PESI - a taxonomic backbone for Europe.
BACKGROUND
Reliable taxonomy underpins communication in all of biology, not least nature conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem resources. The flexibility of taxonomic interpretations, however, presents a serious challenge for end-users of taxonomic concepts. Users need standardised and continuously harmonised taxonomic reference systems, as well as high-quality and complete taxonomic data sets, but these are generally lacking for non-specialists. The solution is in dynamic, expertly curated web-based taxonomic tools. The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) worked to solve this key issue by providing a taxonomic e-infrastructure for Europe. It strengthened the relevant social (expertise) and information (standards, data and technical) capacities of five major community networks on taxonomic indexing in Europe, which is essential for proper biodiversity assessment and monitoring activities. The key objectives of PESI were: 1) standardisation in taxonomic reference systems, 2) enhancement of the quality and completeness of taxonomic data sets and 3) creation of integrated access to taxonomic information.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper describes the results of PESI and its future prospects, including the involvement in major European biodiversity informatics initiatives and programs.
University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands ; University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland ; Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium ; Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Yde
Y
de Jong
University of Amsterdam - Faculty of Science, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Juliana
J
Kouwenberg
University of Oslo - Natural History Museum, Oslo, Norway.
Louis
L
Boumans
The Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Charles
C
Hussey
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
Roger
R
Hyam
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, United Kingdom.
Nicola
N
Nicolson
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, United Kingdom.
Paul
P
Kirk
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, United Kingdom.
Alan
A
Paton
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Ellinor
E
Michel
AlgaeBase c/o Ryan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
Michael D
MD
Guiry
Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Phillip S
PS
Boegh
Zoological Museum Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Henrik Ærenlund
HÆ
Pedersen
Zoological Museum Copenhagen, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Henrik
H
Enghoff
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Eckhard
E
von Raab-Straube
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Anton
A
Güntsch
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Marc
M
Geoffroy
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Andreas
A
Müller
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Andreas
A
Kohlbecker
Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Walter
W
Berendsohn
OBIS, Oostende, Belgium.
Ward
W
Appeltans
Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Heraklion, Greece.
Christos
C
Arvanitidis
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium.
Bart
B
Vanhoorne
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium.
Joram
J
Declerck
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium.
Leen
L
Vandepitte
Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ), Oostende, Belgium.
Francisco
F
Hernandez
Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC), Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Galway, Ireland ; Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.
Róisín
R
Nash
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand ; Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd, Dublin, Ireland.
Mark John
MJ
Costello
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.
David
D
Ouvrard
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
Pascale
P
Bezard-Falgas
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Département Systématique & Evolution, UMR 7205 MNHN-CNRS-UPMC-EPHE, (ISyEB), Paris, France.
Thierry
T
Bourgoin
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Florian Tobias
FT
Wetzel
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Falko
F
Glöckler
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Günther
G
Korb
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Caroline
C
Ring
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Gregor
G
Hagedorn
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Berlin, Germany.
Christoph
C
Häuser
Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.
Nihat
N
Aktaç
Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey.
Ahmet
A
Asan
myNature Association, Timișoara, Romania.
Adorian
A
Ardelean
CE3C - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes / Azorean Biodiversity Group and Universidade dos Açores, Angra do Heroísmo, Azores, Portugal.
Paulo Alexandre Vieira
PA
Borges
University of Shkodra, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Shkodra, Albania.
Dhimiter
D
Dhora
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, Institute of Zoology, Yerevan, Armenia.
Hasmik
H
Khachatryan
Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Biologiezentrum, Linz, Austria.
Michael
M
Malicky
Institute of Zoology, Baku, Azerbaijan.
Shaig
S
Ibrahimov
United Institute of Informatics Problems,  National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Minsk, Belarus.
Alexander
A
Tuzikov
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
Aaike
A
De Wever
Institute of Oceanology, Varna, Bulgaria.
Snejana
S
Moncheva
National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Nikolai
N
Spassov
Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.
Karel
K
Chobot
National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Alexi
A
Popov
State Institute for Nature Protection, Zagreb, Croatia.
Igor
I
Boršić
University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus.
Spyros
S
Sfenthourakis
University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.
Urmas
U
Kõljalg
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Pertti
P
Uotila
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France.
