摘要：Since the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, biodiversity has become an importanttopic for scientific research. Much of this research is focused on measuring and mapping the current stateof biodiversity, in terms of which species are present at which places and in which abundance, and makingextrapolations and future projections, that is, determining the trends. Biodiversity databases are crucialcomponents of these activities because they store information about biodiversity and make it digitallyavailable. Useful biodiversity databases require data that are reliable, standardized, and fit for up-scaling.This paper uses material from the EBONE-project (European Biodiversity Observation Network) toillustrate how biodiversity databases are constructed, how data are negotiated and scaled, and howbiodiversity is globalized. The findings show a continuous interplay between scientific ideals related toobjectivity and pragmatic considerations related to feasibility and data availability. Statistics was a crucialfeature of the discussions. It also proved to be the main device in up-scaling the data. The material presentedshows that biodiversity is approached in an abstract, quantitative, and technical way, disconnected fromthe species and habitats that make up biodiversity and the people involved in collecting the data. Globalizingbiodiversity involves decontextualization and standardization. This paper argues that while this is importantif the results of projects like EBONE are to be usable in different contexts, there is a risk involved as itmay lead to the alienation from the organizations and volunteers who collect the data upon which theseprojects rely
