GBIF Data Sharing
The izeltlabuak.hu website primarily focuses on arthropods found in Hungary. This entry also deals with Hungarian fauna.
About GBIF
GBIF - the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (Global Biodiversity Information Network) is an international organization whose goal is to make open access data about Earth's living organisms available to anyone, from anywhere.
GBIF brings together open access scientific data related to biological diversity managed by various institutions and organizations around the world. Through its information systems, it publishes them on its own portal in a searchable and reusable format.
izeltlabuak.hu data on GBIF.org
Sharing of Observation Data
izeltlabuak.hu has been collaborating with GBIF since July 2024. We share observation data and associated images with the organization, which are available in the dataset called izeltlabuak.hu species-level validated observations for scientific work and conservation decision-making.
Data queries are performed automatically on a weekly basis. The following observations are shared:
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validated or identified to species level
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which have a location specified
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whose owners have set a free license accepted by GBIF (CC0, CC-BY, or CC-BY-NC)
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are not marked as uncertain in the identification
On izeltlabuak.hu, the owners of recorded observations and associated images are their authors, who recorded them, the copyright holders. The owner has the opportunity to set separate usage terms for their observations and associated images. We also share the associated images with the observations if their owner has set a free license accepted by GBIF (CC0, CC-BY, or CC-BY-NC).
For protected species, we do not share precise coordinates, only randomly generated ones within the given ETC grid.
For species that we consider protected in Hungary but were not recorded in Hungary, we left the coordinates empty.
For those who want to access the reports in Hungarian, we have good news. Snapshots of the current state are also available in Hungarian. The reports found here are available not only in aggregate but also grouped by higher taxonomic categories. The format in these cases is also Darwin Core.
izeltlabuak.hu data gallery view on gbif.org
Data Usage, DOI
To help with the use of observation data in scientific work, GBIF provides every dataset, including izeltlabuak.hu's, with a unique DOI, which you can find on the izeltlabuak.hu dataset page. Here you can also find a detailed guide on data usage and proper citation.
A DOI digital object identifier makes it possible to "permanently identify intellectual products on digital networks and access current data related to them."
izeltlabuak.hu data metrics on gbif.org
FAIR Principles
Both GBIF and the izeltlabuak.hu platform comply with FAIR principles.
Compliance with the principles ensures that the data have the following properties necessary for the usability of scientific publications:
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Findable
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Accessible
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Interoperable
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Reusable
Use of Standards
GBIF requires that we share data structured according to a standard used for biodiversity-related data and widely accepted (not "szender"). For this purpose, we chose Darwin Core. If someone wants to use the observation data sent by izeltlabuak.hu, they can either use what we sent to GBIF or choose from what GBIF generates from them.
The main purpose of using standards is to make them uniform. If someone works with them, they know what to expect. They can gain experience with them and if necessary, look up the meaning of detailed specific attributes. In addition, to avoid various errors and shortcomings, data correctness can be checked with a validator.
izeltlabuak.hu observation data on the GBIF map
Position of izeltlabuak.hu Observation Data Among International Data
At the time of writing this guide on September 29, 2025, izeltlabuak.hu species-level validated observations contain 419,586 observation data points, of which 404,685 are from Hungary. A total of 700,513 arthropod observations are published in Hungary, so we provide 58% of the available data. iNaturalist, GBIF's largest data provider, publishes 139,650 arthropod observation data for Hungary, so izeltlabuak.hu has nearly 3 times more. Let there be no misunderstanding - we consider iNaturalist not as a competitor but as a partner.
At the time of writing this guide, four datasets are available on GBIF where Hungary is the publishing country. After izeltlabuak.hu, the second dataset with the most observation data contains invertebrate observations collected by the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Mongolia with 107,580 observation data. The third was published by the Department of Hydrobiology of the University of Pécs with 25,935 observation data, presenting aquatic macroinvertebrates from southeastern Hungary. The fourth dataset contains no observations.
Summary
For the GBIF collaboration to be realized, several years of preparation and development were needed. The proper structure of usage terms management, the proper preparation of documents necessary for data sharing, and the implementation of the architecture necessary for automatic data updates and accessibility required careful research, planning, and development.
However, none of this could have been realized without you, enthusiastic users and data contributors, and the identifiers who selflessly shared their knowledge with others! You are fantastic, thank you very much for your persistence and commitment! Let's continue to strengthen free knowledge sharing together!
