CRITTERBASE, a science-driven data warehouse for marine biota

Data on marine biota exist in many formats and sources, such as published literature, data repositories,
and unpublished material. Due to this heterogeneity, information is difficult to find, access and
combine, severely impeding its reuse for further scientific analysis and its long-term availability
for future generations. To address this challenge, we present CRITTERBASE, a publicly accessible
data warehouse and interactive portal that currently hosts quality-controlled and taxonomically
standardized presence/absence, abundance, and biomass data for 18,644 samples and 3,664 benthic
taxa (2,824 of which at species level). These samples were collected by grabs, underwater imaging or
trawls in Arctic, North Sea and Antarctic regions between the years 1800 and 2014. Data were collated
from literature, unpublished data, own research and online repositories. All metadata and links to
primary sources are included. We envision CRITTERBASE becoming a valuable and continuously
expanding tool for a wide range of usages, such as studies of spatio-temporal biodiversity patterns,
impacts and risks of climate change or the evidence-based design of marine protection policies.