Species occurrence data download and cleaning with R

It will be taught using a combination of live (synchronous) sessions on Zoom and Slack.

The live sessions will be recorded and available to the participants for a limited period of time. However, attendance at the live sessions is required.

Species occurrence data are essential for a range of ecological and biogeographical analyses, from species distribution and ecological niche models to biotic regionalizations and global biodiversity trends.

Species occurrence data are now widely available in multiple online sources, although they are heterogeneous and come with caveats that need to be addressed before moving on with the analysis.

In this short course, we will use a range of tools to

1) Import species occurrence data from various sources into R (e.g. GBIF, iNaturalist, VertNet, EcoEngine, national / regional / continental atlases)

2) Join and arrange these data into a homogeneous dataset for analysis

3) Map and visually inspect the data for taxonomic and spatial errors and bias

4) Clean the data from detectable errors, using both non-automatic and automatic tools (e.g. ‘scrubr’, ‘CoordinateCleaner’)

5) Correct or minimize spatial biases with different tools (e.g. ‘spThin’, ‘humboldt.occ.rarefy’, ‘gridRecords’).

The course will be highly interactive and will include both theoretical and practical sessions. Participants are encouraged to work with their own species of interest, although several illustrative examples will also be provided.

Participants should have previous basic experience with R, a computer (Linux, Windows or MacOS) preferably with a webcam, and a good internet connection. A recent version of R will be needed, and RStudio is also recommended.

[email protected]

English

Places are limited to18 participants and will be occupied by strict registration order.

Participants who have completed the course will receive a certificate at the end of it.

Online live sessions Tuesday and Friday, from 15:00 to 19:00 (Madrid time zone).