Quite a long time has elapsed since you have heard first from us in March 2007, when we launched this initiative and announced the outline of the project in a first newsletter on this website. Basic information on the project and its background, a members’ list and a new literature section are available here.

Together with the IT developers of EDIT workpackage 5 we have been struggling hard during this time to fulfil a first bunch of our announcements. Finally, we are now in the position to launch a first prototype version of the Cichorieae Data Portal at http://wp6-cichorieae.e-taxonomy.eu/portal/. The data portal is based on a new data model developed by EDIT workpackage 5 and produces dynamic webpages on demand, displaying content that is extracted from the underlying database.

Of course, the difference between this prototype version and the anticipated aim still appears considerable. This is true both for functionality and design as well as for the amount of now visible data. However, this first prototype already shows some of the required functionalities.

As the ICN is a collaborative project, we would very much appreciate your comments, criticism and recommendations at this early stage, so that we can try to improve functionality and design of the portal according to the users’ needs.

Recommended taxa

The data available for display are still fragmentary, as you will notice. To explore the first functionalities of the data portal, we therefore recommend to have a look at the following exemplar taxa, which have more extensive datasets regarding descriptions, illustrations and synonymies.

Askellia nana

Cichorium intybus

Crepis aurea

Lactuca orientalis

Lactuca triquetra

Launaea arborescens

Launaea picridioides

Launaea rhynchocarpa

Podospermum purpureum

Soroseris gillii

Tragopogon pratensis

Like any taxon in the portal, these taxa are accessible either via the search field, or by browsing the taxon tree. Fully referenced synonymies are nearly complete for the subtribes Crepidinae, Lactucinae and Scorzonerinae and for many more taxa.

What has been done so far?

Data capture:

 -  Names, nomenclatural references and protologues:

Starting from the first import of regional data (Euro+Med Plantbase – Compositae [ed. W. Greuter 2005-2007] and Taraxacum, [ed. J. Kirschner, J. Štepánek & W. Greuter 2006-2007]), world-wide compilation of accepted names at genus and species rank is now complete for the tribe, with the exception of the genera Hieracium and Pilosella, which we have skipped entirely so far. For tackling these latter genera we are anticipating a feasible and systematically sound two-level-taxonomy solution, differentiating between a set of taxa relevant and manageable for a wide range of purposes and users, and a second set of taxa below the first one displaying the microcosmos of actual diversity. Compilation of further data first focussed on Crepidinae, Lactucinae and Scorzonerinae and we are continuing to add them for other subtribes. Many synonymies are still incomplete, but in many other cases you will find complete, critically checked compilations of synonyms as nowhere else available. Currently, the following ranks are accepted: subtribe, genus, section (only for Taraxacum), species and subspecies. About 3300 scanned protologues can be found in the portal, and we are continuously adding more, aiming at a complete collection of all Cichorieae protologues. The systematics of the tribe displayed in the taxon tree is based on the most recent molecular phylogeny of the tribe by Gemeinholzer & al., as is outlined in the forthcoming overview of the tribe (Kilian, Gemeinholzer & Lack in: Funk, Susanna, Stuessy & Bayer (ed.) 2009 [in press]: Systematics, Evolution, and Biogeography of the Compositae. IAPT, Vienna.

-  Descriptions, ecology and images:

We have started to integrate taxon descriptions and ecological information from the literature as well as a first small number of images, together with image-related data. For the time being, the most detailed morphological descriptions are taken from the literature and displayed in the portal. In a second step anticipated for somewhat later this year we are starting to replace them by new standardized descriptions generated with Delta Access.

- Distribution data:

Several thousand literature-referenced geographical data have been compiled from the literature, using the entities of TDWG level 4 as mapping units. However, this process is not yet complete and therefore, the resulting maps are fragmentary and to be seen as models, not as maps pretending to show the complete distribution of a taxon.

What is planned for the near future?

