Abstract
Environmental crisis challenges human race harder than ever before.
Ecologists have produced a massive amount of data to cope with the
crisis. Accordingly, so many ecological data platforms have been
developed worldwide to manage and analyze these datasets. However, in
Korea, ecological datasets produced by different research institutes for
different purposes have not been integrated or serviced due to the lack
of a well-designed information infrastructure. To address this obstacle,
we present EcoBank (www.nie-ecobank.kr), an open, web-based ecological
data platform designed to play an important role in ecological
informatics in Korea. The architecture of EcoBank comprises core
technologies of WebGIS, Application Programming Interface (API),
responsive web, and open-source software (OSS). EcoBank has three
conceptual modules: data management, analysis, and service. Diverse
stakeholders of EcoBank can be classified into three groups:
researchers, policymakers, and public users. EcoBank aims to expand its
horizons through mutual communication between these stakeholders. As a
part of the progress, EcoBank began to broaden its network by linking to
other data platforms and repositories over the globe to find possible
solutions to ecological issues in Korea.
KEYWORDS: EcoBank, ecological data platform, responsive web, WebGIS,
diverse stakeholders
Introduction
The
ultimate goal of ecological studies is to understand and quantify
ecological associations in different spatiotemporal scales (Kissling et
al., 2012; Stephens et al., 2019). However, issues in ecology are
becoming complicated due to various and deleterious anthropogenic
effects such as land cover change, global warming, and environmental
pollution (Araújo & Rahbek, 2006; Borges et al., 2020; de Chazal &
Rounsevell, 2009; Parmar, Rawtani, & Agrawal, 2016). Thus, it is
important to secure accurate and up-to-date knowledge of the ecosystem.
Ecologists have collected data through various methods in different
fields of ecology to address complex environmental problems (H. W. Kim,
Hwang, Mu, Lee, & Choi, 2012; Lin, Feng, Liang, & Ren, 2013; Nadkarni,
1981; Y. M. Park, 1990; Thuiller, 2004). The world of big data has
arrived in ecology and other branches of the environmental sciences
(Farley, Dawson, Goring, & Williams, 2018) with increased quantity,
speed, and variety of data streams for ecological information (Hampton
et al., 2013; Xu, Zhang, Gao, Yang, & Shi, 2018). In the field of
ecological informatics, various ecological data platforms have been
developed worldwide with the aim to collect and manage ecological
information efficiently.
Although a few web-based platforms have been designed for biodiversity
conservation plans and biological resource management in Korea,
significant challenges in addressing ecological issues remain (Table 1,
Appendix 1). As there is no integrated platform for comprehensive
utilization and one-point access to ecological data, these data are
scattered throughout individual institutions, producing a particular
type of data without consistent format or retrieval capability (Youn,
2014). In Korea, existing platforms do not use standardized ecological
metadata for sharing or organizing ecological information. Additionally,
many platforms have difficulties in providing user-oriented data due to
the lack of open space and systems for quality control (i.e., BES-NET)
(Ruckelshaus et al., 2020).
New challenges for the management of ecological data require improved
interoperability, integration, and sharing (Frehner & Brändli, 2006).
An integrative and comprehensive data platform is strongly recommended
in Korea. To address this need, we present EcoBank in three sections
(background, architecture, and implementation) to show its extendible
framework for exploration, modeling, and analysis of distributed
ecological data in a Web-based environment. In the background section,
EcoBank’s developmental phases and core technologies are described. In
the architecture section, the conceptual design of EcoBank is described
and functions related to exchanging, sharing, and analyzing spatial data
through the internet are discussed. The following implementation section
describes functions and services mainly for target stakeholders. The
paper ends with main conclusions and an outlook for future directions.
Background – development process and core technologies
Development process
We developed EcoBank through three developmental process phases
(Appendix. 2). In the first phase (2014-2018), EcoBank development began
with information strategy planning which addressed long-term management
of its data, information, and knowledge. Target analysis was also
conducted with various internal and external expert groups to
investigate opportunities of EcoBank as an international platform in the
global market. Main system, including a web geographic information
system (WebGIS) and a policy support tool, was developed. Integration of
existing domestic databases into EcoBank began in this phase. In the
second phase (2019-2020), EcoBank was officially launched and widely
accepted by target stakeholders. EcoBank provides open API services for
application to any type of data platform. EcoBank has broadened its
connections to the East Asian region with various cooperative projects.
Additionally, EcoBank developers have suggested an ecological metadata
standard based on Data Catalog Vocabulary (DCAT). In the third phase
(2021~), EcoBank is expected to gain more advanced
functions and analysis tools in communication with its stakeholders.
International ecological data standards can be derived from its
experience and expertise in ecological data management.
Core technologies of EcoBank
In this section, core technologies including WebGIS, Open Source
Software (OSS), open API, and responsive web to operate EcoBank properly
and efficiently are briefly explained. In the next section, how these
technologies are integrated into EcoBank will be discussed.
Research
efforts of geographic information science community have been made
targeting an integration of ecological data (Frehner & Brändli,
2006). Considering the massive increase of internet use, traditional GIS
paradigm on spatial data handling from a single database has gradually
shifted toward a distributed GIS paradigm through physically distributed
database systems or geospatial services (Preston, Clayton, & Wells,
2003). Technology of web services and open standards has provided the
basis for distributed geoprocessing or distributed GIS. A step toward
distributed GIS is the establishment of so-called geoportals that offer
gateways to discover and access geographic web services (Maguire &
Longley, 2005). However, an examination of several existing geoportals
has shown that the available functionality is restricted to searching,
mapping, publishing, and limited querying of distributed geodata (Tait,
2005). A missing feature is the availability of comprehensive analysis
tools. WebGIS, also known as Web-based GIS or Internet GIS (Peng &
Tsou, 2003), provides additional means for spatial data analysis as an
alternative.
OSS is a type of computer software in which the source code is released
under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to
study, change, and distribute the software to anyone for any purpose
(Lakhani & Von Hippel, 2004; Steiniger & Hay, 2009). Almost all
software packages used in EcoBank are based on open-source.
API may be defined as “an interface designed to control the
functionality provided by the operating system or programming language
for use by applications” (Chen, Annadata, & Chan, 2009).
It
is an intermediary medium that helps our services use features and
programs provided by individual developers, businesses, and
organizations. If the user interface (UI) connects users and objects
(hardware or software) to be handled by users, the API connects the
program to another program. API is used in almost all ecological data
platforms worldwide (Frehner & Brändli, 2006; W. Michener et al., 2011;
Stephens et al., 2019), and also used in EcoBank.
Optimizing
any web-based information for various devices is no longer an option but
a necessity. Due to increasingly diverse smart devices, it is impossible
to provide an appropriate service to customers with a desktop-version
website alone. Responsive web design is a method to effectively enable
the use by various devices (Gardner, 2011). EcoBank takes advantage of
the Responsive web design. Layouts are instantly transformed to the best
design for many different web circumstances, such as mobile phones,
tablets, and desktops. It not only provides adjustable sizes for
webpages, but also optimizes components for their own operational
principles.
Integration of core technologies into EcoBank
All core technologies were successfully integrated into EcoBank. WebGIS
(Fig. 1) allows visualization of all spatial data (raster and vector)
from three input data sources: NIE, other environmental institutes in
Korea, and international platforms and repositories. WebGIS functions in
EcoBank are composed of Geoserver for mapping service, OpenLayers for
implementing map service, PostGIS for spatial operation and spatial
quarry, and PostgreSQL for managing and storing spatial data. The WebGIS
solution in EcoBank first collects various ecological information with
diverse file formats such as shape (SHP), coma separated values (CSV),
and text only (TXT), and loads them into PostgreSQL using PostGIS after
diagnosis, transformation, and processing to meet ecological spatial
data standard. These loaded spatial data are registered and issued in
GeoServer, and provided as a map service of the Ecobank using OpenLayers
technology. With this distributed GIS, EcoBank intends to have more
user-centered functions that will not only present processed results,
but also provide a chance to overlap data in EcoBank for its own
purpose.
