Biodiversity Analysis Tool (BAT)

How to Use BAT

1. Click on ‘Run a BAT query’ located on the navigation bar or on the link above.
2. For a simple way to demonstrate BAT, click ‘Try an example analysis’. This automatically defines all of the settings for the analysis and explains them. Most users will want to define their own analysis, as follows.
3. Use the pull down menu ‘Select a data source’ to select a data source and region of interest. The options (so far) are:
   • Insect taxa from the Australian National Insect Collection
   • Land molluscs from a combined dataset of Australian Museum collections and the collection of the Chicago Field Museum
   • Two families of moths from INBio, the National Biodiversity Institute in Costa Rica
   • Dung beetles of New Caledonia, collected by the Queensland Museum
   • Selected freshwater fish of Sao Paulo State, Brazil, from CRIA, the Reference Center on Environmental Information.
4. Once a data source has been selected, the Grid Size pull-down menu will expand to enable the user to make a selection (the exact selection depends on the data source being used). When the pull-down menu is ready, the text will change to ‘Select an Option’. Select as in (3).
5. Once a grid size has been selected, the Class pull-down menu will expand to enable the user to make a selection on which taxon class the user wishes to use (the exact selection depends on the data source). Select as in (3).
   
   This is the spatial unit used for the analysis. A smaller grid gives more local information, but a larger grid is often necessary to gain a more complete sample of the species in each area. For each region, one or more analysis grids of different sizes are available to choose from.

   PLEASE NOTE

   BAT is designed to run analyses at class, order or family level. Analysis at higher taxonomic levels (class or order) may be limited by the size of the dataset. Analysing at this level may take a few minutes, or, sometimes, the analysis may ‘time out’. This happens in particular, with the land mollusc dataset. If this happens, use the ‘back’ button on the Internet browser to return to the input screen and then click reset. The same analysis may run succesfully at another time.

6. Once a class has been selected, the user decides whether to run an analysis at class level, or using lower taxonomic level. To analyse at class level go to (7), or to analyse at a lower taxonomic level, continue to select lower level taxa.
7. Once a taxonomic level has been selected, select an analysis type by clicking on the circle beside the desired option.
   
   Species Richness — maps the number of species recorded in each area from a selected data source and group of taxa.
   
   Endemism — maps weighted endemism to show areas where species are restricted to a narrow distribution range. This measure is similar to species richness, except that each species is weighted by the inverse of its distribution range. The scores for all species in an area are added together. Highly endemic species add a lot to the score, while widespread species add very little.
   
   Taxonomic Diversity — maps the taxonomic breadth of the complement of species recorded in an area. It calculates the length of the taxonomic tree required to span those species, as an estimate of the feature or genetic diversity they represent. For a given group of species, the less closely related to each other they are, the more highly they will score.
   
   More information on species richness, endemism and taxonomic diversity to is available in the section on technical information.
8. After selecting an analysis type, click the button ‘Run this analysis’ to generate the map. CAUTION: this may take some time with larger datasets.
9. When the analysis is complete, the screen will change to the following:
   
   
   

   

   The red numbers, arrows and circles indicate three basic tools of use for view the map.

   1.  is the zoom in and zoom out (indicated by ‘+’ and ‘-’ respectively). Click on the icon and then draw a box on the map indicating the area to zoom in or out to.

   2.  is the information tool for viewing species lists and records for a grid square. To use it, click on the icon and then click on one of the grid cells on the map. BAT will activate a screen that details the specimens recorded in the grid cell (as below).

   3.  is the scroll bar for viewing the rest of the screen including the map legend on the right hand side of the screen.

   

   

10. To do another analysis, click ‘Define New Analysis’, above the map, or use the back button on the Internet browser to navigate back to the input page.