Towards a Post-Graduate Level Curriculum for Biodiversity Informatics. Perspectives from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Community.

Biodiversity informatics is a new and evolving field, requiring efforts to develop capacity and a curriculum for this field of science. The main objective was to summarise the level of activity and the efforts towards developing biodiversity informatics curricula, for work-based training and/or academic teaching at universities, taking place within the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) countries and its associated network. A survey approach was used to identify existing capacities and resources within the network.

Cold tolerance of the Antarctic nematodes Plectus murrayi and Scottnema lindsayae.

The cold tolerance of the Antarctic nematodes Scottnema lindsayae and Plectus murrayi was determined using material freshly isolated from the field. Both species could survive low temperatures but the survival of S. lindsayae was greater than that of P.

The ability of the Antarctic nematode Panagrolaimus davidi to survive intracellular freezing is dependent upon nutritional status.

The Antarctic nematode Panagrolaimus davidi is the best documented example of an animal surviving intracellular freezing and the only animal so far shown to survive such freezing throughout its tissues. However, a recent study found that after exposure to a freezing stress that produced intracellular freezing in a proportion of nematodes, the resulting survival levels could be explained if those nematodes that froze intracellularly had died. We have thus re-examined the survival of intracellular freezing in this nematode.