Establishing Taxon Links Between the Nordic/Baltic Countries via Linked Open Data

While the technology behind Linked Open Data is relatively straightforward, establishing and managing links between identical taxon concepts in different databases is not. Machine-matching of similar or identical names is just a start. Not only do you need a checklist with stable identifiers tied to taxon concepts rather than names, you also need to engage taxonomic experts to identify problematic names and find a way to communicate taxonomic changes over time. In the end, this means a lot of time and money, and before you commit to such an investment you also need a plan for keeping things updated. However, once these links are established and additional trait standards agreed upon, the field is open for exchange of a multitude of species information. This process is illustrated with a Nordic/Baltic example, focusing on Dyntaxa, the Swedish Taxonomic Database, also housing the Icelandic checklist