Accessing biodiversity databases : a domain specific query language and a unifying data model

Species data are scattered among several databases and information systems. During the last years, considerable progresses have been made in developing on-line species databases. However, there is no single database that can claim to host, and make available in a seamless way, all the species data needed by the communities willing to have access to such typology of data. In this report we present a domain specific query language and a unifying data model for species data that characterise a mediator service specifically conceived to act as a single access point to the plethora of existing species databases.