BatMapPH: Philippine Bat Species Occurrence Database

Study Extent

The information contained in BatMapPH was compiled from documented observations published in the Philippines between 2000 and 2024.

Sampling

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) (https://biolitrepo.org/) and ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/). We excluded the thesis and dissertation to standardise our database because most universities and academic institutions do not have online repositories to access their research. We then assigned teams to collect and analyze data from specific taxonomic groups. Using the Darwin Core Biodiversity Standard format (Wieczorek et al., 2012), each study extracted species list, taxonomic classification, conservation status, location of the species, and other relevant information.

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 steps

1. 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.

1. Chordata
   rank: phylum
2. Chiroptera
   rank: order
3. Pteropodidae
   rank: family
4. Megadermatidae
   rank: family
5. Emballonuridae
   rank: family
6. Vespertilionidae
   rank: family
7. Rhinolophidae
   rank: family
8. Miniopteridae
   rank: family
9. Mammalia
   rank: class
10. Molossidae
    rank: family
11. Animalia
    rank: kingdom
12. Hipposideridae
    rank: family

The Philippine Islands