SHORT COMMUNICATION ALGAEBASE:DOCUMENTING SEAWEED BIODIVERSITY IN IRELAND AND THE WORLD E. Nic Dhonncha and M.D. Guiry, M.R.I.A. E NicDhonncha (corresponding author, e-mail eilis nicdhonncha @seaweed ie)andM D Guiry, Department of BotanyandMartinRyan Institute, National University of Ireland, Galway,Republic of ireland INTRODUCTION AlgaeBase was set up in 1996, lntially as an attempt to list all of themanne algae reported from Ireland and Bntain, together with their common names By means of funding from the European Union for the European Register of Manne Species (part of the Manne Science and Technology (MAST) programme), the hst was extended to the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean in the penod 1998-2000 At the same time, lists of manne algae from all over the world were added in an attempt tomake the list as comprehensive as possible. It was made accessible on the Internet in 1998 and has remained open and free of charge since Recently, the database has been extended to include data on the distnbution of manne algae in Ireland. OPERATION OF THE DATABASE Currently, AlgaeBase probably contains in formation on more than eighty-five per cent of currently accepted names of manne macroalgae worldwide. The data included mainly concern taxonomy, nomenclature and distnbution and, predictably, are most complete for the North Atlantic and Mediterranean. No published attempt has been made to list the algae of the world since De Toni's Sylloge algarum, pubhshed privately between 1889 and 1924 (De Toni 1889) We plan to collate all of the information contained within AlgaeBase and eventually to publish, probably on CD ROM, a global list. Nomenclatural and taxonormc opimons may diverge widely, depending on interpretation of the various human conventions imposed on both disciplines. Unfortunately, the nomenclaturalists think that the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Greuter et a! 2000), if properly apphled, can lead to only one conclusion; on the other hand, molecular taxonomists consider that sequences of DNA base pairs can provide an absolute answer to taxonomic problems. The problem for the database compiler is that there are often disagreements in both fields that stem from different interpretations and have purely human causes We plan to include many other types of algae in AlgaeBase in the future, including freshwater algae and phytoplankton. The database wil also include pictures, common names, life-history information, uses and potential uses, methods of cultivation and harvesting, sustainable yields, regeneration times, ecological, conunercial and technological data, and a bibhography of relevant legislation As the information contained within the database becomes more extensive, it will become more useful to a wider audience, includlng universities, libranes, research centres, industry, government agencies, environmental organisations, museums, non-governmental organ isations and interested incdviduals. The database is currently searchable and available live via the Internet (http.//www. algaebase.org). At present, the Internet version is currently accessed about 10,000 times per month from all over the world, and we expect that this figure wil rnse as more information is made available and the database becomes more widely known. Subsets of the data from AlgaeBase are included in the European Register of Manne Species (ERMS) and in the Species 2000 database (http.//www species2000.org). MAST EUROPEAN REGISTER OF MARINE SPECIES AND SPECIES 2000 The ERMS project, funded by the European Union Manne Science and Technology (MAST) programme, ran from Apnl 1998 toMarch 2000 and involved participants from nine European countries A taxonomic list of manne species in Europe was produced and was linked with a blbhography of identification guides, a register of taxonoimc experts, a list of locations of collections of reference specimens and an information pack on European manne biodiversity All of the information on seaweeds and seagrasses contained BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT PROCEEDINGS O, THE RoYAL IRuSH ACADEMY, VOL 102B, No 3, 185-188 (2002) 0 ROYAL IRISHACADEMY 185 BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT in ERMS was sourced from AlgaeBase The paper version of ERMS was published in 2001 by the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Pans (Costello et al 2001) Species 2000 (http://www.species2000 org) is an ongoing project with the object of enumerating aRl known species of plants, animals, fungi and microbes on Earth as the baseline data set for studies...