AbstractBiodiversity science and bioinformatics are two of the most important and active fields in today’s life sciences. Currently , biodiversity informatics , a new interacting direction of the two fields , has risen. Its de2 velopment will deepen the application of information technology in biodiversity studies. This paper introduces the major objectives and advances of biodiversity informatics as well as related key techniques , such as database interoperability and digital library. In addition , two prototype systems , i. e. , Species 2000 and GBIF are also introduced briefly and the URLs of other related systems are listed.