Welcome to BioGIS
What is BioGIS?
BioGIS is a Geographical Information System established to create a national database
of the flora and fauna of Israel. The database is open to the public and provides
advanced tools for querying, analyzing, modeling, and visualizing patterns of species
distribution in Israel.
Where do the data come from?
The BioGIS database compiles records of plant and animal species from herbaria and
museum collections respectively, and from surveys carried out by academic institutions,
individual scientists, government authorities, and non-governmental organizations
in Israel.
Scientific Notes, Disclaimers and Provisos for Users of BioGIS
Scientific notes
Biodiversity data generally constitute positive information only; that is, absence
of a record does not mean absence of a particular species at a particular point
in space or time. Because biodiversity sampling is often spotty, biased, and incomplete,
understanding the positive-only nature of the data is critical to proper understanding
and interpretation. Taxonomic definitions are inherently variable. Users of BioGIS
should be aware that species names may change as groups are reviewed and revised.
BioGIS is being developed as a dynamic database, and species names should be actively
updated to meet the current international taxonomic criteria. In BioGIS, biological
records are integrated with digital maps of various environmental factors. These
maps are derived from a variety of sources and differ from each other in their levels
of detail, scale, and accuracy. These aspects should be taken into account in performing
and interpreting GIS-based queries.
Disclaimers
Guidelines
Data are provided in this system under the general, overarching principle of free
and open access to biodiversity information and technology.
Data are provided under the understanding that their use would be generally consistent
with the philosophy of not causing detriment to wild species.
Ownership
Users would not have ownership rights on any data found in the web site. The ownership
rights on the data in the site, including all rights on intellectual property, would
be at all times of the BioGIS Project or the original database providers.
Usage of data
Data are provided on an "as is" basis: no responsibility by the BioGIS project or
by the providers of the original data is accepted for uses or misuses.
Data are provided on an end-user basis, i.e., data are provided for primary users
and should not be passed on to third parties or redistributed.
Data are not expected to be used for profit-making. Use of the data for commercial
or for profit applications are permitted only via specific permission from the managers
of BioGIS and from the relevant data providers.
Liability
Neither the creators of this biodiversity information system nor the data providers
guarantees either the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the data provided,
or the reliability and functionality of the system's query tools.
Citation
Data obtained from the BioGIS database should be cited/acknowledged as follows: