Deep underwater in the Gulf of Mexico, wiggling over grates of gasses, tiny worms called Hesiocaeca methanicola were recently discovered by US researchers. Though they live in only one spot in the gulf, soon the worms will also be found on the Web.
In fact, information about every known species will soon be found on the Web, thanks to a project called the Global Biological Information Facility conducted by the Megascience Forum, an arm of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Over the next few years, researchers hope to post extensive information on more than 1.5 million species currently known to walk, swim, wiggle, or otherwise inhabit the earth. The site, which will be open to all, will allow countries with limited resources to catalog their biodiversity. Scientists with the Megascience Forum hope countries will be better able to implement conservation projects when they are armed with a more complete understanding of the extent of their biodiversity.
The project, expected to cost US$300 million, is being designed as an extensive labyrinth linking scientific research papers and basic geographic information, as well as connections to troves of biology information already stored digitally at universities, institutions, museums, and zoos. This should be particularly helpful, say scientists at the Megascience Forum, because while many of the world's most endangered animals live in developing nations, much of the scientific research is locked in inaccessible libraries throughout the developed world.
The project, however, has a pitfall. Extensive information -- especially information on exactly where rare species are located -- could be used by Web-savvy animal poachers as a road map.
"While it's important that people who are concerned about the well-being of species populations know where they will be found, there is a large concern that poachers and developers that have an economic interest in rare species should not have access to this kind of information," says Eric Wingerter, a coordinator at the Grassroots Environmental Effectiveness Network in Washington, DC.
"It's a bit of a Catch 22: We can do more effective conservation with more accurate information, but there's people who are certainly not acting in the best interests with the same information."
