Belize Biodiversity Information System

Summary of Species Accounts for Belize

Wildlife Conservation Society

Founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society

Information on Neotropical bats can be accessed by selecing the link above, or at the bottom of this page following the information on the BBIS.

These species accounts for Belize are abbreviated versions of distribution information compiled on each species in the Belize Biodiversity Information System (BBIS). The BBIS was developed in 1993 as a tool to manage and compile zoological information for 78 areas of conservation concern during the National Protected Areas Management Plan. At the completion of this national project, the BBIS became the biodiversity component of the Conservation and Environmental Data System (CEDS). CEDS is a consortium of government and non-governmental agencies in Belize concerned about natural resources and conservation. It is administered by the Land Information Centre, Ministry of Natural Resources the Environment, and Industry.

The BBIS is comprised of textual and spatial databases that are linked. The BBIS is one of many tools used by the government of Belize, national and international conservation NGOs when evaluating species distributions in protected areas and in modeling ecological and zoogeographic affinities within Belize. The information presented here includes distribution records that have been compiled from published and unpublished sources including in country field and expedition reports as well as museum collection data. Each record entered into the textual portion of the BBIS is linked to a reference to the data source. The BBIS is dynamic and new information is continually being added. Older information is also being corrected and updated when errors are found. Although such a listing can never be complete it is the most comprehensive zoological database ever compiled for Belize.

Many museums have assisted the Conservation Division of the Forest Department, Ministry of Natural Resources, The Environment and Industry by sharing data from collections made in Belize. Although detailed locality information is included within the BBIS, collection data reported here are limited to broad distribution categories of protected or geographic areas. No effort was made to verify species identifications of voucher specimen records and are presented here as received. Those wishing more explicit specimen collection information are referred back to the original source, the museum that supplied the data.

Graphic images, such as scanned slides, digital photographs and distribution maps are being added to species accounts on a regular basis. The amphibians were a updated in April 1999. Mammals have been a recne high priority wiht bats being updates December, 2001. Additional species will be updated as images become available. All images are copyright protected. Please do not use these for personal of commercial purposes.

Species account data are provided under the general guideline of the Rio Convention on Biodiversity and provides on this principle free and open access to biodiversity information complied in the BBIS.

These species accounts are provided on an "as is" basis- no responsibility is assumed by the BBIS administrators or by the caretakers of the original data for data validity. Data are not expected to be used on a for-profit basis. Any person or agency wishing to use BBIS data for environmental impact assessments or other for profit purposes must request permission from the Land Information Centre, secretariat of CEDS.

Data are provided on an end-user basis - that is, data are provided to users, but should not be passed on to third parties or redistributed. Proper acknowledgment of the BBIS is expected. If you use the BBIS data for publications pelase cite it as the source. Data are provided with the understanding that their use will be consistent with the philosophy of preserving biodiversity.

Regarding concerns of data quality - Every effort has been made to accurately enter and provide a synthesis of Belize biodiversity data. The principal goal of the BBIS is simply to freely make the existing information available to all interested parties. Those with special concerns regarding data precision or quality are referred back to the original data caretakers in the case of museum data, the publication citation or in the case of unpublished records to the original data source.

Of special concern are taxonomic determinations and geographic referencing of locations. Users are reminded that biodiversity data generally constitute positive information only; that is, absence of a record does not always mean absence of a particular species from a particular location or time. Biodiversity sampling in Belize has been spotty, and therefore biased, and from many areas, data is either lacking or often incomplete. Users are directed to the maps presented with each major vertebrate groups introductory and index page. These maps show presence only and the numbers of species reported for each geographic quadrant suggest where such knowledge gaps may exist. An understanding of the presence-only nature of this data is critical to their use and understanding in a biogeographical context.

Any person knowing of sources of distribution information on Belize fauna or flora including collections of Belize material that are not included in these lists are asked to please contact the BBIS administrators with the citations or location of collection information. Any persons finding errors are also encouraged to report these so they may be corrected in future updates.