WildFinder

Every good animal monitoring project requires a solid data foundation, and researchers monitoring animals traditionally have two avenues to procure the data: they can either go out and collect data manually, which is incredibly time consuming and resource-intensive (not to be discounted, one must start somewhere), or they can find a well-established dataset that contains at least some basic information on their species of interest. The World Wildlife Fund’s Terrestrial ecoregion maps provide global distribution data for mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and birds, open to researchers and the public alike for download. The WWF started this dataset in 2012 and updates it frequently with contributions from other researchers who are collecting data on the ground. The goal of this data is to provide free and available data for conservationists, governments, and other bodies trying to assess the distribution boundaries of individual species and create plans for particular species conservation. The WWF openly acknowledges that this dataset is rather restrained in the categories of terrestrial species that it has data on, but is actively looking to expand their dataset. Other issues with the dataset include its download procedure, in which one needs to have the right software and hardware to visualize and manipulate the data, which depending on the resources available to different conservation initiatives or governments worldwide, can definitely inhibit the use of this data. There is also the issue of the data itself; bounding distribution ranges is an inherently subjective process. Very few species have defined areas where their activity is confined, so those who use the dataset should be conscientious of the liberties taken in drawing range boundaries.

More Ideas

Air Pollution Robot

The dangers of air pollution to human health are well documented, though the traditional methodology of collecting and reporting on sample lags behind the need to keep abreast and regulate air pollution in a meaningful amount of time. The use of drones and robots have been identified by researchers as resources that can be tweaked […]

Artificial Life, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Industry/Natural Commodities, Lifestyle, Monitoring

Telematic Rivers

Erica Kermani’s artwork seeks to answer a central question: if rivers were seeing an equal, living entity, would humans take issues like climate change threatening them more seriously? In his year-long art exhibition in 2017, Kermani, in collaboration with Diana Salcedo & Jeana Chesnik, created a new forum of interaction between humans and rivers to […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies

Co-occupied Boundaries

Art is easily found in nature but rarely is what considered art today inherently natural. The concept of co-occupied mediums that serve to be both functional for nature and aesthetically pleasing to people is being actively explored by Asya Ilgun and Phil Ayres, from the CITAstudio at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. In […]

Climate Change, Ecological Monitoring, Lifestyle, Monitoring, Pollution, Visual Technologies