Development of a freshwater biodiversity information system for evaluating long-term change in rivers in South Africa

This scientific article describes the design, development, and implementation of the Freshwater Biodiversity Information System (FBIS) — an open-access, online platform for serving, hosting, analysing, visualising and sharing freshwater biodiversity data in South Africa. The paper details the system architecture, data model, dashboard functionality, and the platform's role in supporting data-driven freshwater management and conservation decision-making. FBIS was developed by the Freshwater Research Centre in partnership with Kartoza and funded by the JRS Biodiversity Foundation.