A Relational Database of Migratory Species Full Geodatabase and php interfaces presented at Convention of Migratory Species COP8 (Bonn, 2004) by Klaus Riede and Eva Gerstner

1. Global Register of Migratory
Species - GROMS
http://www.groms.de
A Relational database of Migratory Species: GIS mapping
Klaus Riede and Eva Gerstner, Zoological Reseach Museum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, D-53113 Bonn, Germany
contact: k.riede.zfmk@uni-bonn.de
Additional Activities:
The GROMS webserver maintains a discussion list with approximately 500
members. Subscribe to Migration by sending an email to:
majordomo@listserv.uni-bonn.de
subject: leave blank,
text: subscribe migration
Publications:
Results from the GROMS project were publised as
books with CDs containing all GIS files (shapes). The
full list of scientific publications, additional technical
reports and presentations can be downloaded at
http://www.groms.de/groms/publications.html
Riede, K. (ed.) (2001) New Perspectives for Monitoring Migratory Animals -
Improving Knowledge for Conservation. Proceedings of an International
Workshop on behalf of the 20th Anniversary of the Bonn Convention. - Münster
(Landwirtschaftsverlag), 166 pp.
Riede, K. (2001) Global Register of Migratory Species. Weltregister wandernder
Tierarten. Database, GIS Maps and Threat Analysis. With bird species accounts
by Katja Kunz. 404 pp. + CD-ROM.
Riede K. (2003) Biodiversity Informatics in Germany: ongoing projects and their
possible contribution to the Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI). In: Junko Shimura
(ed): Global Taxonomy Initiative in Asia. National Institute for Environmental
Studies, Japan, pp. 294-300.
Riede, K. (2004) Global Register of Migratory Species - from Global to Regional
Scales. Final Report of the R&D-Projekt 808 05 081.329 pp. + CD-ROM.
Riede, K. (2005) Migration within and out of Africa: Identifying knowledge gaps
by data-mining the Global Register of Migratory Species. In: B.A. Huber et al.
(eds.): African Biodiversity. Springer. Printed in the Netherlands. pp. 245-252.
Under the auspices of the Secretariat and with funds from the German Ministry of the Environment, the GROMS was developed by three
subsequent LoAs with the Zoological Research Museum, Bonn. The Museum and the University of Bonn is hosting the GROMS website
(www.groms.de), interactive database and mapservers.
Up to now, GROMS contains 4,344 vertebrate species, 5,600
references and 1,300 GIS-maps.
All information can be retrieved by simple and expert QUERY
interfaces, accessible on the Internet and programmed using
Open Source tools.
The OUTPUT species report contains scientific name and
authority, common names in CMS languages, International Red
List status, classification of migratory behaviour (inter-
continental, potamodromous etc), a short text from a key
reference on the species´ migratory behaviour, and links to
other informative websites. For all fishes, living links to
Fishbase (http://www.fishbase.org) provide a picture and
extensive further information about the species´ biology
Migratory species identified by the GROMS belong to the
following groups:
298 mammals
(131 bats, 83 whales and dolphins, 39 seals and sirenia,
45 terrestrial mammals)
2,203 birds
10 reptiles (incl 7 sea turtles)
1,926 migratory fishes
(1,795 ray-finned fishes, 93 sharks, 19 lampreys)
OUTPUT species report
The Species Report links
to
other databases,
GBIF maps,
and
GROMS fact sheets.
http://www.fishbase.org
GROMS GIS map of Anser anser,
represented by GOOGLE EARTH)
Combining all available GIS maps allows
to calculate the distribution and number
of migrants per administrative unit. Note
elevated diversity of migrants in
temperate zones Migrants will be lost if
conservation is limited to tropical Hot
Spots.
QUERY Interface
Global distribution maps from the literature (e.g. del Hoyo et al.:
Handbook of the Birds of the World: http://www.hbw.com/) were
digitised using a Desktop Geographic Information System (ESRI
Arcview3.2).
Attribute tables contain information about the migratory status
(feeding, wintering, staging, breeding), months of presence (if
available), and the reference. Maps were intersected with
boundaries of territories (countries and administrative units). GIS
intersection generates a table of 183,500 entries (Species/Province),
which was integrated into a relational geo-database. Once
integrated into the SQL-database, users can generate species lists
for each Country/Province, or retrieve Range State Lists for each
mapped species. Range State listing using a GIS is a transparent
procedure, which allows to get back to the original amp with
reference. Raange State Lists can be updated quickly when political
boundaries change. For example, it was immediately possible to list
migrants occuring in the new state of East Timor.
Once available in GIS format, maps can be transferred easily to
other applications, such as GOOGLE EARTH, or combined with
other GIS layers, such as CMS or agreements member states,
Ramsar sites or oilspills.
A direct link to point data from museum specimens
and observations launches an additional map from
the Global Biodiversity Species facility
(http://www.gbif.org).
GROMS species fact sheet (Anser anser)
The GROMS database
server was used to
organise the CMS
Thesis Award. Allicants
could submit their
online-application.
Users can update the
literature database, and
a variety of other ap
´plications could easily
be implemented.
Intersection with WWF ecoregions( www-
eco.shp file provided by ArcView/ESRI) and
GROMS distribution maps. The resulting map
indicates the number of migratory species per
ecosystem. These data could be combined with
threats to ecosystems, as analysed by the
Millenium Ecosystem Assessment.