AFD/APC Service
This is a DRAFT – please send us your comments and suggestions.
Management of biodiversity data depends on the existence of an authoritative taxonomic framework to which any data item including a scientific name can be related. The ideal taxonomic framework would contain all published scientific names, all common names, an up-to-date classification based on the best available taxonomy and indicating whether each name is accepted as the current name for a species or considered to be some kind of synonym, and a set of mappings between this classification and other checklists of importance to the community (e.g. classifications used in state floras, red lists, CITES lists).
There is no online source including all of this information. Indeed relevant information is scattered through 250 years of printed literature. However the ALA will be able to manage the vast majority of available data by making use of the Australian Plant Census (APC) and the Australian Faunal Directory (AFD) as the most complete and current taxonomic checklists for Australian plant and animal species. Neither of these resources includes all relevant taxa, but work continues through ABRS and CHAH to address the gaps. In the mean time, the ALA expects to make use of other resources to help to organise data on the remaining species (see Taxonomic Services).
ABRS and the Australian National Botanic Garden have been funding the development of online web services to make the AFD and APC accessible to web users, including the ALA. The ALA will provide funds to help to bring these services online.
It is subsequently expected that both AFD and APC will serve as sources of a wide range of additional species information to the ALA.
