Net Life

IN a nutshell, it8217;s the final frontier of co-existence. Beyond the nutshell, it8217;s about as close a fanatical internet content prov...

IN a nutshell, it8217;s the final frontier of co-existence. Beyond the nutshell, it8217;s about as close a fanatical internet content provider can get to his ultimate fantasy. It has to be, when it means uploading details of each and everything in this country that runs, walks, crawls, slithers, buzzes, chirps, grows, pulsates. Put simply, it is a website that classifies lakhs of living organisms, giving people the option to know everything about the organisms, from their colloquial vernacular names to their molecular structure. It is even equipped with a search engine for easy navigation.

In a world shrinking in inverse proportion to the growth in knowledge, the National Chemical Laboratory8217;s NCL Centre for Biodiversity Informatics NCBI has taken it upon itself to collect, collate, analyse, predict, and disseminate knowledge about Indian biotic resources and its environs.

NCBI is fast emerging as India8217;s most well-known face in the global biodiversity informatics village, digitising almost two centuries of back-breaking, often unsung and individualistic work of Indian taxonomists.

And after three years of toil, Vishwas Chavan 038; Co 8212; the NCL scientists who have made it possible 8212; can afford to shed their self-deprecating demeanour. The website 8212; http://www.ncbi.org.in 8212; which went online with just one entry, now boasts of all 90,000 known species of Indian fauna, alone. The other sections of flora, fungi, viruses, microbes, threatened and invasive species and special ecosystems are equally represented.

THE result is spectacular. The effort behind it is equally so. Programme leader Dr Vishwas Chavan has been involved in collecting all of the data, a process that has taken years. His team includes Dr S Krishnan, head of the information division; Manisha Londhe who has developed most of the databases; Nilesh Rane with over seven years of experience in taxonomy; Aparna Watve who has played a key role in quality control and Jitendra Gaikwad who8217;s working on data visualisation and geo-referencing.

The team8217;s efforts have seen to it that the 8216;IndFauna8217; section is complete. This has also created a virtual pool of 8216;Taxon Editors8217; 8212; taxonomists who volunteer to authenticate and validate the data.

Says Chavan, 8216;8216;Ever since this project took wings, it has been a labourious process 8212; sourcing information from remote nooks of the country, poring over thousands of research papers, books, articles, contacting and convincing taxonomists to contribute their knowledge. Then comes the validation and authentication of data. One of our primary sources of information has been the Kolkata-based Zoological Survey of India ZSI.8217;8217;

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He adds: 8216;8216;While making this the number one site for taxonomists, researchers and students, the thrust has been on confidence building among the biodiversity community, so that they come forward and share their information without any fears over intellectual property rights IPR.

8216;8216;There is knowledge locked in cupboards, gathering dust, all over this country. This project is about opening those cupboards and establishing an internationally interoperable single window to biodiversity informatics; to build tools that would facilitate this dream.8217;8217;

India8217;s headcount

FAUNA
8226; Known species: 90,000
8226; Scientific names: 90,249
8226; Synonyms: 48,707
8226; Common names: 15,139
8226; Localities: 6,245
FLORA
8226; Known species: 45,000
8226; Scientific Names: 15,402
34 per cent of known
Indian flora
8226; Synonyms: 6,878
8226; Common names: 64,257
8226; Localities: 206
Records required for a complet count:
29,598
FUNGI
8226; Known species: 78,000
8226; Scientific names: 8,236 10 per cent of known Indian fungi
8226; Synonyms: 1,399
8226; Common names: 26
8226; Localities: 576
Records required for a complete count: 69,764
INVASIVE SPECIES
8226; Animalia: 59; plants: 40; fungi: 5; monera: 0; virus: 0
SACRED GROVES
8226; Entries for Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu: 2,989

SO, who8217;s it for? According to Chavan, the website has hits from all over the US, Europe and Asia. 8216;8216;Seventy per cent of the total hits are from India 8212; mostly research organisations, NGOs, students, universities, colleges, parents, and nature lovers.8217;8217;

The website has filled a vacuum that many have keenly felt. Says Dr Hemant V Ghate, head of the zoology department at Pune8217;s Modern College: 8216;8216;Many important specimens, on the basis of which the animals are named, are in museums abroad, and we need detailed information on these. An attempt is being made to procure all this and float it on the Net.8217;8217;

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OTHER than developing tools, protocols and standards in the area of biodiversity informatics, Chavan has been placing greater emphasis in developing links with biological and ecological organisations and individuals, both locally and internationally.

These efforts, and the fame the NCBI has been gathering in international circles, saw a high-point when an Indo-US Joint Workshop on biodiversity informatics was held here recently. US delegates included representations from the US Geological Survey, the Houston Advanced Research Centre, the Smithsonian Institution, while Indian delegates were a literal smorgasbord of Indian institutes involved in this sphere of science.

In tandem with the global biodiversity informatics community, NCBI is looking at conservationists as well. Together they envision a future where ecosystems are mapped and ready online for developers, highway builders, and the agri-community to consult before embarking on projects. This eco-savvy approach could be the way everyone sees the world in the near future.