Dr. Greg Jongsma, a recent UF Biology PhD graduate, has been working with a team of Gabonese and American scientists to launch the Gabon Biodiversity Portal, a public online database of digitized biodiversity data collected in Gabon.
Gabon is embarking on an effort to digitize and publish all of its natural history collection data and millions of camera trap records. Without having representation in online portals like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio), these important collections are effectively invisible. Language has been a major barrier for Francophone countries getting these fundamental data online.
Dr. Greg Jongsma is working with a team of Gabonese and American scientists to help Gabon achieve this important mission. Greg recently completed his PhD in the Biology Department under the guidance of Dr. David Blackburn of the Florida Museum. In November 2021, Greg led a five-day workshop in Gabon for a group of 18 Gabonese scientists to learn about digitizing and managing collection data. Project participants have already published >5,500 original specimen records to GabonBiota.org. The portal is now the second-largest contributor of amphibian records for Gabon and has doubled the number of fish records for Gabon available on GBIF.
The trilingual Gabon Portal (French, Spanish, and English) utilizes open-source Symbiota software, which serves as both a biodiversity data management and publishing tool. The portal includes a variety of types of data, including specimen data, photographic images, field observations, species inventories, taxonomic data, and species distribution data. The portal shares its biodiversity data with GBIF and hosts guides in French and English for using Symbiota-based portals to manage, georeference, and publish natural history databases. These resources provide much-needed support for Francophone countries in Africa and beyond to maximize the accessibility and value of their biodiversity collections.
Greg is heading back to Gabon in 2022 to lead a second digitization workshop. By March 2023, project participants hope to have digitized and published ~13,500 new natural history records. The team plans to expand the project to neighboring countries and is seeking funds to host a niche-modeling workshop, which will utilize the newly accessible treasure-trove of data.
