SANBI Metadata
DungBeetleMAP: Atlas of Dung Beetles in southern Africa
This data-set comprises validated species occurrence records of Dung beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on the African continent, although the bulk of the data is for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (former Swaziland).
DungBettleMAP was stablished on 2015-08-18 as a citizen science project in the Virtual Museum system in partnership with Professor Clarke Scholtz, head of the Scarab Research Group at the University of Pretoria. In Their databasing project they have digitized 24216 verified distribution records, these are mostly specimen (museum) records and published records of Dung beetles. DungBettleMAP aims to build on this distribution data. Records range from 1900 to present.
Identification of citizen science records, based on the photos uploaded, is done by a panel of experts in the relevant taxa. The taxonomy is kept up-to-date by the project coordinator, a professional entomologist.
All data available in this data-set is shareable. Records are provided at the recorded precision, usually point coordinates. However, historical records were assigned to a 15x15 minute grid (or QDS) based on the locality description when no coordinates were provided. The coverage is good for South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, moderate for Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Malawi but very sparse for the rest of Africa.
Simple
- Date (Creation)
- 2018-08-28
- Edition
-
1.0
- Citation identifier
- http://metadata.sanbi.org/geonetwork/srv/metadata/d9587de4-0fc8-4097-bc8f-20c6a86037d2
- Purpose
-
The information consolidated within DungBeetleMAP will build up a comprehensive identification guide, as well as mapping the ranges of each species.
- Status
- On going
- Maintenance and update frequency
- As needed
- Keywords
-
- Theme
-
-
African Dung Beetles picture archive
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Distribution maps
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Terrestrial
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Animalia: Euarthropoda: Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae
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- Access constraints
- Copyright
- Use constraints
- Copyright
- Spatial representation type
- Vector
- Denominator
- 50000
- Language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Topic category
-
- Environment
- Begin date
- 2015-08-18
))
- Reference system identifier
- WGS 1984
Distributor
- OnLine resource
-
A list of services published are available at this URL.
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)
Virtual Museum System
- OnLine resource
-
VMUS_to_DwC_20181005.xlsx
(
WWW:LINK-1.0-http--link
)
Virtual Museum field description and Darwin Core mapping
- Hierarchy level
- Dataset
- Statement
-
DungBettleMAP was stablished on 2015-08-18 as a citizen science project in the Virtual Museum system in partnershipd with Professor Clarke Scholtz, head of the Scarab Research Group at the University of Pretoria. In Their databasing project they have digitized 24216 verified distribution records, these are mostly specimen (museum) records and published records of Dung beetles.
From the Scarab Research Group's website:
"Documenting South Africa’s dung beetle diversity (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae; Scarabaeinae).
Databasing projects are becoming more commonplace in various biological fields and bring substantial benefits in terms of data sharing and knowledge generation.
In view of the size and environmental importance of dung beetles, a database of this large and diverse group would not only be a SA first but would provide a rich data resource for an already established need. They are arguably the insect group with the broadest biodiversity importance and interest and are already being used as bio-indicators of land-use practices on farms, are considered major elements providing essential ecosystem services, serve as models for graduate training in biodiversity science, evolution, ecology, physiology and conservation, yet the data associated with rich collections are generally unavailable and need to be resourced individually and repeatedly by interested parties. In spite of their importance, and threats posed to them, the biological and geographical information associated with large museum collections in the country is inaccessible to potential users such as biodiversity scientists, conservation planners and policy formulators. A database of specimens, images, literature and ecological data will serve as a virtual museum, and ensure that data are safeguarded in the event of a disaster befalling the specimens."
DungbeetleMAP data sources and number of records in brackets: (as of 2018-10-31):
ADU-UCT (Virtual Museum) (1,990);
University of Pretoria (24216).
All records are shareable.
- File identifier
- d9587de4-0fc8-4097-bc8f-20c6a86037d2 XML
- Metadata language
- English
- Character set
- UTF8
- Date stamp
- 2019-07-18T07:45:59
- Metadata standard name
-
SANS 1878
- Metadata standard version
-
FGDC-STD-001-1998
Overviews
Spatial extent
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