Development of the Korea Marine Biodiversity Information System - Focus on the establishment of the Korea maine species inventory

Abstract

For an efficient management and utilization of marine biodiversity information, we made an attempt to develop the Korea Marine Biodiversity Information System (KoMBIS), building a species name inventory of Korea marine organisms. The inventory includes 17 organism groups: phytoplankton, zooplankton, algae and halophyte, sponges, cnidarians, rotifers, nematodes, bryozoans, brachiopods, molluscs, echiurans, annelids, arthropods, echinoderms, urochordates and fish. The species names were collected from 37 different references and reviewed for validity by taxonomists, which resulted in 9,798 valid names in addition to 1,845 synonyms. The Korea marine species inventory is the first one of this kind, for previous Korean species name inventories were mostly composed of terrestrial and freshwater organisms. KoMBIS, the information system developed, contains not only the species name but also information on morphological and ecological characteristics such as distribution, DNA barcode, and references. This system is convenient far the inputting of new data and servicing users through the internet, so that management and utilization of the biodiversity information is more efficient. Linking the DNA barcode data with species information provides an objective measure for identification of a species, which accommodates the recommendation of Consortium for the Barcode of Life, and makes the Korea marine biodiversity information compatible with international databases. Considering the frequent exchange of marine organisms internationally via ballast water and such issues as climate change, this information system will be useful in many areas of marine biodiversity.