Outline

Use the concepts and code from the Giraffa distributions assignment to create a distribution map of your study taxa.

If GBIF does not have enough records to map your taxa, search instead for one taxonomic rank above your current taxa. For example, if you are studying 4 subspecies of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), but GBIF only has records for species, then “zoom out” one taxonomic rank to species, and map the two known species of Odocoileus. If GBIF does not have species-level records, then zoom out again to genus and map the distribution of Odocoileus and 2-3 of its sister genera.

You do not need to print your map, instead we will check your RStudio Cloud project to give you a mark for completion (Q4). You do need to print and hand in your answers to Q5 (below).

This assignment is due Friday, March 13 at 12:00pm. No exceptions unless previously arranged with the TA.

(Note: You can use the map you created in Assignment5 to discuss your organisms’ distribution in your term paper, but this is not required.)

 

Instructions

  1. Open the RStudio Assignment Geographic distributions. At the left side of the menu select File -> New File -> R Script. Use the same menu to save and name your R script.

  2. Copy the code from the Giraffa distributions assignment into a text editor or into the empty script you created in step 1.

  3. Make modifications to the code to make your own distirbution map. Start by getting the GBIF IDs needed to download the occurrence data. Refer to the workflow outlined below - your data may need additional tidying depending on the taxa you are working on. Maps can be reframed by adjusting the lat/long settings in the map_ggplot() function.

  4. Save your map by going to Export -> Save As Image under the Plots window (bottom right window). You must save your map - it avoids having to re-run everyone’s code.

  5. Use the phylogeny for your study organism(s) to help propose two hypothetical scenarios (2-3 sentences each) for diversification events that explain the current distributions of your taxa. Think back to examples from lecture such as the effect of glaciation on warbler evolution (slide 46 and beyond in ‘Geography of Speciation’). This part of the assignment needs to be printed and handed in - please include the phylogeny!