scholarly journals The terrestrial mammals of Mozambique: Integrating dispersed biodiversity data

Bothalia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Q. Neves ◽  
Maria Da Luz Mathias ◽  
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Species Checklist ◽  
Baseline Information ◽  
Biodiversity Information

Background: The most comprehensive synopsis of the mammal fauna of Mozambique was published in 1976, listing 190 species of terrestrial mammals. Up-to-date knowledge of the country’s biodiversity is crucial to establish the baseline information needed for conservation and management actions.Objectives: The aim of this article was to present a list of terrestrial mammal species reported from Mozambique, based on primary occurrence data.Method: We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of biodiversity data: the Global Biodiversity Information Facility portal, natural history collections, survey reports and literature. Data were updated and manually curated. However, none of the specimens upon which occurrences are based was directly observed. To partly overcome this impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data. This process produced the country’s species checklist and an additional list of species with questionable occurrence in the country.Results: From the digital and non-digital sources, we compiled more than 17 000 records. The data integrated resulted in a total of 217 mammal species (representing 14 orders, 39 families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species with questionable reported occurrence in the country.Conclusion: The diversity of species accounted for is considerable as more than 70% of species present in the southern African subregion are found in Mozambique. We consider that the current number of mammal species in Mozambique is still underestimated. The methodological approach for species selection for specimen data can be adapted to update species checklists of crucial importance to countries facing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity.

scholarly journals Sharing the Decision Process Framework to Identify Well-supported Records of Mammal Species-occurrence in Mozambique

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Neves ◽  
Maria da Luz Mathias ◽  
Cristiane Bastos-Silveira
Keyword(s):  
Selection Process ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Species Selection ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Species Occurrence ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Single Author ◽  
Species Checklist

Conservation research and policies tend to be significantly restricted wherever relevant data on biodiversity is sparse, scattered or non-curated. Thus, the usefulness of occurrence data, for the study of biodiversity, depends not only on the availability but also on data quality. Notwithstanding the increase in the global availability of primary biodiversity data, they have numerous shortfalls, from incomplete or partially erroneous documentation to spatial and temporal biases (Hortal et al. 2015, Aubry et al. 2017). Also, many non-digitized specimen collections, scientific publications and grey literature are locked as printed or digital publications. We integrated existing knowledge, from dispersed sources of biodiversity data, namely Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), natural history collections, wildlife survey reports, species checklist and other scientific literature. This procedure allowed an update of Mozambique’s checklist of terrestrial mammals (Neves et al. 2018). Despite the potential from digital data to overcome gaps of knowledge, a relevant constraint on creating or updating species checklist is the dificulty to access spatially-disperse collections and examine every specimens upon which occurrences are based. To partly overcome this impediment, we developed a species selection process for specimen data from GBIF and museums (Fig. 1). The aim was to categorise the species detected in more than one data source as species with the well-supported occurrence. In addition to the number of collectors, we also accounted for the number of records collected and presented in Smithers and Tello (1976), the last checklist produced for Mozambique’ mammals. A species-occurrence record was considered well-supported and included into the species checklist when was: independently recorded by different collectors or recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976). independently recorded by different collectors or recorded by a single collector but listed in Smithers and Tello (1976). An additional list was produced which contained species with questionable occurrence in the country. Species entered this "questionable occurrence" list when they were: not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country; not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976). not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976), and a single record supported its presence in the country; not listed in Smithers and Tello (1976) and multiple records exist, but were all cited by a single author; or registered with a single record in Smithers and Tello (1976). We compiled more than 17000 records, resulting in a total of 217 species (14 orders, 39 families and 133 genera) with supported occurrence in Mozambique and 23 species with questionable reported occurrence (Table 1). The proposed approach for species selection can be adapted and function as a powerful tool to update species checklists of countries facing similar lack of knowledge regarding their biodiversity. The capacity to pinpointing species and specimens in need of occurrence and taxonomic re-evaluation is of great value to optimise collection’s study and to boost collaboration between curators and researchers. Lastly, considering that most records integrated are from European and North American institutions, this work would significantly improve with the integration of data from African institutions. Therefore, an effort should be made to make these essential collections accessible online.

scholarly journals DiSSCo, iDigBio and the Future of Global Collaboration

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gil Nelson ◽  
Deborah L Paul
Keyword(s):  
Working Group ◽  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
The United States ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Data Accessibility ◽  
The Us ◽  
Biodiversity Information

Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio) is the United States’ (US) national resource and coordinating center for biodiversity specimen digitization and mobilization. It was established in 2011 through the US National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Advancing Digitization of Biodiversity Collections (ADBC) program, an initiative that grew from a working group of museum-based and other biocollections professionals working in concert with NSF to make collections' specimen data accessible for science, education, and public consumption. The working group, Network Integrated Biocollections Alliance (NIBA), released two reports (Beach et al. 2010, American Institute of Biological Sciences 2013) that provided the foundation for iDigBio and ADBC. iDigBio is restricted in focus to the ingestion of data generated by public, non-federal museum and academic collections. Its focus is on specimen-based (as opposed to observational) occurrence records. iDigBio currently serves about 118 million transcribed specimen-based records and 29 million specimen-based media records from approximately 1600 datasets. These digital objects have been contributed by about 700 collections representing nearly 400 institutions and is the most comprehensive biodiversity data aggregator in the US. Currently, iDigBio, DiSSCo (Distributed System of Scientific Collections), GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility), and the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) are collaborating on a global framework to harmonize technologies towards standardizing and synchronizing ingestion strategies, data models and standards, cyberinfrastructure, APIs (application programming interface), specimen record identifiers, etc. in service to a developing consolidated global data product that can provide a common source for the world’s digital biodiversity data. The collaboration strives to harness and combine the unique strengths of its partners in ways that ensure the individual needs of each partner’s constituencies are met, design pathways for accommodating existing and emerging aggregators, simultaneously strengthen and enhance access to the world’s biodiversity data, and underscore the scope and importance of worldwide biodiversity informatics activities. Collaborators will share technology strategies and outputs, align conceptual understandings, and establish and draw from an international knowledge base. These collaborators, along with Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG), will join iDigBio and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History as they host Biodiversity 2020 in Washington, DC. Biodiversity 2020 will combine an international celebration of the worldwide progress made in biodiversity data accessibility in the 21st century with a biodiversity data conference that extends the life of Biodiversity Next. It will provide a venue for the GBIF governing board meeting, TDWG annual meeting, and the annual iDigBio Summit as well as three days of plenary and concurrent sessions focused on the present and future of biodiversity data generation, mobilization, and use.

scholarly journals Completeness of Digital Accessible Knowledge of the Plants of Ghana

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex Asase ◽  
A. Townsend Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Biodiversity Informatics ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Herbarium Data ◽  
Research Grade ◽  
Biodiversity Information

Providing comprehensive, informative, primary, research-grade biodiversity information represents an important focus of biodiversity informatics initiatives. Recent efforts within Ghana have digitized >90% of primary biodiversity data records associated with specimen sheets in Ghanaian herbaria; additional herbarium data are available from other institutions via biodiversity informatics initiatives such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility. However, data on the plants of Ghana have not as yet been integrated and assessed to establish how complete site inventories are, so that appropriate levels of confidence can be applied. In this study, we assessed inventory completeness and identified gaps in current Digital Accessible Knowledge (DAK) of the plants of Ghana, to prioritize areas for future surveys and inventories. We evaluated the completeness of inventories at ½° spatial resolution using statistics that summarize inventory completeness, and characterized gaps in coverage in terms of geographic distance and climatic difference from well-documented sites across the country. The southwestern and southeastern parts of the country held many well-known grid cells; the largest spatial gaps were found in central and northern parts of the country. Climatic difference showed contrasting patterns, with a dramatic gap in coverage in central-northern Ghana. This study provides a detailed case study of how to prioritize for new botanical surveys and inventories based on existing DAK.

scholarly journals Unlocking the Entomological Collection of the Natural History Museum of Maputo, Mozambique

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domingos Sandramo ◽  
Enrico Nicosia ◽  
Silvio Cianciullo ◽  
Bernardo Muatinte ◽  
Almeida Guissamulo
Keyword(s):  
Natural History ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Development Programme ◽  
Natural History Museum ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
History Museum ◽  
Data Portal ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
Biodiversity Information

The collections of the Natural History Museum of Maputo have a crucial role in the safeguarding of Mozambique's biodiversity, representing an important repository of data and materials regarding the natural heritage of the country. In this paper, a dataset is described, based on the Museum’s Entomological Collection recording 409 species belonging to seven orders and 48 families. Each specimen’s available data, such as geographical coordinates and taxonomic information, have been digitised to build the dataset. The specimens included in the dataset were obtained between 1914–2018 by collectors and researchers from the Natural History Museum of Maputo (once known as “Museu Alváro de Castro”) in all the country’s provinces, with the exception of Cabo Delgado Province. This paper adds data to the Biodiversity Network of Mozambique and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, within the objectives of the SECOSUD II Project and the Biodiversity Information for Development Programme. The aforementioned insect dataset is available on the GBIF Engine data portal (https://doi.org/10.15468/j8ikhb). Data were also shared on the Mozambican national portal of biodiversity data BioNoMo (https://bionomo.openscidata.org), developed by SECOSUD II Project.

scholarly journals Tapping into technology and the biodiversity informatics revolution: updated terrestrial mammal list of Angola, with new records from the Okavango Basin