Almost all software packages applied in EcoBank (Fig. 2) are based on
the open source architecture. For example, Red Hat Enterprise Linux is
mounted on a physical web server, a web application server, and a linked
server. The database server uses PostGIS, PostgreSQL, and Selenium a
suite of tools for automating web browsers. KoNLPy, a Phython package
for processing information in Korean language, is also applied in
EcoBank for web crawling. Other software packages for ETL, Web server
and GIS server, and Web Client are also OSS packages. EcoBank utilizes
generalized and OSS packages to eliminate its dependence on software
packages of specific companies and observes open standards.
Open API is also efficiently used in connecting and sharing data with
other platforms and repositories worldwide. EcoBank provides various
ecological spatial information in the form of Web Map Service (WMS) and
Web Feature Service (WFS). The WMS service allows one to use map images
with diverse formats such as Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint
Photographic Experts Group (JPG), and Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)
generated from geographic data. The WFS service makes it possible to
utilize geographic feature data with vector figures and attributes. To
use the OpenAPI of the EcoBank system, an authentication key is needed
for each layer to be used. It can be used immediately after obtaining
approval from the administrator. In addition, EcoBank supports the use
of OpenAPI more easily by providing sample codes of programming
languages such as Java, JavaScript, Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP), and
Python for the use of ecological spatial information. Through the API
service, EcoBank has already begun linking its data to the biggest data
repository in Korea’s public sector (Public Data Portal, www.data.go.kr)
without any extra processes. Data from EcoBank have been directly
transferred and embodied in a different framework. They continue to work
like its own data. API is a powerful tool for activating EcoBank’s
vision of facilitating data use in any other platform in the world.
Anyone interested in developing ecological applications using features
and datasets in EcoBank can freely utilize API services of EcoBank.
Responsive web design is also applied to EcoBank. The design concept in
the EcoBank website is grouping visual images, infographics, and
corresponding contents that can be perceived intuitively. The layout of
EcoBank’s main page has a vertical grid structure. A content group is
deployed according to access frequency of the user. The EcoBank layout
was optimized for 1600 px. In the meanwhile, the responsive web design
leads us to create a UI for accessibility from all devices by focusing
on aesthetics and convenience as much as possible.
Based on core technologies briefly explained above, EcoBank eliminates
dependencies and complies with open standards utilizing open-source
based, generalized, and open technologies. It guarantees
interoperability by providing standards that can be linked to commercial
solutions. EcoBank aims for national standardization. It can be replaced
by modularization of each service, enabling flexible responses to
changes and supporting convenient and diverse environments, such as
Eclipse-based modeling, editing, compilation, and debugging
environments.
Conceptual Architecture of EcoBank
In this section, the conceptual architecture of EcoBank is presented
(Fig. 3). One of primary goals of EcoBank is to function as the main
access point for data and data resources from the National Institute of
Ecology (NIE), domestic, and international databases (Table 2). NIE
itself already has a huge amount of heterogeneous datasets such as the
National Ecosystem Survey (NES), the Ecosystem and Nature Map (ENM), the
Intensive Ecological Survey (IES), the current status of invasive and
ecosystem-disturbing species, and results from the National Long-Term
Ecological Research projects. The NES, the largest survey project in
Korea, has been conducted by the Korean Ministry of Environment for the
mainland of South Korea since 1986. ENMs are graded (1 – 3 grades and
separate management areas) for the natural environment on the basis of
ecological and landscape values for mountains, rivers, inland wetlands,
lakes, farmland, and cities. The Korean Ministry of Environment
commissioned the NIE to conduct IES to scrutinize biodiversity in
national protected areas such as Ecosystem & Landscape Protection Areas
and specific areas including some islands and coastal sand dunes. These
datasets are sent to EcoBank after a rigorous quality control process.
