Scientific Data (Jul 2024)

The Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot: A Comprehensive Dataset for the Mira-Mataje Binational Basins

  • Mario H. Yánez-Muñoz,
  • Pablo Jarrín-V.,
  • Jorge Brito M.,
  • Roberto Román-RR,
  • Juranny M. Astorquiza,
  • Aida E. Baca,
  • Paul A. Baker,
  • Patricia Bejarano-Muñoz,
  • Eric Y. Cuesta R.,
  • Efraín Freire,
  • César Garzón,
  • Jorge Gómez-Paredes,
  • William Klinger,
  • Luz E. Lagos,
  • Wilderson Medina,
  • Patricio Mena-Valenzuela,
  • Luis J. Mosquera R.,
  • Robinson S. Mosquera M.,
  • Yirsela Murillo,
  • Yiscar D. Murillo A.,
  • Edsson Nagle R.,
  • Germán Narváez,
  • Stuart Pimm,
  • Cecilia Proaño,
  • Francisco J. Prieto A.,
  • Zoraida Quezada,
  • Giovanny Ramírez,
  • Reimer Rengifo I.,
  • Luis E. Rentería M.,
  • Miguel A. Urgilés-Merchán,
  • Lady Vargas,
  • Carla Valdospinos,
  • Zulmary Valolyes,
  • Diego J. Inclán

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03463-1
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 15

Abstract

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Abstract We present a flora and fauna dataset for the Mira-Mataje binational basins. This is an area shared between southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, where both the Chocó and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots converge. We systematized data from 120 sources in the Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) standard and geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems (GIS) (shapefiles). Sources included natural history museums, published literature, and citizen science repositories across 13 countries. The resulting database has 33,460 records from 6,821 species, of which 540 have been recorded as endemic, and 612 as threatened. The diversity represented in the dataset is equivalent to 10% of the total plant species and 26% of the total terrestrial vertebrate species in both hotspots. The dataset can be used to estimate and compare biodiversity patterns with environmental parameters and provide value to ecosystems, ecoregions, and protected areas. The dataset is a baseline for future assessments of biodiversity in the face of environmental degradation, climate change, and accelerated extinction processes.