Thread by @mizoraman

A little thread on biodiversity #datasharing #openaccess #openscience. On sharing data on #rainforest birds and habitat that @gundupoo and I collected during 1997-99 in the Kalakad-Mundathurai Tiger Reserve #WesternGhats... a retrospective from a quarter century later 1/n

Field biologists need not just collect or hoard biodiversity data for their own use. Sharing under a CC-BY or public domain (CC0) license enables better and wider use and adds value to science and scholarship, students and citizens. 2/n Illustration @dasaptaerwin @WikiCommons

For a start, our doctoral research data from KMTR, used in a couple of papers, is now @datadryad (CC0/Public Domain license). Bird and vegetation/habitat data from 21 transects in rainforests along an elevation gradient and from abandoned plantations. 3/n
datadryad.org/stash/dataset/…

While @datadryad data can be used by others for reanalysis or exploring new scientific questions, geo-referenced biodiversity data (which species, where & when) are more valuable if contributed to open access portals such as @GBIF. 4/n gbif.org

For birds, a good way to do that is via #eBird @Team_eBird. A little work to make a CSV file for bulk-upload and the c. 5000 bird records of 70 species from 518 point counts gets onto eBird via the India portal @birdcountindia (ported later to @GBIF). Live submission video! 5/n

And here's some simple R code used to convert the @datadryad #birds dataset into a CSV file format suitable for upload to eBird @Team_eBird @birdcountindia The code is shared freely under a CC-BY license @ZENODO_ORG 6/n
doi.org/10.5281/zenodo…

Then there was bird data from 104 line transects, on which c. 5830 birds of some 60 species were recorded. I uploaded the full line transect dataset to @datadryad (under curation): doi.org/10.5061/dryad.… and then all the bird records to #eBird (video) 7/n

Embarrassed to say this, but I've done nothing with most of that bird line transect data I've been sitting on since 1997-99. A bit was used here (doi.org/10.1046/j.1474…), but most of it was for questions I never got around to exploring. Now even if I can't do it, others can. 8/n

On #eBird this data helps to track the conservation status of Indian bird. The State of India's Birds 2020 report @birdcountindia used such historical data and documented serious declines in bird populations, especially #WesternGhats endemics. 9/n stateofindiasbirds.in

It also contributes to global analyses of the state of the world's #birds as in this recent paper. Nearly half the world's birds are declining and in India it includes numerous birds of wetlands, grasslands, and forests. @birdcountindia 10/n Figure from: doi.org/10.1146/annure…

As for our data, that's not all. There are some more bird records to compile and upload, plant sampling data to contribute @GBIF directly, while photos/herbarium records are being uploaded @inaturalist. Bit of work left, but better late than never. 11/n

Living and working in the KMTR rainforests in 1997-99 formed the best years our lives. This is where we lived (yes, that dot), home for nearly 3 years--no electricity, phones, internet, roads, noise--surrounded by miles of rainforest and mountains. Sketch @MaheshSankaran7 12/n

For us, KMTR was formative. The place shaped and educated us, helped build our careers, pointed us towards a quarter century of rainforest research and conservation in the #WesternGhats. It also enriched our lives deeply. 13/n

The data we collected from KMTR is certainly not the best we could have done. It has many gaps and flaws and limitations. But the least we can do to respect the place and the efforts that went into our work is to share what we learnt in a spirit of #openscience.
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