EcoBank is exchanging ecological data with other environmental
institutes in Korea such as the National Institute of Biological
Research (NIBR) to support the implementation of national policies on
biological resources. EcoBank is also linked to a public data portal
(www.data.go.kr) which integrates
Korean government’s open data by providing access points on a web-based
platform. Thus, the link with PDP can give more opportunities for people
to access ecological data collected by NIE. EcoBank is using API
services provided by Vworld
(www.vworld.kr), an open platform
service on spatial information operated by Spatial Information Industry
Promotion Institute in Korea. Regarding areas in Korea, EcoBank can
promote GIS services due to higher resolution and more up-to-date
spatial information of Vworld maps compared to Google Maps.
EcoBank began to link with international platforms and repositories to
boost the participation of international stakeholders in finding
possible solutions of ecological issues in Korea. Ecological data from
Kasetsart University in Thailand and from Nong Lam University in Vietnam
were stored in EcoBank recently, and other repositories in Asian
countries and global data platforms such as GBIF will also be connected
in the near future. Data collected from these three routes will be
linked to the main server of EcoBank through WebGIS or open API. To
handle this diverse and complex stream of incoming data, EcoBank has
applied three separate modules (Fig. 3). Compositions and purpose of
each module are described in the following sections.
Data management module
Incoming datasets from the aforementioned three different routes arrive
first in a data management module. These datasets need to be organized
with standardized metadata for quality assurance and quality control.
Due to the absence of any ecological metadata standards in Korea to
manage domestic and foreign ecological data in an integrative way, we
proposed a metadata schema for managing and sharing ecological data with
Korean Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA). This schema will
be a useful standard for efficient data management and interoperability
both inside and outside ecological fields. Digital object identifiers
(DOI) will be firstly assigned to data produced from NIE’s research
projects. DOI enables permanent access, precise identification, and
reliable citation of data through EcoBank. DOI will be then assigned to
ecological data published by GEO DATA (geodata.kr), the first data
journal on earth science, ecology, ocean, aerospace, and polar research
in Korea.
Datasets managed by metadata and labeled by DOI in the management module
may also be analyzed statistically. Point-based ecological datasets such
as NES, invasive species, and living modified organisms will be linked
with spatial data including ENM, digital elevation, and land cover. They
can be used for statistical analysis.
Analysis module
Analysis module is implemented within EcoBank with visualized
statistical results and Web GIS-based analysis tools. Datasets after
passing through the quality control process in the management module are
used for analyzing biodiversity and modeling species distribution in the
Analysis module. Some data produced can be used to evaluate the ENM.
Basic ecological analyses on biodiversity, species distribution, and
population density can be performed with the collected information. In
addition, researchers can conduct species distribution modeling (SDM)
studies using EcoBank data with well-known SDM models such as MaxEnt,
the Generalized Additive Model (GAM), and Gap Analysis Program (GAP).
EcoBank enables a nationwide distribution of species occurrence points
to be checked. It also provides data on the ecological status of each
branch for each species. These biodiversity datasets can be used to
predict species distribution and habitat suitability.
Service module
EcoBank’s various services for its users are categorized into
data-sharing, public participation, and policy decision-making support.
Open data sharing occurs between citizens through various data boards
and Open API services. Furthermore, each open dataset that can be
identified by DOI is permanently citable and trackable for users.
EcoBank specifies multiple user groups to grant access to data
containing sensitive information such as endangered species, natural
reserves, and roadkill photos. These layered services meet needs and
usage objectives of various stakeholders in a data platform (Li, Li, Yu,
& Xie, 2010; W. K. Michener et al., 2012). To promote public
participation, EcoBank has built discussion boards for ecological topics
and uploaded species observation data. Currently, the NES research
project actively supports ecological expertise to improve the quality of
data collected by citizen scientists. Similarly, ecological experts can
broaden their ideas or insights regarding ecological issues by
discussing with citizens on EcoBank. Policymakers who have the same
interests can plan environmental policies by exchanging ecological
information through assigned EcoBank functions. Policy decision support
services include opening data produced from environmental policies to
the public and getting feedback from citizens.
Target users/stakeholders
A data platform may sound much superior if it has target users as many
as possible as it needs to encompass diverse stakeholder communities.
