Mapping the distribution of all terrestrial vertebrates

Abstract

Information regarding the range of vertebrate species is routinely required by conservation planners and research scientists. But, until recently, even this seemingly basic information was difficult to track down. To fill this gap, a group of over 20 internationally prominent biologists has joined forces to launch the compilation of data defining the distribution of all 25 000 land vertebrates through a public web portal (http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/vertdist). The beneficiaries of this undertaking are science-based conservation organizations, museums and ecologists or biogeographers who examine biological patterns at large scales. Researchers have set an ambitious schedule for this data-mining and synthesizing collaboration, with a target first-cut completion date of 2003.The project was initiated by Walter Jetz (Dept of Zoology, University of Oxford, UK) and Tom Brooks and Gustavo Fonseca (Center for Applied Biodiversity Science, Conservation International). One key to this project is an emphasis on careful attention to proper source referencing and credit of data providers. In this age of genome mapping, it is embarrassing that we have only now begun such an effort, and only for terrestrial vertebrates. Let us hope that similar efforts will follow for plants, invertebrates and aquatic vertebrates. PK