Limitations in global information on species occurrences

<p>Detailed information on species distributions is crucial for answering central questions in biogeography, ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. Millions of species occurrence records have been mobilized via international data-sharing networks, but inherent biases, gaps and uncerta...

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Main Author: Carsten Meyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pensoft Publishers 2016-07-01
Series:Frontiers of Biogeography
Subjects:
Online Access:http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1bm1d0hs
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author Carsten Meyer
author_facet Carsten Meyer
author_sort Carsten Meyer
collection DOAJ
description <p>Detailed information on species distributions is crucial for answering central questions in biogeography, ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. Millions of species occurrence records have been mobilized via international data-sharing networks, but inherent biases, gaps and uncertainties hamper broader application. In my PhD thesis, I presented the first comprehensive analyses of global patterns and drivers of these limitations across different taxonomic groups and spatial scales. Integrating 300 million occurrence records for terrestrial vertebrates and plants with comprehensive taxonomic databases, expert range maps and regional checklists, I demonstrated extensive taxonomic, geographical and temporal biases, gaps and uncertainties. I identified key socio-economic drivers of data bias across different taxonomic groups and spatial scales. The results of my dissertation provide an empirical baseline for effectively accounting for data limitations in distribution models, as well as for prioritizing and monitoring efforts to collate additional occurrence information.</p>
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institution Kabale University
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publishDate 2016-07-01
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record_format Article
series Frontiers of Biogeography
spelling doaj-art-0c33dda5b7b54b9c9ff3bc03b8cc84382025-08-20T03:52:25ZengPensoft PublishersFrontiers of Biogeography1948-65962016-07-0182ark:13030/qt1bm1d0hsLimitations in global information on species occurrencesCarsten Meyer0University of Göttingen<p>Detailed information on species distributions is crucial for answering central questions in biogeography, ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation. Millions of species occurrence records have been mobilized via international data-sharing networks, but inherent biases, gaps and uncertainties hamper broader application. In my PhD thesis, I presented the first comprehensive analyses of global patterns and drivers of these limitations across different taxonomic groups and spatial scales. Integrating 300 million occurrence records for terrestrial vertebrates and plants with comprehensive taxonomic databases, expert range maps and regional checklists, I demonstrated extensive taxonomic, geographical and temporal biases, gaps and uncertainties. I identified key socio-economic drivers of data bias across different taxonomic groups and spatial scales. The results of my dissertation provide an empirical baseline for effectively accounting for data limitations in distribution models, as well as for prioritizing and monitoring efforts to collate additional occurrence information.</p>http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1bm1d0hsWallacean shortfallspecies distributionsoccurrence recordsdata mobilizationdata biasknowledge gapsdata uncertainty
spellingShingle Carsten Meyer
Limitations in global information on species occurrences
Frontiers of Biogeography
Wallacean shortfall
species distributions
occurrence records
data mobilization
data bias
knowledge gaps
data uncertainty
title Limitations in global information on species occurrences
title_full Limitations in global information on species occurrences
title_fullStr Limitations in global information on species occurrences
title_full_unstemmed Limitations in global information on species occurrences
title_short Limitations in global information on species occurrences
title_sort limitations in global information on species occurrences
topic Wallacean shortfall
species distributions
occurrence records
data mobilization
data bias
knowledge gaps
data uncertainty
url http://escholarship.org/uc/item/1bm1d0hs
work_keys_str_mv AT carstenmeyer limitationsinglobalinformationonspeciesoccurrences