Thus, Michener et al. (2012) have proposed one primary stakeholder
(scientists), five science research environments including academia,
government, private industry, non-profit, and community, and over 20 end
secondary stakeholders. However, DataONE is mainly focused on
integrative biological and environmental research. Scientific research
is only a small portion of the direction of EcoBank. If we follow
similar approach of DataONE with a wide variety of stakeholders, it may
be too complicated and digressive. After consulting with data platform
experts, we have realized that it is necessary to start with certain
targets to kick off a new data platform. Thus, we have reached to a
decision to clarify target users into three groups: researchers,
policymakers, and public users. It is possible to include more target
users to meet needs of the market in the future.
Researchers
Professional researchers can find diverse data from various datasets in
EcoBank produced by many different research projects. It contains NES
data, Ecological Corridor data, Long-Term Ecological Research data, Bird
Window Collisions Data, and Wetlands Data in Korea. One advantage of
EcoBank is that all these datasets are integrated into one platform and
presented with spatial information, enabling further studies in many
broad dimensions. EcoBank also benefits researchers by offering analysis
tools on the website. Researchers can explore the data and
simultaneously analyze and generate results in a report. Except for data
of endangered species, all data searchable in EcoBank are freely
available to download and share.
Researchers may want to access data for a study species, learn about
methods, run analyses, and share results with colleagues.
With
species occurrence data provided by EcoBank, researchers can carry out
SDM studies, especially biodiversity changes influenced by climate
changes, land-use changes, and environmental pollution. Data on
ecological statuses can be downloaded and used for environmental impact
assessment. Thus, it is possible to check national distribution of
species occurrence points and download ecological status data for each
species in EcoBank. This information may be used to predict potential
species distribution and study habitat suitability.
Policymakers
Ecological research has to include the complex nature of disturbances
and stability. Results of such multidimensional approaches can inform
policymakers (Donohue et al., 2016). EcoBank also provides important
ecological information to support decision-making in a user-friendly
interface. EcoBank presents its data according to the administrative
district of Korea so that policymakers can access important ecological
information for the area of interest. Furthermore, the toolbar on the
EcoBank website provides easily accessible and extra layers of
information to instantly gain scientific support during a policy-making
process.
Ecological data with high credibility and accessibility are essential in
this process. EcoBank provides observation density information on target
species to facilitate the establishment of biodiversity conservation
areas and the development of processes to help national environmental
planning. EcoBank’s biodiversity-related indices include Shannon-Wiener
Biodiversity Index (E. C. Pielou, 1969), Dominance Index (McNaughton,
1967), Uniformity Index (E. Pielou, 1975), and Abundance Index
(Margalef, 1958). For more information on biodiversity-related indices
in EcoBank, see another article (Sung, Kwon, & Kim, 2018).
Public users
Public
users of EcoBank can be divided into three groups: students, business
owners, and citizen scientists. EcoBank is applicable as an educational
material. The curriculum for young students in Korea includes
environmental education. However, few online materials have been
developed for this subject. EcoBank allows free access to all ecological
data that can be utilized for any purpose. For example, teachers can
develop an educational program using ecological data to investigate the
environmental impact of human behaviors. Conversely, students can
generate creative ideas from data simulations in EcoBank.
For business owners, ecological issues and interests have led to the
formation of a commodity market in the ecological information field. The
related industry such as ecotourism has been largely expanded. However,
without an efficient sharing and management of ecological data and
information, time and resources are unavoidably wasted in a constant
manner. EcoBank can benefit business owners by saving time and money to
access data that they need through ENM.
EcoBank can promote citizen science within its function “Community.”
Citizen science may be defined as a scientific process conducted by many
citizens in cooperation with or under the guidance of professional
scientists or scientific institutions (Oxford English Dictionary, 2014).
EcoBank provides a stable repository for citizen scientists. It also
assures that citizen scientists can upload their findings under the
guidance of professional researchers at the NIE to maintain data quality
standards.
