The Biodiversity and Climate Change Virtual Laboratory: Where ecology meets big data

Willow Hallgren*, Linda Beaumont, Andrew Bowness, Lynda Chambers, Erin Graham, Hamish Holewa, Shawn Laffan, Brendan Mackey, Henry Nix, Jeff Price, Jeremy Vanderwal, Rachel Warren, Gerhard Weis

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    76 Citations (Scopus)
    100 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    Advances in computing power and infrastructure, increases in the number and size of ecological and environmental datasets, and the number and type of data collection methods, are revolutionizing the field of Ecology. To integrate these advances, virtual laboratories offer a unique tool to facilitate, expedite, and accelerate research into the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. We introduce the uniquely cloud-based Biodiversity and Climate Change Virtual Laboratory (BCCVL), which provides access to numerous species distribution modelling tools; a large and growing collection of biological, climate, and other environmental datasets; and a variety of experiment types to conduct research into the impact of climate change on biodiversity.Users can upload and share datasets, potentially increasing collaboration, cross-fertilisation of ideas, and innovation among the user community. Feedback confirms that the BCCVL's goals of lowering the technical requirements for species distribution modelling, and reducing time spent on such research, are being met.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)182-186
    Number of pages5
    JournalEnvironmental Modelling and Software
    Volume76
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2016

    Bibliographical note

    Copyright the Author(s) 2015. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

    Keywords

    • biodiversity
    • climate change
    • virtual Laboratory
    • species distribution modelling

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