What is SWARMatlas?

About SWARMatlas

The collective movement of animals is a wonder of the natural world. It is also amongst the most diverse and widespread behaviours in the animal kingdom; including starlings murmurations, sardine bait balls, locust swarms and wildebeest stampedes. 

Many of these systems have been studied in remarkable detail. But most studies focus on a single species, context or method. As a result, we still know surprisingly little about the big picture. How exactly does collective movement differ across (and within)  species and why has it evolved in some animals and not others?

To understand the evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of collective movement, we need a comparative perspective. That means bringing all the data together.

SWARMatlas: a global repository dedicated to collective movement data.

We bring together tracking data from animal groups in one place: GPS-tagged herds and flocks, video-tracked shoals and swarms, and recordings from both the field and the lab. We work with researchers around the world to gather and store these datasets, so that data collected to answer one question can help answer many more.

By pooling these datasets, SWARMatlas will help:

• compare collective behaviour across species, environments and both spatial and temporal scales

• test hypotheses of how and why animals move together

• find suitable datasets, including data not originally studying collective movement

• reuse and reinvigorate existing data not currently in use 

• build a community of researchers 

• highlight species and systems that remain understudied

How data are stored and recognised

Datasets are stored securely on our partner site, also called SWARMatlas - a SharePoint site hosted by Swansea University. Data is secured by two-factor authentification and stored on Swansea University cloud storage. Only core members of SWARMatlas have access to the data - see Team page. The data-storage and data-use policy of SWARMatlas is detailed in a data-management-plan which can be found on the FAQ page. 

Data is kept safe and private because:

• contributors keep ownership of their data and decide how it can be used

• data is never being shared or used without explicit permission

• if data is to be used in any publication, contributors will be credited 

• data access can be rescinded at any time and will be removed from SWARMatlas

Why should I contribute?

Every dataset adds to a shared picture of how animals move together. If you have collected movement data from animal groups, we would love to hear from you.