Literature based species occurrence data of birds of northeast India

By

Narwade, Sujit
Kalra, Mohit
Jagdish, Rajkumar
Varier, Divya
Satpute, Sagar
Khan, Noor
Talukdar, Gautam
Mathur, Vinod
Vasudevan, Karthikeyan
Pundir, Dinesh Singh
Chavan, Vishwas
Sood, Rajesh

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2011

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

150

Pages

407-417

Subjects

Animalia , Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Aves , Bihar , BNHS , Chordata , India , Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society , Manipur , Meghalaya , Mizoram , Nagaland , northeast Himalaya , Sikkim , Tripura , Uttar Pradesh , West Bengal

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.150.2002

 

Abstract

The northeast region of India is one of the world’s most significant biodiversity hotspots. One of the richest bird areas in India, it is an important route for migratory birds and home to many endemic bird species. This paper describes a literature-based dataset of species occurrences of birds of northeast India. The occurrence records documented in the dataset are distributed across eleven provinces of India, viz.: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The geospatial scope of the dataset represents 24 to 29 degree North latitude and 78 to 94 degree East longitude, and it comprises over 2400 occurrence records. These records have been collated from scholarly literature published between1915 and 2008, especially from the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society (JBNHS). The temporal scale of the dataset represents bird observations recorded between 1909 and 2007. The dataset has been developed by employing MS Excel. The key elements in the database are scientific name, taxonomic classification, temporal and geospatial details including geo-coordinate precision, data collector, basis of record and primary source of the data record. The temporal and geospatial quality of more than 50% of the data records has been enhanced retrospectively. Where possible, data records are annotated with geospatial coordinate precision to the nearest minute. This dataset is being constantly updated with the addition of new data records, and quality enhancement of documented occurrences. The dataset can be used in species distribution and niche modeling studies. It is planned to expand the scope of the dataset to collate bird species occurrences across the Indian peninsula.