Data mining for global trends in mountain biodiversity

Thanks to advances in electronic archiving of biodiversity data and the digitization of climate and other geophysical data, a new era in biogeography, functional ecology, and evolutionary ecology has begun. In Data Mining for Global Trends in Mountain Biodiversity, Christian Korner, Eva M. Spehn, and a team of experts from the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment of DIVERSITAS explore two of the hottest subjects in science and technology: biodiversity and data mining. They demonstrate how to harness the scientific power of biological databases for furthering ecological and evolutionary theory.

Expert contributors address two aspects of the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment. They cover how to link biodiversity data with geophysical data and how to use biodiversity data to substantiate evolutionary and ecological theory. The text provides different methodological approaches and examples of successful mining of geo-referenced data in mountain regions on various scales. It includes:

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Elevational and latitudinal gradients in plant diversity E-mining trends in diversity of Lepidoptera, beetles, and birds Niche modeling to explain past trends and predict future trends in mountain biodiversity Sharing biodiversity data with the Global Biodiversity Information Facility

Using electronic databases opens ways to manage biodiversity in a sustainable fashion, test evolutionary and ecological theories, and measure the impact of climate change on various species and its effect on conservation efforts. The information and examples presented in this book can stimulate the creative use of archive data to answer old questions with new tools, and advance knowledge and understanding of mountain biodiversity worldwide. The book highlights the benefits of and the continuing need for an increase in the amount and quality of georeferenced data provided online in order to meet the challenges of global change.

Christian Körner and Jens PaulsenLarry SpeersJorge Soberón M.Folk HuettmannMary T. Kalin Arroyo and Leah S. Dudley and Patricio Pliscoff and Lohengrin A. Cavieres and Francisco A. Squeo and Clodomiro Marticorena and Ricardo RozziJingyun Fang and Xiangping Wang and Zhiyao Tang and Zehao Shen and Chengyang ZhengDa-Cai Zhang and Hang SunMichael Kessler and Thorsten Kromer and Jürgen Kluge and Dirk N. Karger and Amparo Acebey and Andreas Hemp and Sebastian K. Herzog and Marcus LehnertNiklaus Zbinden and Marc Kéry and Verena Keller and Lluís Brotons and Sergi Herrando and Hans SchrnidNathan J. Sanders and Robert R. Dunn and Matthew C. Fitzpatrick and Christopher E. Carlton and Michael R. Pogue and Charles R. Parker and Theodore R. SimonsAndreas Tribsch and Thorsten Englisch and Felix Gugerli and Rolf Holderegger and Harald Niklfeld and Katharina Steinmann and Conny Thiel-Egenter and Niklaus E. Zimmermann and Pierre Taberlet and IntraBioDiv ConsortiumSandra Lavorel and Sophie Cachet and Amandine Sahl and Marie-Pascale Colace and Stephanie Gaucherand and Melanie Burylo and Richard BonetRobert Guralnick and Peter B. PearmanRoberto Pizzolotto and Maria Sapia and Francesco Rotondaro and Stefano Scalercio and Pietro BrandmayrChristophe F. Randin and Robin Engler and Peter B. Pearman and Pascal Vittoz and Antoine GuisanEva M. Spehn and Christian KornerChristian Körner and Michael Donoghue and Thomas Fabbrol and Christoph Häuser and David Nogués-Bravo and Mary T. Kalin Arroyo and Jorge Soberon M. and Larry Speers and Eva M. Spehn and Hang Sun and Andreas Tribsch and Piotr Tykarski and Niklaus Zbinden

Preface	p. vii
Editors	p. ix
Contributors	p. xi
Chapter 1 Exploring and Explaining Mountain Biodiversity: The Role and Power of Geophysical Information Systems	p. 1
Chapter 2 Primary Biodiversity Data-The Foundation for Understanding Global Mountain Biodiversity	p. 11
Chapter 3 Using Primary Biodiversity Data in Mountain Species Numbers Assessments	p. 17
Chapter 4 The Global Need for, and Appreciation of, Higli-Quality Metadata in Biodiversity Database Work	p. 25
Chapter 5 A Possible Correlation between the Altitudinal and Latitudinal Ranges of Species in the High Elevation Flora of the Andes	p. 29
Chapter 6 Exploring Patterns of Plant Diversity in China's Mountains	p. 39
Chapter 7 Elevational Pattern of Seed Plant Species Richness in the Hengduan Mountains, Southwest China: Area and Climate	p. 49
Chapter 8 Elevational Gradients of Species Richness Derived from Local Field Surveys versus "Mining" of Archive Data	p. 57
Chapter 9 Species Richness of Breeding Birds along the Altitudinal Gradient-An Analysis of Atlas Databases from Switzerland and Catalonia (NE Spain)	p. 65
Chapter 10 Diverse Elevational Diversity Gradients in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S.A.	p. 75
Chapter 11 Integrating Data across Biodiversity Levels: The Project IntraBioDiv	p. 89
Chapter 12 A Plant Functional Traits Database for the Alps-Application to the Understanding of Functional Effects of Changed Grassland Management	p. 107
Chapter 13 Using Species Occurrence Databases to Determine Niche Dynamics of Montane and Lowland Species since the Last Glacial Maximum	p. 125
Chapter 14 A Georeferenced Biodiversity Databank for Evaluating the Impact of Climate Change in Southern Italy Mountains	p. 137
Chapter 15 Using Georeferenced Databases to Assess the Effect of Climate Change on Alpine Plant Species and Diversity	p. 149
Chapter 16 The "Mountain Laboratory" of Nature-A Largely Unexplored Mine of Information: Synthesis of the Book	p. 165
Chapter 17 Creative Use of Mountain Biodiversity Databases: The Kazbegi Research Agenda of GMBA-DIVERSITAS	p. 171
Index	p. 179

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