The document defines migration and identifies migratory species, including bats, mammals, birds, and fishes, with supporting data from the Global Register of Migratory Species (GROMs). It outlines the use of GIS for analyzing migratory patterns and provides a geo-database along with web products for public access. Additionally, it highlights the need for a comprehensive information system to track migratory movements over time, which GROMs uniquely addresses.

1. Definitions:
• Migration: “the act of moving from one spatial unit to another“
(Baker 1978, p. 23)
• ‘true migration’ : “seasonal movement with return to starting point –
the traveller needs a return ticket”(Dingle 1996)
• Political definition: the entire population or any geographically
separate part of the population of any
species or lower taxon of wild animals, a significant proportion of
whose members cyclically and predictably cross one or more national
jurisdictional boundaries“ (CMS 1979, Article 1)
• GROMS: true migration > 100 km (excl. local migrants)
CMS
Global Register of Migratory Species (GROMS)
http://www.groms.de
A Geo-Database of migratory species at a global scale

2. Main results
• Identification of migratory species: bats,
terrestrial mammals, seals, sirenia, whales
and dolphins, birds, turtles, fishes
• Threat assessment (IUCN Red List 2000):
species not listed by CMS, but threatened!
• GIS „calculation“ of range states
• GIS analysis of global migrant diversity

3. Identification of migratory
species:
295 Mammals:
131 bats
42 terrestrial mammals
39 seals and sirenia
83 whales and dolphins
2145 Birds
10 Reptiles ( 7 marine turtles)
1895 Fishes (ray-finned fishes, lampreys, sharks and rays,
chimaeras, lobe-finned fishes)
XXL Invertebrates
(12 in GROMS, monarch butterfly on CMS App. II)

4. Species fact sheets on the Web
Static html-pages focussing on migration,
including maps (generated by geo-database)

5. Web products
Map server based on Open GIS - Open source
In cooperation with GEO-informatics, Uni Bonn.
Web-based linking of Geodata from different sources

6. GIS calculation of range
territories

7. Database import:
1,000 mapped species -
2,522 administrative units
340,000 combinations
(province – species)

9. GIS analysis of global migrant
diversity (540 mammals and birds)

10. Number of migratory species in 890 ecoregions of the World
species: 846 GROMS distribution maps
ecoregions: www-eco.shp file provided by ArcView/ESRI

11. Migratory Footprint of Migratory Species
occuring in Germany

12. Migratory Footprint of German Migrants:
breeding elsewhere

13. Migratory Footprint of German Migrants:
wintering elsewhere

14. • Geo-Database on CD-ROM
• 2 Books:
- New Perspectives for Monitoring Migratory
Animals
- Global Register of Migratory Species
• Workshops:
3 Workshops, incl. Capacity building (COP7)
• WWW publication:
http://www.groms.de
Products

15. Web products 6 (6)
Email discussion list (appr. 300 members)
Migration@listserv.uni-bonn.de

16. Perspectives: data sets
- Site data (in particular: IBA- congregation areas
BirdLife International)
- satellite tracks (for included animation tool)

17. Perspectives
Any information system dealing with migratory species
has to cover:
- movements of migrants, requiring a GIS with time-code,
- a higher taxonomic resolution at subspecies and/or
population level.
At present, none of the major databases covers these
aspects.
GROMS is unique because it has developed a data model
covering these aspects.
It can be used for any biodiversity information system
dealing with species distributions changing overn time