Gargominy
G
Olivier
University of Sciences and Technology of Lille, Lille, France.
Jean-Claude
JC
Dauvin
Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
David
D
Tarkhnishvili
Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Tbilisi, Georgia.
Giorgi
G
Chaladze
Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt, Germany.
Michael
M
Tuerkay
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Anastasios
A
Legakis
Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Hungary.
László
L
Peregovits
Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Gudmundur
G
Gudmundsson
Icelandic Institute of Natural History, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Erling
E
Ólafsson
National Biodiversity Data Center, Waterford, Ireland.
Liam
L
Lysaght
National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, Israel.
Bella Sarah
BS
Galil
University Palermo, Botanical Garden and Herbarium Mediterraneum, Palermo, Italy.
Francesco M
FM
Raimondo
University Palermo, Botanical Garden and Herbarium Mediterraneum, Palermo, Italy.
Gianniantonio
G
Domina
University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Fabio
F
Stoch
University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Alessandro
A
Minelli
University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia.
Voldermars
V
Spungis
Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania.
Eduardas
E
Budrys
Klaipeda University, Klaipeda, Lithuania.
Sergej
S
Olenin
Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Armand
A
Turpel
Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Tania
T
Walisch
Macedonian Museum of Natural History, Skopje, Macedonia.
Vladimir
V
Krpach
Malta Environment & Planning Authority, Floriana, Malta.
Marie Therese
MT
Gambin
Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Chişinău, Moldova.
Laurentia
L
Ungureanu
Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Podgorica, Montenegro.
Gordan
G
Karaman
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Roy M J C
RM
Kleukers
NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Elisabeth
E
Stur
NTNU University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
Kaare
K
Aagaard
Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (Artsdatabanken), Trondheim, Norway.
Nils
N
Valland
Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (Artsdatabanken), Trondheim, Norway.
Toril Loennechen
TL
Moen
Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
Wieslaw
W
Bogdanowicz
University of Warsaw, Faculty of Biology, Dept. of Ecology, Biological and Chemical Research Centre, Warsaw, Poland.
Piotr
P
Tykarski
Institute of Oceanology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland.
Jan Marcin
JM
Węsławski
Institute of Oceanology of Polish Academy of Sciences, Sopot, Poland.
Monika
M
Kędra
University of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal.
Antonio
A
M de Frias Martins
Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal, Madeira, Portugal.
António Domingos
AD
Abreu
Naturdata, Lisboa, Portugal.
Ricardo
R
Silva
Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia.
Sergei
S
Medvedev
Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg, Russia.
Alexander
A
Ryss
Centre for the Balkan Biodiversity Conservation, Novi Sad, Serbia.
Smiljka
S
Šimić
Institute of Botany, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia ; Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Praha, Czech Republic.
Karol
K
Marhold
Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia.
Eduard
E
Stloukal
Slovenian National Institute of Biology, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Davorin
D
Tome
Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (CSIC), Madrid, Spain.
Marian A
MA
Ramos
University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Benito
B
Valdés
University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
Francisco
F
Pina
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.
Sven
S
Kullander
Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anders
A
Telenius
Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Yves
Y
Gonseth
Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
Pascal
P
Tschudin
Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Oleksandra
O
Sergeyeva
Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas, Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Volodymyr
V
Vladymyrov
State Museum of Natural History, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine.
Volodymyr Bohdanovych
VB
Rizun
Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom.
Chris
C
Raper
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, Plymouth, United Kingdom.
Dan
D
Lear
National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria ; Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Pavel
P
Stoev
Pensoft Publishers, Sofia, Bulgaria ; Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Sofia, Bulgaria.
Lyubomir
L
Penev
CETAF c/o Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
Ana Casino
AC
Rubio
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
Thierry
T
Backeljau
University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland.
Hannu
H
Saarenmaa
Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, Netherlands.
Sandrine
S
Ulenberg
AlgaeBase; Authority File; EU-nomen; EUBON; Euro+Med PlantBase; European Register of Marine Species; European taxonomic backbone; Fauna Europaea; Global Names Architecture; INSPIRE; Index Fungorum; International Plant Names Index (IPNI); LifeWatch; Nomenclature; PESI; Taxonomic indexing; Taxonomy; ZooBank