Summary presence/absence maps of macro-endobenthos in European Seas, based on the EMODNET Biology database

The large databases of EMODNET Biology only store confirmed presences of taxon. However, when mapping taxon distribution, it is also important where the taxon did not occur: there is at least as much information in absences as in presences. Inferring absences from presence-only databases is difficult and always involves some guesswork. In this product we have used as much meta-information as possible to guide us in inferring absences. There is important meta-information at two different levels: the level of the data set, and the level of the taxon. Datasets can contain implicit information on absences when they have uniformly searched for the same taxon over a number of sample locations.