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Click on the link above to access the search engine in the GBIF international data portal. This system will allow you to make queries based on scientific or common names in English (complete or incomplete names).
Currently, you can obtain information about the following topics:
- Taxonomic framing: including infra and supraspecific units.
- Common names: at the moment only English names are served, but common names in other languages will be available shortly.
- Images: live and collection specimens,...
- Data providers that store information about the query made.
- Specimens and/or observations list: including observation/collection date and geographic information.
- Map illustration of the query made.
The data in the GBIF network is continually being expanded and updated, so check the web portal frequently to obtain up-to-date information.
GBIF International Data Portal Operation
First of all, there are three icons used in the data portal we need to be familiar with:
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Additional information |
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Download information |
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Send feedback to data provider |
To make a query, follow these steps:
- Clicking on the link at the top of this page, takes you to the query form. Type the scientific name to search for, and the country you want to limit your query to (this restricts your query only geographically, since the query is performed over all the available data providers). To carry out the query, click on Submit.
- The GBIF data use agreement is displayed next. It is essential to understand and accept this agreement, since it is one of the basic pillars of the GBIF concept. If you agree, you can proceed and click on Accept Terms.
- The next screen shows the taxa list according to your search parameters, with their taxonomic rank. Choose the one you want to obtain further information about, and click on its name.
- The next page displays all the information collected about the chosen taxa: common names, name status, higher taxonomy, subordinate taxa, images and a list of data providers housing information about the chosen taxon.
From this point, you can follow several paths:
- If you click on the name of the data provider, you can obtain further information about it.
- On the right of the data providers list, you can see three columns: All, Lat/Long and the name of the requested country. In the first column, All, the total number of records the selected provider stores is displayed. In the second column Lat/Long, you can see the number of records with geographic information detailed in geographic coordinates. In the third column, headed by the name of the requested country, you can see the number of records associated with that country stored in the selected provider. In the last row, you can see the total amounts for each of these categories.
- The observation/specimen data can be obtained in two ways, according to the icon clicked on:
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Clicking on the arrow, opens a window to download the selected data to your computer. Only some of the available fields are included by default, but you can always customize the extraction to suit your needs. You can choose to download the data directly from the data providers or from the GBIF index (faster), and the format of the downloaded file: tab-delimited (.jsp extension) or Darwing Core (.xml extension).
The tab-delimited file (.jsp) can be exported to spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel®. The .xml file can be opened in some web browsers (like Microsoft Internet Explorer® or Netscape® and compatible software) or in Microsoft Office®, if you have an up-to-date version.
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Clicking on the icon with the cross displays a list of the records corresponding to the specimens and/or observations requested, grouped by data provider. Data can be shown in different pages if there is a large number of data. Clicking on the record identification string, displays all the information stored referring to that record. |
- A map illustration of the requested records can be obtained in two ways. Clicking on the green cross, shows a worldwide distribution map provided by the Belgian Biodiversity Information Facility. Clicking on Dynamic map service, you can see a map with higher detail provided by the Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: the data is loaded and a new page is displayed: click on Get Map and you'll see the dynamic map requested.
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