GalliForm, a database of Galliformes occurrence records from the Indo-Malay and Palaearctic, 1800–2008

Citation

Boakes EH, Fuller RA, Mace GM, Ding C, Tze Ang T, Auffret AG, Clark NE, Dunn J, Gilbert J, Golovnyuk V, Gupta G, Irlich U, Joachim E, O’ Connor K & Potapov E (2020) GalliForm, a database of Galliformes occurrence records from the Indo-Malay and Palaearctic, 1800–2008. Scientific Data, 7, Art. No.: 344. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-020-00690-0

Abstract
Historical as well as current species distribution data are needed to track changes in biodiversity. Species distribution data are found in a variety of sources, each of which has its own distinct bias toward certain taxa, time periods or places. We present GalliForm, a database that comprises 186687 galliform occurrence records linked to 118907 localities in Europe and Asia. Records were derived from museums, peer-reviewed and grey literature, unpublished field notes, diaries and correspondence, banding records, atlas records and online birding trip reports. We describe data collection processes, georeferencing methods and quality-control procedures. This database has underpinned several peer-reviewed studies, investigating spatial and temporal bias in biodiversity data, species’ geographic range changes and local extirpation patterns. In our rapidly changing world, an understanding of long-term change in species’ distributions is key to predicting future impacts of threatening processes such as land use change, over-exploitation of species and climate change. This database, its historical aspect in particular, provides a valuable source of information for further studies in macroecology and biodiversity conservation.

Keywords
Biodiversity; Conservation biology; Ecological modelling; Macroecology

Notes
Additional co-authors: Roald Potapov, Judith Schleicher, Sarah Stebbing, Terry Townshend & Philip J. K. McGowan

Journal
Scientific Data: Volume 7

• Published Version