BACKGROUND: Reliable taxonomy underpins communication in all of biology, not least nature conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem resources. The flexibility of taxonomic interpretations, however, presents a serious challenge for end-users of taxonomic concepts. Users need standardised and continuously harmonised taxonomic reference systems, as well as high-quality and complete taxonomic data sets, but these are generally lacking for non-specialists. The solution is in dynamic, expertly curated web-based taxonomic tools. The Pan-European Species-directories Infrastructure (PESI) worked to solve this key issue by providing a taxonomic e-infrastructure for Europe. It strengthened the relevant social (expertise) and information (standards, data and technical) capacities of five major community networks on taxonomic indexing in Europe, which is essential for proper biodiversity assessment and monitoring activities. The key objectives of PESI were: 1) standardisation in taxonomic reference systems, 2) enhancement of the quality and completeness of taxonomic data sets and 3) creation of integrated access to taxonomic information. NEW INFORMATION: This paper describes the results of PESI and its future prospects, including the involvement in major European biodiversity informatics initiatives and programs.

AlgaeBase c o Ryan Institute National University of Ireland Galway Ireland

Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin Dahlem Freie Universität Berlin Berlin Germany

CE3C Centre for Ecology Evolution and Environmental Changes Azorean Biodiversity Group and Universidade dos Açores Angra do Heroísmo Azores Portugal

Centre for the Balkan Biodiversity Conservation Novi Sad Serbia

Centre Suisse de Cartographie de la Faune Neuchâtel Switzerland

CETAF c o Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Brussels Belgium

Comenius University Bratislava Slovakia

Danish Meteorological Institute Copenhagen Denmark

Estação de Biologia Marinha do Funchal Madeira Portugal

Flanders Marine Institute Oostende Belgium

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research Heraklion Greece

Hungarian Natural History Museum Budapest Hungary

Icelandic Institute of Natural History Reykjavik Iceland

Ilia Chavchavadze State University Tbilisi Georgia

Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas Sevastopol Ukraine

Institute of Botany Slovak Academy of Sciences Bratislava Slovakia ; Department of Botany Faculty of Science Charles University Praha Czech Republic

Institute of Oceanology of Polish Academy of Sciences Sopot Poland

Institute of Oceanology Varna Bulgaria

Institute of Zoology Baku Azerbaijan

Institute of Zoology of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Chişinău Moldova

Klaipeda University Klaipeda Lithuania

Macedonian Museum of Natural History Skopje Macedonia

Malta Environment and Planning Authority Floriana Malta

Marine and Freshwater Research Centre Galway Ireland ; Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd Dublin Ireland

Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom Plymouth United Kingdom

Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts Podgorica Montenegro

Musée national d'histoire naturelle Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg

Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales Madrid Spain

Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland

Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany

Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle Département Systématique and Evolution UMR 7205 MNHN CNRS UPMC EPHE Paris France

Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle Paris France

myNature Association Timișoara Romania

National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Institute of Zoology Yerevan Armenia

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Athens Greece

National Biodiversity Data Center Waterford Ireland

National Institute of Oceanography Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research Haifa Israel

National Museum of Natural History Sofia Bulgaria

National Museum of Natural History Sofia Bulgaria ; Pensoft Publishers Sofia Bulgaria

Natural History Museum London United Kingdom

Naturalis Biodiversity Center Leiden Netherlands

Naturdata Lisboa Portugal

Nature Conservation Agency of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

Nature Research Centre Vilnius Lithuania

Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre Trondheim Norway

NTNU University Museum Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim Norway

Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum Biologiezentrum Linz Austria

OBIS Oostende Belgium

Pensoft Publishers Sofia Bulgaria ; Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research Sofia Bulgaria

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Brussels Belgium

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Edinburgh United Kingdom

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew London United Kingdom

Senckenberg Museum Frankfurt Germany

Slovenian National Institute of Biology Ljubljana Slovenia

State Institute for Nature Protection Zagreb Croatia

State Museum of Natural History National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Lviv Ukraine

Swedish Museum of Natural History Stockholm Sweden

The Natural History Museum London United Kingdom

Trakya University Edirne Turkey

United Institute of Informatics Problems National Academy of Sciences of Belarus Minsk Belarus

University of Amsterdam Faculty of Science Amsterdam Netherlands

University of Amsterdam Faculty of Science Amsterdam Netherlands ; University of Eastern Finland Joensuu Finland ; Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences Brussels Belgium ; Museum für Naturkunde Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science Berlin Germany

University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand ; Ecological Consultancy Services Ltd Dublin Ireland

University of Cyprus Nicosia Cyprus

University of Eastern Finland Joensuu Finland

University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

University of L'Aquila L'Aquila Italy

University of Latvia Riga Latvia

University of Oslo Natural History Museum Oslo Norway

University of Padova Padova Italy

University of Sciences and Technology of Lille Lille France

University of Seville Seville Spain

University of Shkodra Faculty of Natural Sciences Shkodra Albania

University of Tartu Tartu Estonia

University of the Azores Ponta Delgada Portugal

University of Warsaw Faculty of Biology Dept of Ecology Biological and Chemical Research Centre Warsaw Poland

University Palermo Botanical Garden and Herbarium Mediterraneum Palermo Italy

Zoological Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences St Petersburg Russia

Zoological Museum Copenhagen University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

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