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Developing a Georeferenced Database of Selected Threatened Forest Tree Species in the Philippines

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Developing a Georeferenced Database of Selected Threatened Forest Tree Species in the Philippines Philippine Journal of Science 141 (2): 165-177, December 2012 ISSN 0031 - 7683 Date Received: 15 Nov 2011 Developing a Georeferenced Database of Selected Threatened Forest Tree Species in the Philippines Lawrence Tolentino Ramos1, Alfie Misena Torres1, Florencia Bacani Pulhin1,2, and Rodel Diaz Lasco1 1World Agroforestry Centre, 2F Khush Hall, IRRI Campus, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines 2Forestry Development Center, College of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of the Philippines Los Banos, College, Laguna, Philippines Georeferenced species occurrence is a prerequisite in species distribution modeling and species- ecosystem correlation analysis and also aids in tracking plant species and prioritizing scarce resources for conservation. The Global Biodiversity Information Facility, legacy literature of biodiversity, contemporary literature, technical reports and biodiversity surveys are important sources of species occurrence data waiting to be georeferenced. In this paper, we discussed a method used to georeference occurrences of threatened forest tree species from the above sources. Locality descriptions were initially narrowed down in geographic information system using administrative maps and further confined using two criteria: 1) elevation and 2) surface cover information from remotely-sensed images. The result was a georeferenced database of 2,067 occurrence records of 47 threatened forest species on a national scale. Each record had a unique point feature per species and enough metadata directing the database user to the source of occurrence data. The database can be used as a tool in determining priority species for specimen or germplasm collection, for taxonomic identification and historical mapping. It also serves as an integral component in spatially modeling the distribution of tree species and forest formations in the past and in a possible future scenario. Key Words: database, georeference, species occurrence, threatened forest trees INTRODUCTION and 64 other threatenedplant speciesin the Philippines. The International Union for Conservation of Nature The Philippines is a tropical country hosting a high (IUCN 2003) Red list of threatened plant species also concentration of plant species diversity, ranking 5th in the provides an annually updated listing. Forest tree species world, and housing 5% of the world’s flora (RP 2009). are particularly threatened due mainly for their timber Yet ironically, it is also a leading biodiversity hotspot of resource. threatened forest trees in the world due to anthropogenic habitat alteration (Myers et al. 2000). The environment There is much information contained in legacy literature department’s administrative order (DAO) 2007-01 (DENR as well as in herbaria collections, domestic and abroad. 2007), which constitutes the official country listing of A great challenge now is the process of translating threatened plant species, lists 174 vulnerable species, 101 these sources from analogue to digital form to enable critically-endangered species, 187 endangered species access by a wider public. In the case of legacy literature, digitization has made some headway already under *Corresponding author: [email protected]; [email protected] the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) portal, which 165 Philippine Journal of Science Ramos LT et al.: Georeferenced Database of Selected Threatened Vol. 141 No. 2, December 2012 Forest Tree in the Philippines aims to make legacy literature accessible to the public as cardinal offsets to political or geographic features (Gwinn & Rinaldo 2008). For instance, the voluminous (Beaman & Conn 2003). This unstandardized way of publications of Merrill, which document the diversity describing localities poses many challenges to automated and spatial distribution Philippine forests used to have parsing and interpretation (Beaman et al. 2004). are already digitized and can be accessed through the More than 90% of the billion or more occurrence BHL portal. Among Merrill’s significant publications is records found in biological specimens worldwide are the Enumeration of Philippine Flowering Plants Vol I-IV not georeferenced (Duckworth et al. 1993; Beaman & (1923-1926) which is the most comprehensive species list Conn 2003; Beaman et al. 2004; Guralnick et al. 2006). on a national scale to date. Relatively accurate georeferenced information associated Extensive work needs to be done, however, for the case with specimen collections only came with the use of GPS of herbarium specimen collections which remain largely (Global Positioning System) devices. analogue in form, if not entirely raw specimen tags. In the case of the Philippines, there are only a few, recent The discrepancy is easily appreciated if they are to be records in GBIF which have specific fine-scale location compared with biological information in the molecular information. Species occurrence data before GPS only and ecosystem levels which are largely digitized (Lane mention of localities, usually in the scale of provinces & Edwards 2007). Another issue is access, for although and municipalities. To compound the problem, names or biodiversity is concentrated in the developing countries, boundaries of some localities have changed over the last the wealth of scientific information in digitized form is hundred years. Formerly large provinces and districts concentrated in the libraries and natural history institutions have been subdivided giving way to the creation of new of developed countries, probably very remote from the government units. specimen’s origin (Edwards 2000). Various authors have already contributed in documenting Specimens contain basic, yet important information, threatened forest tree species occurrence on a national i.e. scientific name, collector name, collection date, and scale. The works of De Guzman et al. (1986) and Rojo locality description, at the least. Traditionally, locality (1999) are contemporary examples of these. There are also descriptions are based on names of places or situational numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, technical reports, landmarks that change over time (Beaman et al. 2004). and biodiversity surveys done on watershed or protected At best, a species locality description should be specific area scale that are good sources of occurrence data. But enough, leaving no room for uncertainty in interpretation these are often analogue in form. If there happens to be (Chapman & Wieczorek 2006). georeferenced information as is the usual practice today, The need for such primary scientific information has been the location data often stays with the collector and is not growing (Lane & Edwards 2007), especially as conservation indicated in the specimen tag. efforts scramble to preserve the remaining tracts of In compliance to the Convention of Biological Diversity, undisturbed ecosystems. Chapman (2005) discusses the the Philippines is an active participant of the ASEAN multiple uses of primary species occurrence data. Clearing House Mechanism (CHM). The ASEAN CHM is To satisfy such a growing demand for biodiversity envisioned as a harmonized regional gateway of publicly information, not only does information need to be available biodiversity information held by ASEAN digitized for ease of access, but also the framework for member countries. However, the ASEAN CHM is still information sharing requires interoperability in searching in its infancy stage and is not yet included in the GBIF through multiple online databases seamlessly (Edwards network. There is yet to be a holistic, georeferenced and 2000). This was the rationale for the establishment of validated biodiversity information system on a national the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), a scale in the Philippines that aids decision-making and worldwide network to make primary information of all knowledge sharing. species freely and universally available via the internet. A database of georeferenced species occurrence paves Its current focus for the next years is the digitization of the way for visualization and higher forms of analysis natural history specimens collected over the last 300 years like modeling the potential distribution of a species and and its migration into modern information management ecological analysis (Beaman & Conn 2003). It can also systems and platforms (Lane & Edwards 2007). serve practical conservation efforts like tracking plant Legacy literature and GBIF records both contain species, protected area planning, and prioritizing resources occurrence information, but these are not necessarily for biodiversity surveys and specimen collections. georeferenced information. Georeferencing means putting However, georeferencing can be tedious and suffers in the map the exact location of species. For the past 300 from major limitations as summarized by Guralnick et years, specimen locality descriptions had been recorded 166 Philippine Journal of Science Ramos LT et al.: Georeferenced Database of Selected Threatened Vol. 141 No. 2, December 2012 Forest Tree in the Philippines al. (2006): 1) It is slow; 2) The accuracy and precision taxonomic identification; 3) Give information where and of assigned coordinates are usually unknown; 3) A large when tree species were surveyed; and, 4) Provide some fraction of available coordinates are inconsistent with insight to the possible distribution of forest formations in locality information; 4) Materials and methods are poorly the Philippines by using indicator tree species occurrence documented; and 5) many localities are
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