• Documenting the systematic concepts employed;
• Explaining the data standards used regarding references, abbreviations of authors, geographical data, etc. in greater detail on the starting pages of the portal;
• Building image galleries for each accepted taxon;
• Continuing to compile names, protologues, descriptions and geographical data;
• Standardizing the taxon descriptions;
• Providing a comprehensive glossary;
• Adding vernacular names and making them searchable.

How can you participate?

• Take a few minutes to explore the portal functionalities and let us know your comments;
• Contribution of images:
  We hope that you can help populating the galleries with your images, primarily of living plants, but also with all kinds of micromorphological images from SEM or light microscopy. Metadata for your images with appropriate crediting will be shown. An upload mechanism for your images is currently being developed; for the time being please contact us directly;
• Contribution of data:
  a regular, simple mechanism for uploading your data is still under construction. However, if you would like to see your data on the portal, contact us directly and we will certainly try to find a way to import and display them;
• Become a taxon editor / editorial board member:
  At this early stage of the portal development and for technical reasons, direct data editing is still restricted to the initial editors. However, as the project develops, specialists who would like to take the responsibility for their groups are most welcome to join the editorial board of the Cichorieae portal. Please let us know if you would like to adopt a group of taxa.

For any of the mentioned contributions you will be fully credited on the website.

The Berlin EDIT WP6 Cichorieae Team
(Norbert Kilian, Ralf Hand, Eckhard von Raab-Straube)

Within WP6, we are planing to build a web revision of a core of the Cichorieae, and to set the ground for the remainder by providing the basic data as well as providing the structure for continuous expansion and updating. At the BGBM Berlin-Dahlem we have been starting with the subtribes Crepidinae (c. 440 species, microspecies excluded) and Lactucinae (c. 230 species), while Scorzonera s.l. of the Scorzonerinae (c. 175 species) is co-centred in Bratislava (Slovakia) with the working group of Karol Marhold. The first results of this project will be available shortly, once the extant taxonomic data sets have been fully integrated (e.g. the taxonomic back-bone and distribution data for Europe and the Mediterranean from the Euro+Med Plantbase) and expanded.

We invite you to participate in building the International Cichorieae Network:

– By treating taxa of whatever rank in the web based taxonomic revision of the Cichorieae, worldwide or on a national or regional scale.
– By providing data (e.g. phylogenetic, distributional, regarding typification) and documents (e.g. illustrations, photos) that will be included in the above mentioned treatments.
– By building co-operative structures for the treatment of further subtribes or entities (e.g. Hieracium and Taraxacum).
– By giving bibliographical, nomenclatural and taxonomic advice, or acting as a referee for contributions to the web revision.
– By testing tools for the working platform on the web.

This project is meant to initiate the building of a large network of researchers working on Cichorieae. The project also aims to collect distributed data and to display them on the web. Beyond that it is intended to contribute to a fundamental change and improvement of the way taxonomic research is done world-wide. The International Cichorieae Network will make full use of the advantages that the web provides for taxonomists as well as for the public. The revisionary web-platform will make the taxonomic work process more efficient by enabling the taxonomist, to access scattered data from protologues and type images to phylogenetic, cytological, palynological and molecular data (to name only a few). The web platform will also benefit those without easy access to libraries and herbaria within larger institutions. As part of the working platform, a community tool (currently under construction) will facilitate communication and data exchange within the network.

We would be delighted to welcome your participation at any stage of the project. If you are interested in any kind of co-operation please do not hesitate to contact us and specify your interest. If you, for the time being, would appreciate just to be kept informed about the progress of the Cichorieae Group’s work, please inform us correspondingly.
Please find the preliminary concept of the web revision attached, as well as the background of the EDIT project that contains further detailed information. We will be happy to answer any further questions you might have concerning the project.

Please feel free to forward this letter to any of your colleagues who might be interested in this project.

