The inventory of marine biodiversity of the Balearic Sea integrates information on the specific composition of various biocenoses, considering several taxonomic groups.

The inventory of marine biodiversity of the Balearic Sea integrates information on the specific composition of various biocenoses, considering several taxonomic groups.

This information is the result of 40 years of monitoring programmes and research campaigns carried out mainly by the IEO’s Oceanographic Centre of the Balearic Islands. The objective of the project was to determine the state of the marine biodiversity of the Balearic Sea based on all this available information, and to design and implement a Marine Biodiversity Information System (SIBM) that allows the integration of all the available information in a common georeferenced platform.

A first phase of the project consisted of collecting and structuring information from different documentary sources. The second phase focused on the conceptual and physical design of a Marine Biodiversity Information System (SIBM), which structures georeferenced information into different interrelated layers within the framework of a Geographic Information System. The main layers will include physical, topographic, and taxonomic aspects (phytoplankton, zooplankton, demersal shelf and slope species, coastal benthic species, species in reserves, and meso and epipelagic communities, among others).

In the third phase, a spatial data infrastructure of marine biodiversity of the Balearic Sea was developed, which offers interoperable geo-services according to the standards of the European Inspire Directive and would facilitate the consultation and visualization of marine biodiversity information of the Balearic Sea.

The proposed project contributes, in a relevant way, to good biodiversity management. The unification, structuring and dissemination of taxonomic information from the Balearic Sea will also have a synergistic effect on improving the quality of the work carried out and on an increase in scientific productivity, as it will integrate data from 2000 species.