DOI: 10.15468/rezu4h
title: Checklist and distribution of the species of Seychelles for conservationists

description: This dataset compiles most of the data from the "BIO" database for the Seychelles islands. It has three main objectives:
1.To share a nationally agreed taxonomic index of all species recorded in the country
2.To associate with that checklist key data on the conservation value of these species or their invasiveness in Seychelles. This includes a National Red List using IUCN threat statuses assessed at the National level.
3.To share all data available on the distribution of these species, including occurrences with exact coordinates except for species considered sensitive (which are provided here without exact coordinates, and for which the complete data are shared separately in a private GBIF dataset shared only with chosen conservation actors in Seychelles).

In the first version, and in the short term, this dataset is restricted to plants, but in future the plan is to extend it to all taxonomic groups.
In addition, because the species listed, and their taxonomic and conservation statuses need to be reviewed and discussed with the local scientific community in Seychelles, we use this dataset publication as an opportunity to strengthen partnerships in Seychelles. The pre-published first version was presented to stakeholders and discussed. We agreed to form a Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) National Coordination Group (NCG) (see list of contacts in the section "Associated Parties"), which is the collective author of this dataset and whose participants are involved in verifying and improving the dataset. This dataset will therefore serve as an open source repository for a formal KBA review in Seychelles. The group will eventually take part to and be complemented by a GBIF National Node which is being developed simultaneously.
This dataset is accompanied by 3 R scripts available online (https://github.com/bsenterre/seychecklist):

•The first shows how the BIO database manager converted the BIO data into text files ready for upload in the IPT
•The second downloads the dataset from GBIF and compile it into an enriched format that is used for a Shiny app
•The third creates a Shiny app that allows users to explore the data and to verify the status of Key Biodiversity Areas based on the distribution of species triggers. The app also provides users with a nationally agreed checklist of species of the Seychelles along with their conservation value or invasion status.
These scripts provide therefore a fully transparent approach to identifying KBAs, where the data is open source and where the data analysis and synthesis are also explicit and open source.
To prepare this dataset, we have reviewed the various standards available with GBIF through the main 'cores' and extensions (http://rs.gbif.org/extension/gbif/1.0/). Based on that review, considering the content of our BIO database and differences between our taxonomic backbone and GBIF backbone, we have decided to prepare a dataset using the Taxon Core and the following extensions (i.e. a checklist based on occurrences):

•Occurrence: for the core of the BIO database
•Species Distribution: for biogeography aspects, of native range (endemic to what)
•Species Profiles: for basic ecology (marine, freshwater, terrestrial), basic invasion ecology at species level (isInvasive) and basic functional biology.
•Vernacular names (although still in development)
•Alternative identifiers: to link to GBIF IDs and to IUCN Red List IDs
Complementary data are spread over the following other datasets:
•seysensitive: a private dataset providing the exact geographic coordinates for sensitive taxa (sharing their occurrenceID with the obscured duplicate found in the current seychecklist dataset)
•seynotinchecklist: an occurrence dataset containing all species occurrence data from the BIO database which are not linked to a species name listed in the current seychecklist dataset (https://www.gbif.org/dataset/99ccf1cc-03e3-4bd4-8a78-50d46dee8cb7)
•seyvegplot: dataset compiling vegetation plots, with eventID linking to the seychecklist dataset (https://www.gbif.org/dataset/4fc42f17-eaeb-4296-949d-34b8414eb1c1)
•ecosystemology: a dataset providing an index of ecosystem types, their names and synonymies (https://www.gbif.org/dataset/f513fe98-b1c3-45ee-8e14-7f2a5b7890bf). The ID of each individual stand (ecosystem occurrence) is referred to in the seychecklist dataset using the field eventRemarks (while locationID is used to store the code for the location of the stand).