Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020)

A grid-based database on vascular plant distribution in the Meshchersky National Park, Ryazan Oblast, Russia

BACKGROUND

Ryazan Oblast, situated in the central part of European Russia, has a long tradition of biodiversity research. Large distributional, ecological and phenological data on various taxonomic groups are available from this territory, mainly in the form of paper publications items, undigitised museum collections and archival sources. The purpose of this dataset is to deliver floristic materials, collected by the authors in the Meshchera Lowlands in the form of GBIF-mediated electronic data, to a wider audience. The dataset covers wild tracheophytes (native species, naturalised aliens and casuals) of the Meshchersky National Park. In 2020, it was used for the production of grid maps in "Flora of the Meschchersky National Park: checklist and atlas".

NEW INFORMATION

The dataset contains 14,476 grid records of 817 taxa (806 species and hybrids, ten species aggregates and one genus). Most of the records (82.4%) were made in the field by A.V. Shcherbakov, M.V. Kazakova, N.V. Lyubeznova and A.D. Pastushenko in 2017 and 2018. The dataset includes only one occurrence per species per grid square. Georeferences are based on the WGS84 grid scheme with 55 squares measuring ca. 25 km2 (2.5' lat. × 5' long.). Each occurrence is linked to the corresponding grid square centroid; therefore, actual coordinates, habitat details and voucher information are unavailable. As of September 2021, the dataset on the flora of the Meshchersky National Park represents the second largest dataset on the biodiversity of Ryazan Oblast, Russia, published in GBIF.

Fleroff goes digital: georeferenced records from "Flora des Gouvernements Wladimir" (Fleroff, 1902)

BACKGROUND

Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) has uneven data coverage across taxonomic, spatial and temporal dimensions. Temporal imbalances in the data coverage are particularly dramatic. Thus, 188.3M GBIF records were made in 2020, more than the whole lot of the currently available pre-1986 electronic data. This underscores the importance of reliable and precise biodiversity spatial data collected in early times. Biological collections certainly play a key role in our knowledge of biodiversity in the past. However, digitisation of historical literature is underway, being a modern trend in biodiversity data mining. The grid dataset for the flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia, includes many historical records borrowed from the "Flora des Gouvernements Wladimir" by Alexander F. Fleroff (also known as Flerov or Flerow). Intensive study of Fleroff's collections and field surveys exactly in the same localities where he worked, showed that the quality of his data is superb. Species lists collected across hundreds of localities form a unique source of reliable information on the floristic diversity of Vladimir Oblast and adjacent areas for the period from 1894 to 1901. Since the grid dataset holds generalised data, we made precise georeferencing of Fleroff's literature records and published them in the form of a GBIF-mediated dataset.

NEW INFORMATION

A dataset, based on "Flora des Gouvernements Wladimir. I. Pflanzengeographische Beschreibung des Gouvernements Wladimir" by Fleroff (1902), includes 8,889 records of 654 taxa (mainly species) from 366 localities. The majority of records originate from Vladimir Oblast (4,611 records of 534 taxa from 195 localities) and Yaroslavl Oblast (2,013 records of 409 taxa from 66 localities), but also from Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (942 records), Ivanovo Oblast (667 records) and Moscow Oblast (656 records). The leading second-level administrative units by the number of records are Pereslavsky District (2,013 records), Aleksandrovsky District (1,318 records) and Sergievo-Posadsky District (599 records). Georeferencing was carried out, based on the expert knowledge of the area, analysis of modern satellite images and old topographic maps. For 2,460 records, the georeferencing accuracy is 1,000 m or less (28%), whereas for 6,070 records it is 2,000 m or less (68%). The mean accuracy of records of the entire dataset is 2,447 m. That accuracy is unattainable for most herbarium collections of the late 19th century. Some localities of rare plants discovered by Fleroff and included into the dataset were completely lost in the 20th century due to either peat mining or development of urban areas.

Contribution to the "Atlas of the Russian Flora": Twelve local floras of European Russia

Background

The purpose of this dataset is to deliver to a wider audience in the form of GBIF-mediated data vast floristic materials collected by the author across various localities of European Russia from 2001-2019 (Arkhangelsk, Tver, Vladimir, Tula, Lipetsk, Voronezh Oblasts, Krasnodar Krai, City of Moscow and Komi Republic). Taxonomic data on vascular plants for ten locations were mobilised from the papers and technical reports published in Russian and standardised. Floristic treatments for two locations (Yasnaya Polyana and Tsaritsyno) have never been published before.

New information

The newly-prepared dataset includes 5,309 species records, i.e. one species record per each local flora. These are either native or alien (fully naturalised and casual) species. All records within one local flora have the same centroid coordinates and coordinate uncertainty in metres. Floristic inventories from the following locations were mobilised: 01. Ustya, Arkhangelsk Oblast (543 species, 1,500 km²); 02. Zaseki, Tula Oblast (593 species, 60 km²); 03. Polibino, Lipetsk Oblast (553 species, 70 km²); 04. Khrenovoye, Voronezh Oblast (665 species, 200 km²); 05. Troyeruchitsa, Tver Oblast (501 species, 10 km²); 06. Man-Pupu-Ner, Komi Republic (182 species, ca. 300 km²); 07. Middle Lyaga, Komi Republic (143 species, ca. 300 km²); 08. Utrish, Krasnodar Krai (933 species, 195 km²); 09. Yasnaya Polyana, Tula Oblast (236 species, 2.2 km²); 10. Bogolyubovsky Lug, Vladimir Oblast (289 species, 1.7 km²); 11. Tsaritsyno, City of Moscow (359 species, 5.3 km²); 12. Patakino, Vladimir Oblast (312 species, 1.1 km²). According to the GBIF taxonomic backbone, the dataset covers 1,806 species, 669 genera and 127 families of tracheophytes.