Sampling biases shape our view of the natural world

Spatial patterns of biodiversity are inextricably linked to their collection methods, yet no synthesis of bias patterns or their consequences exists. As such, views of organismal distribution and the ecosystems they make up may be incorrect, undermining countless ecological and evolutionary studies. Using 742 million records of 374,900 species, we explore the global patterns and impacts of biases related to taxonomy, accessibility, ecotype, and data type across terrestrial and marine systems. Pervasive sampling and observation biases exist across animals, with only 6.74% of the globe sampled, and disproportionately poor tropical sampling. High -elevations and deep -seas are particularly unknown. Over 50% of records in most groups account for under 2% of species, and citizen-science only exacerbates biases. Additional data will be needed to overcome many of these biases, but we must increasingly value data publication to bridge this gap and better represent species’ distributions from mo...

生物多样性（biodiversity）的空间格局与其采集方法密不可分，但目前尚无针对采样偏差模式及其影响的综合研究。因此，人们对生物分布及其所构成的生态系统的认知可能存在偏差，这会削弱大量生态学与进化生物学研究的可靠性。本研究依托374900个物种的7.42亿条记录，探讨了陆地（terrestrial）与海洋（marine）生态系统中与分类学（taxonomy）、可获取性、生态型（ecotype）及数据类型相关的采样偏差的全球格局及其影响。动物类群普遍存在采样与观测偏差：全球仅6.74%的区域被采样，且热带地区的采样比例严重偏低。高海拔区域与深海的相关数据尤为匮乏。多数类群中，超过50%的记录仅对应不到2%的物种，而公民科学（citizen-science）项目反而加剧了这类偏差。要克服诸多此类偏差，仍需补充更多数据，但我们必须愈发重视数据发布工作，以填补这一缺口，进而更准确地呈现物种的分布...