Methods used in gathering the AFLIBER database

For a more detailed explanation of the methods, please refer to our published article.

Species list compilation

We extracted all native vascular plant species and subspecies described in the published volumes of Flora iberica so far Castroviejo (1986-2019), which cover all plant families but the Poaceae (two volumes, work in progress). To fill in this gap, we used the recent comprehensive monograph by Zarco (2015) on the Poaceae family, complemented with some generic treatments published in recent years and personal communications from experts that were involved in the elaboration of the ongoing FI Poaceae volumes (i.e. Acedo, pers. com; Devesa, pers. com).

Given the long-lasting duration of the FI project (over 30 years), several taxa have subsequently been added to the Iberian-Balearic floristic catalogue since the publication of their respective FI volumes, either because they went unnoticed at the time or because they were taxa new to science. Therefore, we completed the initial species list (until July 2020) following several steps:

  • A revision of the “new taxa” tab as recognized by the FI website (www.floraiberica.es/miscelania/nuevos_taxones.php)
  • An exhaustive literature review of updated generic monographies and articles with newly recorded or described taxa for the study area (see Appendix 1- Supplementary References).
  • A revision of the official “Spanish standard list of vascular flora” published by the Ministry of the Environment (MITECO 2016).
  • A comparison with the recently published list of Iberian-Balearic endemics (Buira et al. 2021) to seek for possible gaps in our search.

The endemic status of the taxa is provided (distribution limited to the Iberian Peninsula and/or the Balearic Islands, following FI criterion), including a few Iberian species whose distributions slightly overstepped into the Pyrenean French northern slope and were also considered as endemics (Buira et al. 2021; Saiz and Ollero 1992).

Spatial distribution data

Distributional information at 10-km resolution was compiled from non-digitized sources including atlases and research articles to an unpublished database carried out over 30 years. Occurrence data below the 10-km resolution were upscaled to the 10-km grid, which represents the most detailed scale possible for the vast majority of the species.

References

Buira, Antoni, Mario Fernández-Mazuecos, Carlos Aedo, and Rafael Molina-Venegas. 2021. “The Contribution of the Edaphic Factor as a Driver of Recent Plant Diversification in a Mediterranean Biodiversity Hotspot.” Journal of Ecology 109 (2): 987–99.
Castroviejo, Santiago, coord. 1986-2019. Flora Ibérica. Vol. 1–18, 20–21. Real Jardı́n Botánico, CSIC.
MITECO, Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica. 2016. https://www.miteco.gob.es/en/biodiversidad/servicios/banco-datos-naturaleza/.
Saiz, JC Moreno, and H Sainz Ollero. 1992. Atlas Corológico de Las Monocotiledóneas Endémicas de La Penı́nsula Ibérica y Baleares: Bases Para Una Polı́tica de Conservación. Icona.
Zarco, Carlos Romero. 2015. Las Gramı́neas de La Penı́nsula Ibérica e Islas Baleares: Claves Ilustradas Para La Determinación de Los géneros y Catálogo Preliminar de Las Especies. Vol. 15. Jolube Consultor Botánico y Editor.