BioGeobif

Introduction:

Although a majority of the 135 million occurrence records that are linked to the GBIF portal are georeferenced, the quality and methodology of georeferencing varies widely, and a much smaller fractions have georeference data produced according to best practices. To help rectify this problem we are developing a system to georeference the occurrences with high quality locality data and then provide these georereference data back to providers. Data providers can then choose whether to incorporate the automated georeferencing back into their databases directly or not. A downstream goal is to work with data providers to help them more fully incorporate georeferences back into their databases.

Overview:

Data providers can add new Resources, download georeferenced records, and filter results through the BGB user interface. When queued, the records from Provider/Resources will be harvested, georeferenced through BioGeomancer, and formatted for return to users through our password protected website. Any records with ambiguous results will be formatted such that a user can easily upload the files to the BioGeomancer website for hands-on evaluations.

Conclusion:

Our system will benefit researchers and data providers alike. High quality georeferences will be reported to many providers who may never have the capacity to georeference records at their institutions. For researchers, the advantage is standardized georeferences for many records that are currently not georeferenced or georeferenced improperly. By included standardized Coordinate Uncertainty with every georeference, we will also make the selection of proper datasets much simpler. Once our system complete, the benefits to GBIF, its network of providers and its users will be tremendous.

Georeferencing

Chapman, A.D. and J. Wieczorek (eds). 2006. Guide to Best Practices for Georeferencing. Copenhagen: Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
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Biogeomancer

Guralnick, R., J. Wieczorek, R. J. Hijmans, R. Beaman and the Biogeomancer Working Group. 2006. Biogeomancer: Automated georeferencing to map the world's biodiversity data. PLoS Biology 4(11):1908-1909. [doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040381
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Backgound

Guralnick, R. P., A. W. Hill and M. Lane. 2007. Toward a collaborative, global infrastructure for biodiversity assessment. Ecology Letters 10(8):663-672
Link [PDF]