Map of Life

Map of Life
Name	Map of Life
Type	Biodiversity informatics project
Founded	2013
Headquarters	Yale University
Languages	English

Map of Life is a global biodiversity informatics initiative that aggregates species occurrence, range, and conservation information to support research, conservation planning, and education. It synthesizes data from museum collections, citizen science platforms, research institutions, and conservation organizations to provide spatially explicit species distribution products. The project interfaces with major scientific data infrastructures and academic programs to enable applications across ecology, conservation, and policy.

Overview

Map of Life integrates occurrence records from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum, London, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, and California Academy of Sciences with citizen science platforms like eBird, iNaturalist, GBIF, iSpot and Butterfly Conservation. It combines datasets managed by research networks and data repositories including Dryad, DataONE, Global Biodiversity Information Facility, PANGAEA, and VertNet to produce species range maps used by users from United Nations Environment Programme programs, International Union for Conservation of Nature assessments, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and academic labs at institutions such as Yale University, University of Oxford, Stanford University, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Cambridge.

History and Development

The initiative began as a collaboration among researchers affiliated with Yale University, the University of Florida, and US government programs like the United States Geological Survey and the National Science Foundation. Early development drew on precedents from projects such as Species 2000, Catalogue of Life, and national atlases produced by organizations like the British Trust for Ornithology and the Atlas of Living Australia. Funding and technical support came from foundations and agencies including the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health through allied grants. Development milestones included integration with global workflows used by researchers at Harvard University, Princeton University, Columbia University, and the University of Toronto.

Data and Methodology

Map of Life employs occurrence data from museum collections curated by institutions such as the Field Museum, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and Royal Ontario Museum, supplemented by observations from platforms like eBird, iNaturalist, and GBIF. Methods draw on species distribution modeling approaches developed in academic centers including Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, CSIRO, University of Queensland, and the Australian National University, and implemented with tools and libraries from communities around R Project, Python (programming language), QGIS, and ArcGIS. The workflow incorporates environmental layers from datasets produced by NASA, European Space Agency, WorldClim, and NOAA, and uses taxonomic backbones maintained by Catalogue of Life, ITIS, and specialist checklists curated by institutions like the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission.

Applications and Use Cases

Conservation practitioners from organizations such as WWF, Conservation International, BirdLife International, and The Nature Conservancy use the outputs for reserve design, threat assessments, and restoration planning alongside policy instruments like the Convention on Biological Diversity targets and national biodiversity strategies. Researchers at universities and institutes including Monash University, ETH Zurich, University of São Paulo, Peking University, and University of Cape Town apply the maps in macroecology, invasive species forecasting, and climate change vulnerability studies. Government agencies such as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Environment Agency (England), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Philippines) integrate Map of Life products into environmental impact assessments, spatial planning, and protected area monitoring. Educational programs at museums and universities use the platform for outreach and curriculum development.

Governance and Partnerships

The governance model involves partnerships among academic institutions (for example, Yale University, University of Florida, University of Oxford), conservation NGOs including BirdLife International and The Nature Conservancy, data infrastructures like GBIF and DataONE, and funding bodies such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and National Science Foundation. Collaborative agreements have been formed with major natural history museums—Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museum, London—and with citizen science platforms eBird and iNaturalist to ensure data sharing, attribution, and technical interoperability. Advisory boards draw expertise from scientists affiliated with institutions like Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia University, and policy stakeholders from UN Environment and regional conservation bodies.

Limitations and Criticisms

Critiques of the project focus on data completeness and taxonomic bias, concerns echoed by researchers at University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University College London, and the Max Planck Society. Limitations include uneven sampling documented by studies from GBIF, geographic gaps highlighted in regional assessments by bodies such as African Union research programs and the Inter-American Development Bank, and challenges in integrating heterogeneous datasets noted by analysts at PLOS Biology and Science (journal). Others have raised issues about reliance on modeled ranges for policy decisions emphasized by commentators from Conservation Letters and Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, and about governance transparency in discussions involving IUCN processes and multilateral environmental agreements.

Category:Biodiversity informatics