The geospatial aspect of biodiversity data is very prominent for research in ecology, biogeography, as well as for planning, conservation and management. Most use cases for biodiversity primary data involves the geospatial analysis of data using GIS tools. Therefore, facilitating the access of GIS users to primary data is an important task in fulfilling many user requirements for biodiversity information networks.

The best way to meet users demands is through the use of open standards like the ones being promoted by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC, http://www.opengeospatial.org/). OGC has been working in open standards for more than a decade and has created several widely deployed specifications, like WMS/WFS/WCS and GML. These efforts are creating an interoperable environment where "geodata" are consumed, analyzed, integrated and published in what is starting to be called the GeoWeb.

OGC and TDWG standards together can provide the building blocks for a "BiogeoWeb", where biodiversity data can be visualized and analyzed together with other "geodata" sources thanks to interface and semantic interoperability. This process has already been initiated by the TDWG Spatial Data Standards subgroup and it will gain force with the creation of an agreement between OGC and TDWG. The inclusion of TDWG standards in the OGC world will also guarantee further integration of our community in spatial initiatives, like GEOSS (http://www.earthobservations.org) or INSPIRE (http://www.ec-gis.org/inspire/), that have biodiversity data within their scope.

A description of how the different existing standards can be used in biodiversity informatics, together with practical results from the setup of SYNTHESYS (http://www.biocase.org/products/geo_services/core_gis/) project services will be presented in the context of a future Biogeography Spatial Data Infrastructure: “BiogeoSDI”.