Importing GBIF data into ArcGIS

ArcGIS Desktop is a desktop GIS application available on Windows.

GBIF occurrence data can be imported in at least three ways.

GBIF basemaps can also be imported.

Importing a GBIF download

  1. Download the desired occurrences in either Simple or Darwin Core Archive format.

  2. Unzip the downloaded file.

  3. Choose Map → XY Table To Point

    • For Simple format, choose as Input Table the unzipped file ending ".csv"

    • For Darwin Core Archive format, choose the unzipped file called "occurrence.txt"

    • The X Field and Y Field should be filled in automatically with decimalLongitude and decimalLatitude

  4. Click Run

importing arcgis desktop download

Using the plugin

The Download Species Occurrence Points (GBIF) plugin is developed and maintained by ESRI.

  1. From the Catalog, choose Portal → ArcGIS Online.

  2. Search for "GBIF" and select the Download Species Occurrence Points (GBIF) toolbox.

    • Right click it and Add to Project

    • You may need to confirm you wish the toolbox code to run

      importing arcgis desktop plugin install

  3. Return to the Catalog and choose Project, then the GBIF toolbox.

    importing arcgis desktop plugin open

  4. Run the toolbox.

    • Provide a scientific name, and select or draw a study area

    • Optionally, choose to Generate and register DOI

    • Click Run

      importing arcgis desktop plugin use

The plugin is limited to retrieving 100,000 occurrence records, but numbers above around 50,000 will be slow to load.

Visualizations with the Maps API

The Maps API is designed for visualization, it is used for all the maps on GBIF.org and can be embedded on other websites. It is of limited use for analysis, but can be useful for preparing customized maps.

  1. Refer to the Maps API documentation to find a suitable URL template, for example https://api.gbif.org/v2/map/occurrence/density/{z}/{x}/{y}@1x.png?srs=EPSG:3857&taxonKey=6&bin=hex&hexPerTile=57&style=classic.poly for all plants.

  2. Choose Map → Add Data From Path

    • Paste in the URL template.

  3. Click Add

Using the GBIF basemaps

The GBIF Basemaps can also be added as a layer.

  1. Choose Insert → Server → New WMTS Server

  2. From the Catalog (Project), Under Servers add the base layer

  3. The style can be changed be right-clicking the layer and changing the property under WMTS.