, I 28922 Verbania Pallanza, Italy 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. 42 Published version https //www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1574954117302182 _rdoc=1 _fmt=high _origin=gateway _docanchor= md5=b8429449ccfc9c30159a5f9aeaa92ffb A thesaurus for phytoplankton trait based approaches Development and applicability rosati.pdf Articolo in rivista Elsevier 1574 9541 Ecological informatics Print Ecological informatics Print Ecological informatics. Print caterina.bergami BERGAMI CATERINA paolo.tagliolatoacquavivadar TAGLIOLATO ACQUAVIVA D AR PAOLO angela.boggero BOGGERO ANGELA alessandro.oggioni OGGIONI ALESSANDRO ilaria.rosati ROSATI ILARIA alessandra.pugnetti PUGNETTI ALESSANDRA DTA.AD002.074.003 LIFEWATCH ISMAR |
