BioGeomancer: Mapping Biodiversity Data
Author Information
Author(s): Robert P Guralnick, John Wieczorek, Reed Beaman, Robert J Hijmans, the BioGeomancer Working Group
Primary Institution: University of Colorado, Boulder
Hypothesis
The BioGeomancer Project aims to automate the georeferencing of biodiversity data to improve accessibility and usability.
Conclusion
The BioGeomancer toolkit significantly enhances the efficiency and accuracy of georeferencing biodiversity data.
Supporting Evidence
- Over 99% of biological specimen records lack geographic coordinates.
- The BioGeomancer toolkit can increase georeferencing speed by at least five times.
- BioGeomancer provides tools for error checking and consistency assurance in georeferencing.
Takeaway
BioGeomancer is a tool that helps scientists find the exact locations of plants and animals by turning written descriptions into map coordinates, making it easier to study biodiversity.
Methodology
The project develops a web-based toolkit that automates the georeferencing process using natural language processing and batch processing methods.
Limitations
The accuracy of the georeferenced data is often unknown, and many localities are georeferenced multiple times with inconsistent results.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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