Project Details
Description
EMODNET (European Marine Observation and Data Network) ensures the access to marine data according to international standards for researchers, governments and private companies. Many datasets are limited in size in space and time and data are often fragmented into small datasets for certain species groups or habitats. In the fifth phase of the EMODNET process, the development and maintenance of the web portal was continued, datasets were added and a strong focus was placed on creating exchangeable data products tailored to various stakeholders. The (money-saving) principle "collect once and use many times" is followed. As a Belgian partner in EMODNET biology, ILVO contributed with ecological data on the Belgian part of the North Sea, which became available for consultation and data mining by third parties.
Research approach
The development of the data portal is coordinated by the Flemish Marine Institute (VLIZ). ILVO is involved in work packages 2 and 4 of the Emodnet-V project. ILVO has monitoring data on the benthos, epibenthos and demersal fish fauna since 1978. The optimized biodiversity data (taxonomic and now also genetic) about the Belgian part of the North Sea were further made available on the EMODNET portal. ILVOs own data storage structures (Smartfish) were further expanded to be able to carry out the process from data collection to data extraction in an efficient and high-quality manner. By organizing workshops with stakeholders (e.g. regional conventions and other EU projects), ILVO was able to encourage the use of the EMODNET portal and its derived products.
Relevance/Valorisation
Marine biodiversity data are essential to monitor the health of the ecosystem in maritime areas, such as the North Sea or the Baltic Sea. The fragmentation of marine data (per institute, country, etc.) makes it difficult to make evaluations on a larger scale. An overarching data portal with biological (and other) data offers obvious added value for policy and research in accordance with European environmental guidelines to evaluate the health status of all marine ecosystems. The EMODNET-V project resulted in numerous new data products, including an extensive set of maps and graphs that show species distribution in time and space.
Acronym | EMODNET V |
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Status | Active |
Effective start/end date | 10/05/23 → 9/05/25 |
Links | https://emodnet.ec.europa.eu/en |
Data Management Plan flag for FRIS
- DMP not present