The Berlin EDIT WP6 Cichorieae Team
(Norbert Kilian (co-ordinator), Birgit Gemeinholzer, Ralf Hand, Eckhard von Raab-Straube)

By initiating the International Cichorieae Network and providing a web revision platform for its participants, we want to encourage taxonomic specialists to present their different groups on ONE cyber platform. This will also allow for a combination of different types of data and characters, compiled by different methodological specialists, i.e. micromorphology, anatomy, cytology, phytochemistry, phylogeny, chorology, typification, nomenclature, etc. Setting links to already existing databases are as welcome as the contribution of new data. It is also envisaged to produce an ontology of descriptive terms to optimize communication.

We consider the following elements to be most important for the user interface, which is the Open Access web site presenting the results to the taxonomic community as well as to the general public.

(1) Taxa list and synonymies. – This will comprise:
- names of accepted taxa, full bibliographical citations, type information;
- a full list of synonyms;
- links to images of protologues and type illustrations;
- data on infrageneric classifications;
- data on hybrids and cultivars.

(2) Descriptions. – This involves:
- choosing a detailed (macro)morphological taxon description as basis, developing a standard description scheme for characters (applicable to the Cichorieae) and the grammatical structure of the character descriptions;
- information on the variability of taxa;
- harmonization of terminology;
- developing an ontology of descriptive terms by building a defined and illustrated glossary integrating alternative terms.

(3) References.
- all data will be comprehensive and referenced; allowing for the generation of full bibliographies for individual taxa.

(4) Identification keys.
- Implementation of illustrated multi-access keys.

(5) Additional data.
- micromorphology, anatomy;
- palynology (links to databases);
- cytology (links to databases);
- phytochemistry;
- phylogeny (links to, e.g., Tree Base);
- links to DNA sequence data (EMBL/GenBank accessions);
- specimen specific DNA data;
- chorology with occurrence and status information (preferably by maps),
- ecology;
- use and conservation (at least IUCN status);
- etymology and indigenous names (Unicode);
- illustrations (habit, details of flower heads, flowers, achenes [REM], photograph of a characteristic herbarium specimen as minimum standard).

As regards the working platform and its the IT requirements of the project, the following topics are currently under discussion:
- taxa database structure;
- requirements for multi-access keys with easy navigation;
- incorporation of additional data preferably by co-operation with existing database provid¬ers;
- a community tool solution for distributed working and communication;
- responsibilities, peer reviewing and the way of crediting any kind of contribution to the web based revision;
- data distribution and synchronization of data development.

For four years, a consortium of 26 organisations under the leadership of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN) Paris is working together on revolutionising the ways of doing and presenting taxonomy:

(1) by providing suitable tools for computing environments to make the production of taxonomic revisions more effective, EDIT aims at encouraging collaboration and co-operation of taxonomists across Europe and the globe to overcome the fragmentation of taxonomic research;

(2) by building taxonomic revisions directly on the web and providing an intelligent interface for the contributors and the users that takes advantage of the possibilities of the cyber-environment, EDIT aims at positioning taxonomy as the core and fundament of all biodiversity research.

Within the frame of EDIT Work Package 6, led by the Natural History Museum (NHM) London, we will devise a web-publication structure for revisionary taxonomy. This will be done for four different “exemplar groups” (Diptera p.p., Lepidoptera p.p., Palmae and Compositae tribe Cichorieae). The latter is co-ordinated by the EDIT WP6 Taxonomic Exemplar Group at the Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum (BGBM) Berlin-Dahlem.

The role of the “exemplar groups” is twofold:
(1) to assist in developing the web revision working platform and the user interface in close cooperation with the IT specialists of EDIT Work Package 5;
(2) to initiate, and act as a nucleus for, a specialist network, which uses the working plat¬form and its tools to produce taxonomic content and establishes an exemplary web revision.

The following topics need to be taken care of and are currently under investigation:
- solutions regarding desire and ability of institutions to hold and maintain their data;
- implications of parallel publications and problems with citation;
- the assignment of credit to data created as web content.