Citizen scientists have recorded their observations of the natural
world, including species distribution, phenology, and climate data for
centuries (Miller-Rushing, Primack, & Bonney, 2012). As ecological
research has grown into a relatively recent area of expertise, the
contribution of citizen scientists to ecology is obviously apparent in
history but easily overlooked. Researchers are currently reviewing
numerous datasets collected by non-experts to identify long-term changes
in the ecosystem. However, citizen science in Korea has remained very
limited with a relatively low level of civic participation compared to
that in European countries and the U.S. (J. H. Park, 2018). EcoBank may
play an integral role in developing citizen science in Korea. Citizen
scientists in Korea participating in any ecological data collection
project, for instance, may use EcoBank data as a reference before
conducting field studies.
Possible applications using EcoBank for stakeholders
We presented possible applications for each stakeholder. However, those
examples are not strictly limited to individual categories, but
integrative to each other. For example, researchers and policymakers
have raised the need to study the distribution of herptile (including
both reptile and amphibian) species with multi-scale (Fig. 4) regarding
ecosystem conservation. Studies have highlighted that the distribution
of herptile species can be the key to develop a universal ecological
integrity (EI) for evaluating the ecological health of aquatic and
terrestrial ecosystems (Ali, Javid, Hussain, & Bukhari, 2018). In
addition, research on detrimental effects of American bullfrog (Kang,
Koo, & Sung, 2019) has addressed the spatial distribution of this frog
species (Fig. 5). EcoBank is an excellent information source for this
purpose as it provides spatial information of diverse organisms
including herptiles with multi-scale from nationwide to smaller
administrative units in Korea (Fig. 4).
With ecotourism in the spotlight recently, Jeju Island where the tourism
industry accounts for more than a quarter of its total economic
production might highly depend on extraordinary ecosystems comprising
numerous rare, protected flora, and fauna (E.-M. Kim, Choi, & Kang,
2013). ENM gives land use status and improves our general understanding
of natural environments in Jeju island (Fig. 6(a)). By selecting areas
of high ecological value, it is possible to maintain and increase
ecosystem services and obtain economic benefits from natural asset use.
Therefore, ecological grade information in ENM can be utilized by
policymakers to prepare a land-use plan that regulates excessive
developments. Public users will be able to predict and plan for land-use
projects where development can be restricted in a similar way (Ahn et
al., 2015).
The use of airspace has caused spatial conflict between birds and
people. Bird collisions resulting from artificial structures are prime
examples of this issue. Thus, researchers need scientific data to
understand the status and annual mortality estimates of bird collision
which has been poorly understood in Korea (Seo, 2020). Records of bird
collisions can be retrieved from newspapers, verbal communication,
online forums, and blog posts. They are frequently collected by
citizens. These data can be analyzed to publish significant results
regarding risk factors and bird collisions patterns in scientific
journals (Basilio, Moreno, & Piratelli, 2020; Low, Yong, Tan, Owyong,
& Chia, 2017; Rebolo-Ifrán, di Virgilio, & Lambertucci, 2019).
Although the quality of data produced from citizen scientist has long
been a concern due to the lack of quality control process (Kosmala,
Wiggins, Swanson, & Simmons, 2016), Bird Window Collision data have
been successfully collected within a research project through EcoBank
(Fig. 6(b)). With increasing need for big data, such collaborative
projects are expected to deal with ongoing ecological problems.
Conclusions and future directions
In this article, we present EcoBank, an open‐accessible data platform
(http://nie-ecobank.kr) that is
sufficiently flexible, easy to operate, and user friendly to facilitate
different types of needs. It allows the exploration and incorporation of
ecological data and its subsequent integration into predictive models
for both potential ecological niches and geographic distribution. It
also provides online analyses that might be applied to develop various
environmental policies or may guide researchers to identify
relationships between different biota. EcoBank is constantly updating
latest ecological research data and improving user convenience functions
through mutual communications with stakeholders. Through its ongoing
development as an integrated international ecological information
system, EcoBank will deliver accumulated technology to countries without
any ecological information system. We will work closely with a cadre of
international data management groups and continuously establish
international links to ecological information. We hope that EcoBank will
become an avenue for international stakeholders to obtain ecological
information in Korea.