About This Biodiversity Reference

BioVeL is an independent science reference site covering biodiversity research, population ecology, conservation biology, and related fields. Content is intended for students, researchers, educators, and anyone with an interest in the science of life on Earth.

The BioVeL Name

BioVeL — Biodiversity Virtual e-Laboratory — was an EU FP7-funded research infrastructure project that ran from 2012 to 2015, coordinated by the Natural History Museum, London, with partners across fourteen European institutions. The project developed open-source scientific workflow tools — primarily built on the Taverna Workbench platform — to help ecologists automate data-intensive analyses such as ecological niche modelling (ENM) and species distribution modelling (SDM).

The original project concluded in 2015. This site is an independent biodiversity science reference that takes its name from that research history. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or a continuation of the EU research consortium. The workflow documentation published here covers ENM and SDM concepts in the spirit of the original project's educational mission, but does not host or reproduce the BioVeL portal, Taverna tools, or any consortium data.

What This Site Covers

Coverage focuses on five thematic areas: the types of biodiversity and how they are measured; the threats to biodiversity at global and regional scales; population ecology — the quantitative science of how populations change over time; biodiversity hotspots — the 36 regions where endemism and conservation urgency coincide; and research workflows, including ecological niche modelling and species distribution modelling techniques used by scientists to study and predict species occurrence.

Where specific data, classification systems, or frameworks are referenced, the sources are established scientific institutions: the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), IPBES (Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services), Conservation International, the IPCC, and primary literature in peer-reviewed ecology and conservation biology journals.

Scientific Standards

All content is written to reflect the scientific consensus as published in the peer-reviewed literature. Where active scientific debate exists — for example, over the precise number of endemic species in a given hotspot, or the relative contribution of different extinction drivers — the range of current estimates is reported rather than a single figure selected for simplicity. Scientific names are given alongside common names for species. Taxonomic conventions follow current usage in the relevant authoritative databases.

Scope and Limitations

BioVeL is an editorial reference, not a primary research database. It does not host original species occurrence records, genetic sequences, or replicate experimental data. For primary data, readers are directed to established open-access repositories: GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility) for occurrence records, the IUCN Red List API for conservation status, and NCBI GenBank for sequence data.

Coverage is in English. The primary geographic focus reflects the distribution of biodiversity research literature, which is weighted toward tropical and European ecosystems, but articles aim for global scope where data permit.

Contact and Feedback

Corrections, factual queries, and feedback can be submitted via the contact page. Errors or outdated scientific information will be corrected promptly.