ZooKeys ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 779 ◽  
pp. 51-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Taylor ◽  
Götz Neef ◽  
Mark Keith ◽  
Sina Weier ◽  
Ara Monadjem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Camera Trap ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Species Lists ◽  
First Time ◽  
Excellent Source ◽  
Biodiversity Information ◽  
Historical Range

Using various sources, including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), published literature, recent (2015–2017) collections, as well as bat detector and camera trap surveys with opportunistic sightings and live capture in the upper Okavango catchment in central Angola, we present an updated mammal checklist of 275 species from 15 different orders for Angola (including the Cabinda region). Recent surveys (captures and bat detectors) of small mammals from the upper Okavango catchment yielded 46 species (33 species of bats, ten species of rodents and three species of shrews). One bat (Pipistrellusrusticus, rusty pipistrelle); two rodents (Mussetzeri, Setzer’s mouse and Zelotomyswoosnami, Woosnam’s broad-faced mouse) and one shrew (Suncusvarilla, lesser dwarf shrew) were captured for the first time, in Angola. While our species lists of bats conformed to predicted totals, terrestrial small mammals were under sampled, with only 13 species recorded by our trapping survey compared to a total of 42 shrew and rodent species expected based on GBIF records for the central Angolan highlands. Seven terrestrial small mammal species (one shrew and six rodents) are endemic to the central and western Angolan highlands but none of these were captured in our survey. The bat detector surveys added three further bat species to the country list: Pipistrellushesperidus, Kerivoulaargentata, and Mopsmidas. Camera trap surveys and opportunistic sightings in the upper Okavango catchment in 2016 yielded a total of 35 species of medium-large mammals, from 17 families, although all of these had been reported previously in Angola. GBIF proved to be an excellent source of biodiversity data for Angolan mammals, most importantly for documenting dramatic historical range changes of larger mammals such as the sable (Hippotragusnigerniger), Kirk’s sable (H.nigerkirkii) and the giant sable (H.nigervariani).

scholarly journals Harvestmen occurrence database (Arachnida, Opiliones) of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valéria da Silva ◽  
Manoel Aguiar-Neto ◽  
Dan Teixeira ◽  
Cleverson Santos ◽  
Marcos de Sousa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Consultation ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Northern Brazil ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
The Government ◽  
Biodiversity Information ◽  
Brazilian Biodiversity

We present a dataset with information from the Opiliones collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Northern Brazil. This collection currently has 6,400 specimens distributed in 13 families, 30 genera and 32 species and holotypes of four species: Imeri ajuba Coronato-Ribeiro, Pinto-da-Rocha & Rheims, 2013, Phareicranaus patauateua Pinto-da-Rocha & Bonaldo, 2011, Protimesius trocaraincola Pinto-da-Rocha, 1997 and Sickesia tremembe Pinto-da-Rocha & Carvalho, 2009. The material of the collection is exclusive from Brazil, mostly from the Amazon Region. The dataset is now available for public consultation on the Sistema de Informação sobre a Biodiversidade Brasileira (SiBBr) (https://ipt.sibbr.gov.br/goeldi/resource?r=museuparaenseemiliogoeldi-collection-aracnologiaopiliones). SiBBr is the Brazilian Biodiversity Information System, an initiative of the government and the Brazilian node of the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), which aims to consolidate and make primary biodiversity data available on a platform (Dias et al. 2017). Harvestmen or Opiliones constitute the third largest arachnid order, with approximately 6,500 described species. Brazil is the holder of the greatest diversity in the world, with more than 1,000 described species, 95% (960 species) of which are endemic to the country. Of these, 32 species were identified and deposited in the collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi.

scholarly journals The Living Atlases community in action: the GBIF Benin data portal

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25488
Author(s):  
Anne-Sophie Archambeau ◽  
Fabien Cavière ◽  
Kourouma Koura ◽  
Marie-Elise Lecoq ◽  
Sophie Pamerlon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
African Country ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Capacity Enhancement ◽  
Support Programme ◽  
Data Portal ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
The University ◽  
Biodiversity Information ◽  
Occurrence Records

Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (https://www.ala.org.au/) is the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) node of Australia. They developed an open and free platform for sharing and exploring biodiversity data. All the modules are publicly available for reuse and customization on their GitHub account (https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia). GBIF Benin, hosted at the University of Abomey-Calavi, has published more than 338 000 occurrence records from 87 datasets and 2 checklists. Through the GBIF Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (https://www.gbif.org/programme/82219/capacity-enhancement-support-programme), GBIF Benin, with the help of GBIF France, is in the process of deploying the Beninese data portal using the GBIF France back-end architecture. GBIF Benin is the first African country to implement this module of the ALA infrastructure. In this presentation, we will show you an overview of the registry and the occurrence search engine using the Beninese data portal. We will begin with the administration interface and how to manage metadata, then we will continue with the user interface of the registry and how you can find Beninese occurrences through the hub.

