BioTIME: A database of biodiversity time series for the Anthropocene

Abstract

MotivationThe BioTIME database contains raw data on species identities and abundances in ecological assemblages through time. These data enable users to calculate temporal trends in biodiversity within and amongst assemblages using a broad range of metrics. BioTIME is being developed as a community‐led open‐source database of biodiversity time series. Our goal is to accelerate and facilitate quantitative analysis of temporal patterns of biodiversity in the Anthropocene.Main types of variables includedThe database contains 8,777,413 species abundance records, from assemblages consistently sampled for a minimum of 2 years, which need not necessarily be consecutive. In addition, the database contains metadata relating to sampling methodology and contextual information about each record.Spatial location and grainBioTIME is a global database of 547,161 unique sampling locations spanning the marine, freshwater and terrestrial realms. Grain size varies across datasets from 0.0000000158 km2 (158 cm2) to 100 km2 (1,000,000,000,000 cm2).Time period and grainBioTIME records span from 1874 to 2016. The minimal temporal grain across all datasets in BioTIME is a year.Major taxa and level of measurementBioTIME includes data from 44,440 species across the plant and animal kingdoms, ranging from plants, plankton and terrestrial invertebrates to small and large vertebrates.Software format.csv and .SQL.

Poleward shift in large‐river fish communities detected with a novel meta‐analysis framework

“…the BioTIME dataset, Dornelas et al, 2018). Moreover, spatially structured estimates other than trend statistics can be used in this meta-analysis framework to test for effects shared between different locations or conditions.…”

Towards a macroscope: Leveraging technology to transform the breadth, scale and resolution of macroecological data

“…We have centuries of human observations of biodiversity on the planet, and collating and curating these is a crucial component of the macroscope. In the past decade, numerous databases of expert observations have been compiled [e.g., OBIS (Read, Halpin, Crowder, Best, & Fujioka, ), GBIF (GBIF, ), LPI (LPI, ) and BioTIME (Dornelas et al, )]. In addition, some monitoring protocols have been deployed across many times and locations across the planet (e.g., Reef Life Survey; Edgar & Stuart‐Smith, ).…”

Evolution of interdisciplinarity in biodiversity science

“…One of these concepts examines spatial patterns of biodiversity loss of specific taxa (e.g., amphibians, reptiles, and spiders) and their drivers ("Concept 19"; Figure 6) and is used across a range of both basic and applied subdisciplines, such as ecology, microbiology, molecular biology, and agriculture. Since 2012, the publication of comprehensive, open data sets containing the spatial and temporal distribution of species from multiple taxa such as ants, birds, plants, and reef fishes (Bruelheide et al, 2018;Dornelas et al, 2018;Economo, Narula, Friedman, Weiser, & Guénard, 2018;Edgar & Stuart-Smith, 2014;Jetz, Thomas, Joy, Hartmann, & Mooers, 2012) may have altered the trajectory of interdisciplinarity for this concept. Research on this concept may have become concentrated among an increasingly smaller number of subdisciplines in biodiversity science given its restricted taxonomic scope.…”