There has been a variety of biodiversity informatics platforms around the world. It is important to consolidate biodiversity information globally and serve it out to different users depending upon their needs. Global biodiversity data is skewed with data from developed countries in the temperate world constituting most the data and tropical lands with minimal data. For the Indian subcontinent, there are multiple platforms with varied aims, varied functions, and strengths. Data from a variety of biodiversity informatics platforms are aggregated globally. But at the grassroots level, sourcing and curation of the biodiversity information is done by a multitude of biodiversity informatics platforms.

Biodiversity Informatics Platforms can be broadly separated into two categories based on the scope of the platform. They are either specific, addressing a single taxonomic group or a single objective. Some of the platforms in this category are the e-bird, the mushroom observer, ifoundbutterflies, etc. These address a single taxonomic group and have been built and use interfaces specific to the group. There are other specific platforms that address a specific target group like the many crowdsourcing and citizen science platforms like the iNaturalist and iSpot. These platforms are vibrant and very successful in sourcing biodiversity data and contributing it to global biodiversity databases. There are other generalist biodiversity platforms like the Atlas of Living Australia, which have diverse information from a variety of taxa and with multiple modules and encompass the whole range of information to understand biodiversity.

The India Biodiversity Portal is an attempt to address biodiversity information needs of the Indian sub-continent. Driven by these needs, we have built a platform for crowdsourcing, aggregating and serving biodiversity information. It has an integrated set of modules: an observation module for citizen science; a map module for spatial information; a species pages module, with the goal of having one page for every species; a document module for published information; along with other accessories like a discussion module, and a groups infrastructure. The platform also powers the Bhutan Biodiversity Portal and the WIKWIO (Weed Identification and Knowledge in the Western Indian Ocean) portal.

The integrated multi-module architecture enables interactions and sharing information. However, the effort of adding modules and integrating them and the lack of single focus could be a disadvantage. We will discuss the pros and cons of single focus vs multi-focus and multi-module vs a single module approach to biodiversity informatics platforms with examples and experiences.