nature conservation

Introducing the Data Dwellers

bartvanhoof, , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Small Observations, Big Possibilities

Sometimes a bumblebee lands on a flower. Sometimes it lands on a map.

Over the past year there have been a number of significant changes in my life, which include a move and diving into a new area of knowledge; Data Analytics. However, one constant has been nature observation. If you decide to take the plunge with me, I’d like to slowly start incorporating these aspects into a new series —one part data, one part nature observation. This series, Data Dwellers, is about the quiet footprints organisms leave across landscapes, and how every recorded sighting builds the bigger picture. Whether it’s a beetle in a field, a dragonfly over a pond, or a butterfly zigzagging through nettles—these aren’t just wildlife moments. They’re coordinates, timestamps, and opportunities.

I’ll be keeping this first entry light, but here’s what you can expect from future posts:

  • Mini-Profiles: Exploring species you might stumble upon, grounded in data and ecology.
    • Data Deep Dives: Looking at patterns, gaps, and what citizen-collected data can reveal about regional biodiversity.
    • Behind the Numbers: Explaining how digital ecosystems (like Observation.org or GBIF) track nature—with all its quirks and blind spots.

Each entry will be tailored to the species I’ll cover, some might benefit with a deep dive into the data available, whereas others will explore issues found within the data available. Furthermore, each entry will compliment posts in the other regular series such as Fly Facts, Butterfly Bulletin, Odonata Update, and more.

1.0 First Glimpse: Bombus inexspectatus in Spain

Here’s a simple visual example of what I mean. I’ve built a dashboard that combines observations of Bombus inexspectatus—a rare bumblebee—from two public datasets. It’s not flashy, but it starts to tell a story and it provides us a basis for excursions and goals we have to see if we can observe the species ourselves out in the wild.

I‘ve not yet been able to embed the dashboard here (yet), but below is an image with a link to that dashboard. The dashboard is interactive and will update by itself if I make any changes to it in the future. Feel free to zoom in on anything that might interest you, check or uncheck boxes, hover over observations or bars in the bar chart for more information.

Bombus_inexspectatus Dashboard

Fig 1. – Link to a Tableau Dashboard of Bombus inexspectatus observations. Data from Atlas Hymenoptera and GBIF. Click on the image to visit the dashboard in a new tab.

Dashboard Notes

  • Mapped Observations: You’ll see locations pulled from GBIF and Atlas Hymenoptera—both great resources with different strengths. I’ll post links below.
  • Yearly Counts: Even sparse data can show patterns (or silences). Why the jump in 2015? Why nothing recent? Questions like these guide deeper research.
  • Data Gaps: Some records are missing timestamps or counts. I’ve kept these in to reflect the reality of citizen science—messy, imperfect, but meaningful.

I’ll cover these questions in future Data Dwellers posts on specific species, as well as in a Data Dwellers post where I’ll cover my work methodology.

2.0 Why This Matters

In a way, species like Bombus inexspectatus are digital ghosts. We know they exist—or existed—but they flicker in and out of view depending on where people look, what they record, and how they choose to share it. This is where Data Dwellers finds its pulse: in the tension between the known, the visible, and the speculative.

As I mentioend above, I’ll be posting new entries under this series—sometimes short snapshots, other times deeper dives. And if something sparks curiosity along the way, feel free to reach out or leave a comment. Nature isn’t just for scientists, and neither is data.

3.0 Links

Each time I create a new dashboard for a species, I’ll be using various sources. One will usually be GBIF, which requires that you provide a link to the data used.

Atlas Hymenoptera – Great source on bees in Europe. The link it to the species-specific page.

GBIF – An open access database with biodiversity information. See here the citation you are required to add:

Creuwels J (2017). Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL) – Museum collection digitized at storage unit level. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/17e8en accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Praz C, Müller A, Hermann M, Neumeyer-Funk R, Bénon D, Amiet F (2025). Swiss National Apoidea Databank. Version 1.7. Swiss National Biodiversity Data and Information Centres – infospecies.ch. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/ksfmzj accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Bakker F, Creuwels J (2025). Naturalis Biodiversity Center (NL) – Hymenoptera. Naturalis Biodiversity Center. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/jgywgc accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Inventaire National du Patrimoine Naturel (2020). ATBI Parc national du Mercantour / Parco naturale Alpi Marittime-Jeux de données provenant de l’ATBI dans le Parco Naturale Alpi Marittime (Italie). UMS PatriNat (OFB-CNRS-MNHN), Paris. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/wzwus6 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Orrell T, Informatics and Data Science Center – Digital Stewardship (2025). NMNH Extant Specimen Records (USNM, US). Version 1.96. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/hnhrg3 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Mañas-Jordá S, Acosta Rivas C R, Ariño Plana A, Baquero Martín E, Bartomeus I, Bonada N, García-Barros E, García-Meseguer A J, García Roselló E, Lobo J M, López Mungira M, López Rodríguez M J, Martínez Menéndez J, Millán Sánchez A, Monserrat V J, Prieto C E, Romo H, Sánchez-Campaña C, Tierno de Figueroa J M, Yela J L, Sánchez-Fernández D, González M, Bonada N (2025). IberArthro: A database compiling taxonomic and distributional data on Ibero-Balearic arthropods. Version 2.4. Department of Ecology and Hydrology. University of Murcia. Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15470/pqq9oc accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Villares J M (2023). Inventario Español de Especies Terrestres (MAGRAMA). Version 1.5. Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.

