Regional Mountain Conference

Evidence-based decisions for biodiversity conservation in the Alps rely on a robust and high-quality data basis of verified biodiversity information. Online since 2019, the Biodiversity Atlas Austria (BDA; www.biodiversityatlas.at) provides public access to species occurrence data from and about Austria through a single web portal. Data are contributed by a wide range of providers, including museums, universities and other research institutes, NGOs, citizen scientists, protected area administrations, and environmental consultancies.

In addition to species occurrence data, the Atlas integrates further biodiversity, contextual and environmental information, such as conservation status of species, taxonomic data, administrative boundaries, climate data, and environmental variables, and interlink it. Besides data storage and dissemination, the Biodiversity Atlas Austria offers a comprehensive set of tools and services for scientists, practitioners, policymakers, and the public for research, analysis, and visualisation.

The BioCollect tool enables the management of biodiversity monitoring projects, while a geodata portal allows advanced spatial analyses of specific areas and species ecology (Spatial Portal). Furthermore, the recently developed Habitat tool allows visualisation of different habitat mappings and their specific classification and combines it with available species occurrence records. The Atlas follows the Darwin Core standard and publishes all data under Creative Commons licences.

Within the project ATIV-Biodat (BMBWF, 2023-2026), led by the University of Graz, an interoperable data infrastructure and standardized protocols for eDNA and metabarcoding data from Austrian universities were established. In the newly started FFG-funded project BiodiWa Metadata (2025-2028), the Atlas will be further expanded by a platform that makes all Austrian biodiversity and water-related data findable through a comprehensive metadata framework.