The MOBIOS+: A FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) Database for Mindanao's Terrestrial Biodiversity

Study Extent

MOBIOS+ included occurrence records from 2000-2023. The database contains data for terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in the entire faunal region of Mindanao, south of the Philippines.

Sampling

We applied the PRISMA approach to collect and select biodiversity studies from Mindanao from 2000-2023. We used the combinations of the following keywords: ‘Biodiversity stud*’, ‘Assessment*, ‘Survey’, ‘Terrestrial’, ‘Freshwater’, and ‘Mindanao’ to search for published literature from Google Scholar. We also explore the Biodiversity Literature Repository (BLR) (https://biolitrepo.org/) and the self-archiving ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/) for additional published studies, particularly on new localities and natural history notes of species. 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. We sampled each literature for species occurrence from published articles and books using the Darwin Core Biodiversity Standard format (Wieczorek et al., 2012). We extracted information for the species list, taxonomic classification, conservation status, location of the species, and other relevant information.

Quality Control

We countercurated all listed species and their distribution in the database using the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) database (https://www.itis.gov/). We excluded dubious species, such as those with problematic identification or species that naturally do not occur in the range without proper discussions or expert clarifications. According to the Catalogue of Life, taxonomy names were aligned and standardised (https://www.catalogueoflife.org). We retained the taxonomic classification of species with confusing arrangements. We plotted and mapped all species occurrence within the boundaries of the Mindanao faunal region 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 published biodiversity studies from the Mindanao faunal region. 2. Reviewing of the studies for suitability based on criteria. 3. Extracting species occurrence data and other relevant metadata from biodiversity studies in Mindanao faunal region. 4. Placing the species distribution and other metadata in Microsoft Office Excel format. 5. Curating species occurrence in Quantum GIS. 6. Organising of occurrence dataset following Darwin Core Standards.

The 12,814 georeferenced species occurrence is comprised of 1,926 species from 10 taxonomic classes. Invertebrates are represented by Gastropoda (27 spp., 1%), Bivalvia (4 spp., 0.20%), Arachnida (149 spp., 8%), Malacostraca (43 spp., 2%), and Insecta (866 spp., 45%). Whilst, the vertebrates are represented by Actinopterygii (176 spp., 9%), Amphibia (65 spp., 3%), Reptilia (135 spp., 7%), Aves (382 spp., 20%) and Mammalia (78 spp., 4%).

1. Gastropoda
   common name: Gastropods rank: class
2. Bivalvia
   common name: Bivalves rank: class
3. Arachnida
   common name: Arachnids rank: class
4. Malacostraca
   common name: Crabs rank: class
5. Insecta
   common name: Insects rank: class
6. Actinopterygii
   common name: Bony fishes rank: class
7. Amphibia
   common name: Amphibians rank: class
8. Reptilia
   common name: Reptiles rank: class
9. Aves
   common name: Birds rank: class
10. Mammalia
    common name: Mammals rank: class

Mindanao faunal region, south of the Philippines