rangeBuilder (version 1.6)

queryGISD: Query the Global Invasive Species Database

Description

Returns a list of countries, categorized as native and invasive range.

Usage

queryGISD(species)

Value

list with 3 elements

species

the name of the species that was queried.

native

a vector of country names that comprise the native range of the species.

alien

a vector of country names that comprise the alien range of the species.

Arguments

species

genus and species

Author

Pascal Title

Details

This function returns distribution information as found on the Distribution tab from the Global Invasive Species Database: http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/

Because of how the GISD webservice is designed, it is possible to have the same country listed under both native and invasive distributions. This is because the species in question is native to one part of the country and invasive in another part of that country. See the GISD website for more detailed information.

This function queries a static version of the database, which will be updated periodically.

To see when these datasets were last updated for this R package, run downloadDates.

Examples

# find GISD information for the burmese python
queryGISD('Python_molurus')