Open Tree of Life

The tree of life links all biodiversity through a shared evolutionary history. This project will produce the first online, comprehensive first-draft tree of all 1.8 million named species, accessible to both the public and scientific communities. Assembly of the tree will incorporate previously-published results, with strong collaborations between computational and empirical biologists to develop, test and improve methods of data synthesis. This initial tree of life will not be static; instead, we will develop tools for scientists to update and revise the tree as new data come in. Early release of the tree and tools will motivate data sharing and facilitate ongoing synthesis of knowledge.

生命之树将所有生物多样性通过共同的进化历史紧密相连。本项目旨在构建首个全面且完整的在线生命之树初稿，涵盖已命名的180万种物种，旨在向公众和科学界开放。构建生命之树的过程中将融合已发表的研究成果，并依托计算生物学和实证生物学家之间的紧密合作，以开发、测试和优化数据综合方法。此生命之树的初始版本并非一成不变；相反，我们将开发工具，使得科学家能够随着新数据的到来对生命之树进行更新和修订。树的早期发布和工具的提供将激励数据共享，并促进知识的持续综合。