An increasing number of communities are publishing mapped trees under open data licenses allowing their use, modification and redistribution by everyone. Making data available is favored at the level of national governments and encourages the creation of participatory dynamics. Pericopsis.org invites both individuals and communities to join their efforts to build the largest map of tree diversity.
With two third of the world population expected living in cities by 2050, public education and engagement in ecological activities in urban areas will be essential for keeping connected with nature. The understanding of the value of biodiversity in our living environment has been identified as a target for sustainable biodiversity management at the convention of biological diversity in Nagoya: “By 2020, at the latest, people are aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve and use it sustainably” (Aichi Biodiversity targets). In this context, pericopsis.org has not only the potential to gather data for an integrative trees biodiversity map but also the ability to connect individual initiatives with those of larger communities. Cities, urban communities, schools are welcome to contact the webmaster to publish and share their existing databases on pericopsis.org. For cities that have currently no tree map, volunteers can use pericopsis.org for creating a city tree database and register it under the appropriate logo by contacting the webmaster.
Quality maps are those that have accurate tree positions, reliable scientific names and are updated when changes occur.
The precision of relative position of trees placed on a Google map exceeds in many cases the one that can be obtained by common GPS tools. Maps with GPS trees position having several meters inaccuracy (ex: trees mapped on the middle of roads) should be avoided as it leads to misidentifications with other tree positions and is less pertinent for urban landscape management (ex: estimation of interaction with electric lines, parking places etc.).
The scientific genus name is a requirement and the indication of the species name should be the norm. All scientific names published on pericopsis.org conform to the records of the International Plant Name Index database (IPNI©). Many cities are planting horticultural varieties that should be identified when possible in order to better evaluate their impact on species diversity conservation at large scale.
Ideally, interoperability should be achieved between pericopsis.org users, contributing communities and arborists. Urban communities or citizen groups interested in developing customized forms for data exchange with pericopsis.org users are welcome to contact the webmaster. Automated updates of private databases using pericopsis.org (ex: for professional management) can also be envisaged.
Data related to selected trees can be downloaded in form of KML file with a limitation of 10 000 trees and CSV od SHP file with a limitation of 200 000 trees. To reduce risks of abuse, data files are only downloaded under “Contribution”. Larger files can be obtained by simple request to the webmaster. For data provided by urban communities, information about licenses and modifications are indicated on the “Cities” page. Downloaded data can be copied, distributed and modified at the conditions that the paternity of the data and licensing conditions are mentioned, namely those of pericopsis.org and the concerned contributors. Data can only be shared at the conditions it has been received.