Description
The Philippines boasts rich biodiversity, particularly in bat diversity and endemism, yet comprehensive research and documentation efforts are notably lacking across many species, ecosystems, and geopolitical regions. Addressing this gap, BatMapPH has been initiated with the goal of mobilising and consolidating biodiversity records for Philippine bats published in research and field surveys. This initiative operates on the FAIR-data sharing principles, striving to enhance the accessibility and usability of bat occurrence data within a regional and global context, notably through platforms like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). By centralising and standardising bat biodiversity data, BatMapPH aims to support various crucial applications in research and conservation. For instance, these data can facilitate the development of species distribution models, which are crucial for predicting the impact of environmental changes on bat populations and diversity. Additionally, the platform supports studies aimed at mapping bat-borne diseases, thus contributing to efforts to prevent future spillovers and pandemics. Furthermore, BatMapPH is a collaborative hub for bat ecologists and conservation biologists in the country and abroad. It provides a vital venue for experts to exchange knowledge and share advancements in bat distribution, diversity, ecology, and systematics, fostering a community-driven approach to understanding and safeguarding Philippine bat species. In summary, BatMapPH aims to fill critical gaps in Philippine bat research and documentation and seeks to empower scientists and conservationists across the ASEAN region by providing essential data and fostering collaborative efforts for effective biodiversity conservation and management.
Data Records
The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 1,739 records.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Tanalgo K, Dela Cruz K (2025). BatMapPH: Philippine Bat Species Occurrence Database. Version 1.385. Eco/Con Lab Biodiversity Synthesis+ Centre. Occurrence dataset. https://bkmd.aseanbiodiversity.org/ipt/resource?r=batmapph&v=1.385
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Eco/Con Lab Biodiversity Synthesis+ Centre. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 2877b66a-577b-40d6-bdca-daeb0ae762bc. Eco/Con Lab Biodiversity Synthesis+ Centre publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by ASEAN Centre for Biodiversity.
Keywords
Occurrence; Observation
Contacts
- Metadata Provider ●
- Originator ●
- Point Of Contact ●
- Principal Investigator
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4140-336X
- Metadata Provider
Geographic Coverage
The Philippine Islands
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [5.095, 118.433], North East [19.289, 126.183] |
|---|
Taxonomic Coverage
No Description available
| Kingdom | Animalia |
|---|---|
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Mammalia |
| Order | Chiroptera |
| Family | Pteropodidae, Megadermatidae, Emballonuridae, Vespertilionidae, Rhinolophidae, Miniopteridae, Molossidae, Hipposideridae |
Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 2000-01-01 / 2024-05-05 |
|---|
Project Data
The Philippines boasts rich biodiversity, particularly in terms of bat diversity and endemism, yet comprehensive research and documentation efforts are notably lacking across many species, ecosystems, and geopolitical regions. Addressing this gap, BatMapPH has been initiated with the goal of mobilising and consolidating biodiversity records for Philippine bats published in research and field surveys. This initiative operates on the FAIR-data sharing principles, striving to enhance the accessibility and usability of bat occurrence data within a regional and global context, notably through platforms like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). By centralising and standardising bat biodiversity data, BatMapPH aims to support various crucial applications in research and conservation. For instance, these data can facilitate the development of species distribution models, which are crucial for predicting the impact of environmental changes on bat populations and diversity. Additionally, the platform supports studies aimed at mapping bat-borne diseases, thus contributing to efforts aimed at preventing future spillovers and pandemics. Furthermore, BatMapPH serves as a collaborative hub for bat ecologists and conservation biologists in the country and abroad. It provides a vital venue for experts to exchange knowledge and share advancements in bat distribution, diversity, ecology, and systematics, fostering a community-driven approach to understanding and safeguarding Philippine bat species. In summary, BatMapPH not only aims to fill critical gaps in Philippine bat research and documentation but also seeks to empower scientists and conservationists across the ASEAN region by providing essential data and fostering collaborative efforts essential for effective biodiversity conservation and management.
| Title | BatMapPH: Philippine Bat Species Occurrence Database |
|---|---|
| Identifier | EV-ASIA2024DM |
| Study Area Description | The Philippine Islands |
The personnel involved in the project:
Sampling Methods
We applied the PRISMA approach to update the collated occurrence data from Tanalgo and Hughes (2018, Mammalian Biology https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mambio.2018.03.005). We used the combinations of the following keywords: ‘Bats’ and ‘Philippines’ to search for published literature from Google Scholar. We conducted an additional search for published studies on new localities and natural history notes of species by exploring the Biodiversity Literature Repository (BLR) (
| Study Extent | The information contained in BatMapPH was compiled from documented observations published in the Philippines between 2000 and 2024. |
|---|---|
| Quality Control | All listed species and their distribution in the database using the Catalogue of Life, taxonomy names were aligned and standardised (https://www.catalogueoflife.org) and the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) database (https://www.itis.gov/). Dubious species, such as those with problematic identification or species that naturally do not occur in the range without proper discussions or expert clarifications, were excluded from the list. We plotted and mapped all species occurrence within the Philippine boundaries using QGIS (v. 3.26) (QGIS Development Team, 2022) to curate species occurrence within the range. Biodiversity records outside the range or within unusual locations were counter-checked with the original reference and corrected. |
Method step description:
- 1. Collating and filtering of published bat studies from the Philippine Islands. 2. Reviewing of the studies for suitability based on criteria. 3. Extracting species occurrence data and other relevant metadata from biodiversity studies in the Philippines. 4. Organising the species occurrence records and associated metadata following Darwin Core Standards in Microsoft Office Excel format (.csv). 5. Curating species occurrence in Quantum GIS.
Additional Metadata
| Alternative Identifiers | 2877b66a-577b-40d6-bdca-daeb0ae762bc |
|---|---|
| https://bkmd.aseanbiodiversity.org/ipt/resource?r=batmapph |