Occurrence dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/f0qd41 accessed via GBIF.org on 2025-07-14.

Introducing the Data Dwellers

Information Overload – Visual Media

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Introduction

We’ve had a few posts on butterfly species of late, so I thought I’d mix it up a bit and provide a short overview of some of the YouTube channels I follow that are related to nature. At the end I’ll add some channels that fall under my general interests (i.e. outside of nature).

Will make sure to provide a short comment on all channels and maybe you find something you like as well. Furthermore, there is a theme here for all channels; they usually deliver their message in a relaxed and calm manner, are centred around a learner mindset, and offer a broad range of insights into the topic discussed. So, let’s get started.

New England Forests
Frequency – Very irregular
Average duration – 30-60 minutes.
Comment – A calm voice, interspersed with sounds of nature, provides in-depth knowledge on a multitude of aspects of New England forests. There is a focus on trees and land-use over time, but there are other great series on the life around a pond over the course of a calendar year, amphibians, and more.
I wish this kind of content existed for Cantabria, but hopefully my blog can fill the gap in written format.

Mossy Earth
Frequency – Irregular, used to be bi-weekly.
Average duration – 10-20 minutes.
Comment – An NGO focused on rewildering and restoring natural habitats. They have projects across the globe, from a patch of rainforest in South America to abandoned quarries in Europe. What I enjoy is their documentation and clarity around the work that they do, in depth and thorough. They are not afraid to make mistakes, which makes it all part of a greater learning process. Learning through doing, perfect stuff.
They also have a Field Notes channel that goes into more detail around each project. Not a channel I watch regularly but I have watched the odd video just to get a better idea around how you might structure and set up an organisation/projects that they work on. Interesting insights.

Leave Curious
Frequency – Weekly, fairly regular at the moment.
Average duration – 10-15 minutes.
Comment – I came across this channel through Mossy Earth, as he is part of a number of projects they are doing in the UK and Scotland. Although he details those projects too, he also covers other aspects around rewildering (e.g., his own garden). Even though the channel is UK-centric, you can learn a lot if you want to approach nature in a similar manner around where you live.
Although the opinions given are stronger than the other channels, they are balanced (with a drive to improve our relationship with nature) and provide an opportunity for learning.

Stefano Ianiro
Frequency – Very irregular.
Average duration – 10-20 minutes.
Comment – Canadian wildlife photographer who purchased a piece of land (in Quebec I think) and is restoring it. Stunning images, relaxed atmosphere, and introspective approach create a great platform for the viewer to learn along with him as he rewilders his piece of land.

Other Topics

So here is a quick list of other channels I follow. There are plenty more, but these are the most interesting. Others are gamers (for the kids) like Emongg, and stuff like The Late Show or EV reviews. The following are channels that not everyone might know about but are super interesting.

  • The Late Brake Show – Channel about cars and considering I don’t really like cars/driving this has to be pretty decent for me to watch the regular cadence of videos that drop (around twice a week). Has a great way of informing and teaching viewers about the topics he covers.
  • Wristwatch Revival – More or less biweekly videos of 30+ minutes in length detailing watch restoration. Marshall’s dulcet voice guides the viewer through the whole process. What he does for watch repair is what I hope to do in teaching people about nature.
  • Random Golf Club – Slightly irregular schedule for videos about golf. Not your typical reviews etc. The Breaking 90 series is amazing. Laid back viewing.
  • The Needle Drop – Daily music reviews across all genres. He has various channels. Not that deep into music these days so this helps keep me informed at least a tiny bit. Weekly Track Round-up is a must watch for me, much of the rest I skip.
  • Everything Electric – The “blog” channel linked to the Fully Charged Show (EVs). Can be a bit preachy, but there are often interesting insights into energy. I often listen to the podcast of this show in the car and skip the videos.

Conclusion

Not much to add really. Maybe I’ll add an entry on sites I visit or podcasts I listen too, but those aren’t really nature specific. I’m more into listening to stuff like Freaknomics or The Daily because I want to learn about other things too, such as statistics etc. But for the time being we’re back to nature next week, not sure which one yet, we’ll see how the hike around Bejes goes on Saturday. This past Sunday it was 9C up in the mountains, lots of mist and cloudy, so no butterflies. Still a good day out, hoping to see a bear or wolf (no luck) but I just switch focus to other animals and plants. For the afternoon hike I went a bit down the mountain to walk a trail I’d never been on, yeah that was amazing. Will take the kids on it this summer and then I will see if I can do one of those day reports I did way back …

Information Overload – Visual Media