The Biologia Centrali-Americana

Additional information: Project documentation and prototypes may be viewed at http://www.sil.si.edu/BCAProject

Purpose of Initiative: This partnership's objective is to strengthen the international museum community’s computer-based management of large-scale data on the biodiversity of Central America. By computerizing comprehensive century-old data on flora and fauna contained in the Biologia Centrali-Americana (BCA), this initiative will establish a significant historical baseline against which researchers can better evaluate existing ecosystems, assess the impact of human activities and study the effects of invasive species. The initiative also links the historical data to contemporary work in conservation, sustainable development and scientific research. It will allow for mapping historic and contemporary species ranges to show changes over time. This initiative also establishes a model for similar museum-led efforts in other regions around the world.

Resources: The Smithsonian Institution has committed financial and technical resources to digitize the full text of the 58 biological volumes of the BCA, make them freely available, and begin to link them to other Smithsonian data sets. Partners are providing resources for converting other related data sets into digital formats in order to grant wide access to the database. The partnership is actively seeking additional resources to build links from the electronic version of the BCA to contemporary data sets.

Partners: Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum (London), Missouri Botanical Garden, National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity, Mexico (CONABIO), Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Costa Rica (INBio), American Museum of Natural History, Harvard University (Museum of Comparative Zoology), Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (UK), Museo Entomologico de Leon (Nicaragua), Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

Partnership Efforts to Date: Since its inception in 2002, the partnership has developed a concept paper, work plan and operational principles for data entry and linkage. The partnership has also produced technical specifications for computerizing the data and has begun digitizing the 58 biological volumes of the BCA. Working prototypes are being created to test the technical specifications and ensure a system that will satisfy a variety of users. The partners are working together via the web and will convene periodically in conjunction with the GBIF governing board meetings. Project documentation and prototypes may be viewed at http://www.sil.si.edu/BCAProject.

Primary Points of Contact: Smithsonian: Leonard Hirsch (1.202.357.4788, lhirsch@si.edu), Anna Weitzman (1.202.786.2602, weitzman.anna@nhmh.si.edu); Natural History Museum (London): Christopher Lyal (+44 207 942 5113, chcl@nhm.ac.uk)