Nearly 700,000 vertebrate species location records compiled from 16 separate wildlife databases maintained by state and federal agencies, conservation groups, museums, and schools in Wyoming. The Wyoming Gap Analysis Project converted these records into GIS format to create distribution maps, aiming to identify species with insufficient habitat protection. The majority of records (666,567) are from the Wyoming Game and Fish Dept's Wildlife Observation Database, current to July 1995.
Use Cases
- Model species distribution patterns based on recorded observation locations.
- Assess gaps in habitat protection for vertebrate species based on compiled distribution maps.
- Analyze observation trends based on attributes like species activity and date recorded.
- Integrate historical wildlife records from multiple sources for regional ecological studies.
Strengths
- Nearly 700,000 records provide substantial observational data.
- Aggregates data from 16 distinct sources, including state agencies, federal agencies, museums, and conservation groups.
- Records were converted to GIS format and validated with published range maps and expert review.
Limitations
- Last updated 1995-12-31 23:59:59.999000; freshness should be verified.
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the contributing sources.
Provenance
- Source
- Wyoming Gap Analysis Project, SCIOPS
- Collection Method
- Records converted from township/range/section/quarters to latitude/longitude using the TRLL program, compiled with published range maps and expert review.
- Geography
- Wyoming