Biologist Open Access Database v1.0
Open access refers to data, software, tools or resources that are freely available and can be accessed and used by anyone. Here, I have compiled a wide suite of open-access databases, software, and tools that are well-suited for those studying biodiversity, evolution, ecology, sustainability, climate, geographic, or any other biology based discipline. This database is hosted through an R shiny application and is constantly being updated!
Click on the images or the titles to visit the main webpage of the data source.
Feel free to use the Tags and the search bar to better suit your open-access needs. Currently, the tags only support “OR” filtering. “AND” filtering will be added soon!
A few notes on this database and open access data:
Open access data is only as powerful as the data analyst. Open access data often contains errors, inconsistencies, and other issues common with any type of data collection process. Make sure you clean, manipulate, and analyze them properly!
Many of these sources are also themselves open-access databases. I have attempted to reduce redundancy where it makes sense. For example, the really useful AmphiBio dataset (which contains morphological data for amphibians) can be found at the Open Traits Network data source and as such, is not represented here.
Some of these data sources require an extra step to get access to the data. For example, the IUCN red list often requires a form submission with approval to get access to the data.
This is currently version 1.0 of the database. As of writing, I have inputted 33 data sources based on community feedback. Future editions of the database may include features such as citation mentions, improved UI, better filters, and related datasets. If you have any suggestions or leads on other open-access items, please leave us know in our community forum!