The urgent need for comprehensive biodiversity data is driven by rapid biodiversity loss due to human activity. Drawing on insights from established national biodiversity data infrastructures in Europe, this article highlights eight key considerations for strengthening national data infrastructures-particularly in enhancing stakeholder engagement through improved data availability and accessibility. We emphasize the importance of collaboration among diverse stakeholders to enhance data sharing and integration. By utilizing technological advancements, implementing international standards for data interoperability under FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) conditions, establishing robust communication strategies, and providing necessary training and legal guidance, these infrastructures can support effective data mobilization. Furthermore, promoting a culture of collaboration among stakeholders enhances the quality and applicability of biodiversity data for scientific research, policy, and conservation efforts. Our recommendations aim to ensure that national biodiversity data infrastructures effectively contribute to achieving the UN Global Biodiversity Framework targets and Sustainable Development Goals by encouraging strong partnerships and efficient data management practices.

Today, at the international level, powerful data portals are available to biodiversity researchers and policymakers, offering increasingly robust computing and network capacities and capable data services for internationally agreed-on standards. These accelerate individual and complex workflows to map data-driven research processes or even to make them possible for the first time. At the national level, however, and alongside these international developments, national infrastructures are needed to take on tasks that cannot be easily funded or addressed internationally. To avoid gaps, as well as redundancies in the research landscape, national tasks and responsibilities must be clearly defined to align efforts with core priorities. In the present article, we outline 10 essential functions of national biodiversity data infrastructures. They serve as key providers, facilitators, mediators, and platforms for effective biodiversity data management, integration, and analysis that require national efforts to foster biodiversity science, policy, and practice.

NFDI4Biodiversity is a consortium within the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) dedicated to data and services for biodiversity research and ecology. In the domain, well-developed international networks exist, with quite mature tools and data standards. These are used and disseminated in the NFDI4Biodiversity project in order to mobilise and publish data collected by national stakeholders according to the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship.The consortium partners provide methods and tools for archiving, publishing, searching and analysing data that are suitable for everyday use and have been tried and tested in practice. The consortium also functions as a forum for technical and legal matters of data and data-related workflows. In this way, the consortium is providing added value to the community regarding access to modern technologies and a comprehensive stock of biodiversity and environmental data.

The concept of a "Research Data Commons" (RDC) established itself as an infrastructure ecosystem for science based on open standards and federated resources to facilitate the sharing of research data and services. The consortia of the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) have identified the collaborative provisioning of resources and services to be of key importance for a functioning and efficient RDC and are leveraging different corresponding measures to establish a sustainable concept in line with international developments.

A multidisciplinary use-case for integrating research data involves data, software and methods across research disciplines to address research questions that cannot be effectively addressed by a single discipline or method alone. They thus contribute to NFDI’s goal to make a significant contribution to answering novel interdisciplinary research questions. This paper presents some examples for multidisciplinary use-cases that illustrate that, in order to reap the added benefits of these use-cases, some effort is required. The paper concludes by proposing some cornerstones for handling multidisciplinary use-cases.

NFDI4Biodiversity is a consortium within the German National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) dedicated to data and services for biodiversity research and ecology. In the domain, well-developed international networks exist, with quite mature tools and data standards. These are used and disseminated in the NFDI4Biodiversity project in order to mobilise and publish data collected by national stakeholders according to the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship.The consortium partners provide methods and tools for archiving, publishing, searching and analysing data that are suitable for everyday use and have been tried and tested in practice. The consortium also functions as a forum for technical and legal matters of data and data-related workflows. In this way, the consortium is providing added value to the community regarding access to modern technologies and a comprehensive stock of biodiversity and environmental data.

A multidisciplinary use-case for integrating research data involves data, software and methods across research disciplines to address research questions that cannot be effectively addressed by a single discipline or method alone. They thus contribute to NFDI’s goal to make a significant contribution to answering novel interdisciplinary research questions. This paper presents some examples for multidisciplinary use-cases that illustrate that, in order to reap the added benefits of these use-cases, some effort is required. The paper concludes by proposing some cornerstones for handling multidisciplinary use-cases.

Modern digital scientific workflows - often implying Big Data challenges - require data infrastructures and innovative data science methods across disciplines and technologies. Diverse activities within and outside HGF deal with these challenges, on all levels. The series of Data Science Symposia fosters knowledge exchange and collaboration in the Earth and Environment research community. We invited contributions to the overarching topics of data management, data science and data infrastructures. The series of Data Science Symposia is a joint initiative by the three Helmholtz Centers HZG, AWI and GEOMAR Organization: Hela Mehrtens and Daniela Henkel (GEOMAR)

NFDI4BioDiversity ist ein Konsortium innerhalb der Nationalen Forschungsdateninfrastruktur (NFDI) mit einem Schwerpunkt auf Services fur die Biodiversitatsforschung und Okologie. Unzahlige Studien belegen den Ruckgang der Biodiversitat auf unserem Planeten. Drangende Fragen in diesem Zusammenhang sind unter anderem welche Auswirkungen der Ruckgang der Biodiversitat auf die betroffenen Okosysteme hat und welche (anthropogenen) Einflusse die Biodiversitat reduzieren oder fordern. Um die komplexen Zusammenhange zu verstehen und daraus Handlungsempfehlungen abzuleiten, werden vielfaltige, qualitatsgesicherte und FAIRe[1] Daten benotigt. Diese umfassen das Vorkommen von Pflanzen, Tieren und Mikroorganismen, einschlieslich ihrer genotypischen, phanotypischen und funktionalen Vielfalt, sowie deren Zusammenspiel in Populationen und Okosystemen. In NFDI4BioDiversity haben sich 49 Partner aus Wissenschaft, Behorden und Burgerwissenschaften zusammengeschlossen, um die Mobilisierung und Publikation vorhandener Daten voranzutreiben, effiziente Workflows zu entwickeln und Tools und Services zur Unterstutzung von Analysen bereitzustellen. [1] FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable, aus: Wilkinson, Mark D., et al. „The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship”, Scientific Data 3:160018 (March 2016), doi: 10.1038/sdata.2016.18