scholarly journals The Antarctic Biodiversity Portal, an Online Ecosystem for Linking, Integrating and Disseminating Antarctic Biodiversity Information

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Ming Gan ◽  
Maxime Sweetlove ◽  
Anton Van de Putte
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Antarctic Species ◽  
Reference Guide ◽  
Occurrence Data ◽  
Event Based ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Global Initiatives ◽  
Sampling Event ◽  
Biodiversity Information

The Antarctic Biodiversity portal (biodiversity.aq) is a gateway to a wide variety of Antarctic biodiversity information and tools. Launched in 2005 as the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) - Marine Biodiversity Information Network (SCAR-MarBIN, scarmarbin.be) and the Register of Antarctic Marine Species (RAMS, marinespecies.org/rams/), the system has grown in scope from purely marine to include terrestrial information. Biodiversity.aq is a SCAR product, currently supported by Belspo (Belgian Science Policy) as one of the Belgian contributions to the European Lifewatch-European Research Infrastructure Consortium (Lifewatch-ERIC). The goal of Lifewatch is to provide access to: distributed observatories/sensor networks; interoperable databases, existing (data-)networks, using accepted standards; high performance computing (HPC) and grid power, including the use of the state-of-the-art of cloud and big data paradigm technologies; software and tools for visualization, analysis and modeling. Here we provide an overview of the most recent advances in the biodiversity.aq online ecosystem, a number of use cases as well as an overview of future directions. Some of the most notable components are: The Register of Antarctic Species (RAS, ras.biodiversity.aq) is a component of the Lifewatch Taxonomic Backbone and provides an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine and terrestrial species in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. It serves as a reference guide for users to interpret taxonomic literature, as valid names and other names in use are both provided. Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT, ipt.biodiversity.aq) allows disseminating Antarctic biodiversity data into global initiatives such as the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, obis.org) as Antarctic node of OBIS (Ant-OBIS, also formerly known as SCAR-MarBIN) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, gbif.org) as Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility (AntaBIF). Data that can be made available include metadata, species checklists, species occurrence data and more recently, sampling event-based data. Data from these international portals can be accessed through data.biodiversity.aq. The Register of Antarctic Species (RAS, ras.biodiversity.aq) is a component of the Lifewatch Taxonomic Backbone and provides an authoritative and comprehensive list of names of marine and terrestrial species in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. It serves as a reference guide for users to interpret taxonomic literature, as valid names and other names in use are both provided. Integrated Publishing Toolkit (IPT, ipt.biodiversity.aq) allows disseminating Antarctic biodiversity data into global initiatives such as the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS, obis.org) as Antarctic node of OBIS (Ant-OBIS, also formerly known as SCAR-MarBIN) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF, gbif.org) as Antarctic Biodiversity Information Facility (AntaBIF). Data that can be made available include metadata, species checklists, species occurrence data and more recently, sampling event-based data. Data from these international portals can be accessed through data.biodiversity.aq. Through SCAR, Biodiversity.aq builds on an international network of expert that provide expert knowledge on taxonomy, species distribution,and ecology. It provides a strong and tested platform for sharing, integrating, discovering and analysing Antarctic biodiversity information originating from a variety of sources into a distributed system.

scholarly journals The Living Atlases community in action: the NBN Atlas Spatial Portal and “Explore Your Region” module

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. e25486
Author(s):  
Nick dos Remedios ◽  
Marie-Elise Lecoq ◽  
David Martin ◽  
Sophia Ratcliffe
Keyword(s):  
Search Engine ◽  
Biodiversity Data ◽  
Global Biodiversity Information Facility ◽  
Isle Of Man ◽  
Global Biodiversity ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Biodiversity Information

Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) (https://www.ala.org.au/) is the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) node of Australia. Since 2010, they have developed and improved a platform for sharing and exploring biodiversity information. All the modules are publicly available for reuse and customization on their GitHub account (https://github.com/AtlasOfLivingAustralia). The National Biodiversity Network, a registered charity, is the UK GBIF node and has been sharing biodiversity data since 2000. They published more than 79 million occurrences from 818 datasets. In 2016, they launched the NBN Atlas Scotland (https://scotland.nbnatlas.org/) based on the Atlas of Living Australia infrastructure. Since then, they released the NBN Atlas (https://nbnatlas.org/), the NBN Atlas Wales (https://wales.nbnatlas.org/) and soon the NBN Atlas Isle of Man. In addition to the occurrence/species search engine and the metadata registry, they put in place several tools that help users to work with data published in the network: the spatial portal and "explore your region" module. Both elements are based on Atlas of Living Australia developments. Because the Atlas of Living Australia platform is really powerful an reusable, we want to show you these two applications used to make geographical analyses. In order to perform this, we will present you the specificities of each component by giving examples of some functionalities.

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