Corresponding author: Alexey P. Seregin (
Academic editor: Ivan Chadin
The dataset covers wild tracheophytes (native species, naturalised aliens and casuals) of Vladimir Oblast, Russia. It includes only one occurrence per species per grid square, thereby recently confirmed earlier records are not duplicated. Georeferences are based on the WGS84 grid scheme with 342 squares with areas ranging from 94.7 km2 in the northernmost part to 98.2 km2 on the southern boundary (5′ lat. × 10′ long.). Each occurrence is linked to the corresponding grid square centroid, therefore actual coordinates, habitat details and voucher information are unavailable. In late 2011, the earlier version of the dataset was used for the production of grid maps in the standard "Flora of Vladimir Oblast: checklist and atlas". Additional records, obtained during field excursions of 2012 and 2013, were fully included in the "Flora of Vladimir Oblast: grid data analysis". The stable version of the dataset with 123,054 grid records (as of 1867–2013) was published in GBIF in 2017.
Data obtained in the field during 2014–2020, as well as those extracted from recently published sources, were digitised, structured and finally published in GBIF in April 2021. The last update added 7,000 new grid records. Currently, "Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867–2020)" contains 130,054 unique occurrences of 1,465 vascular plant taxa (species, hybrids, species aggregates) from Vladimir Oblast and tiny parts of the adjacent areas. The average number of grid records has grown over the seven years from 363 to 380 species. The grid occurrences are largely based on the field studies by the author, performed during 1999–2020 (121,737 records), as well as on data extracted from the relevant literature, unpublished sources, herbarium collections and citizen science projects (8,317 records). The taxonomic backbone of the occurrence grid dataset follows the accompanying checklist dataset to ensure correct cross-linking of the names. As of April 2021, the dataset on the Vladimir Oblast flora represents the fourth largest dataset on vascular plants of Russia published in GBIF.
Since 1999, the author has been working on the grid mapping of the Vladimir Oblast flora. The region covers an area of 29,074 km2. The oblast was divided into 342 grid squares measuring 5′ lat. x 10′ long. or ca. 9.2 x 10.4 km. Thus, the area of the grid cells slightly increases southwards from 94.7 to 98.2 km2 (Fig.
Every year, data obtained by the author in the field were imported into the distribution database on the Vladimir Oblast flora (MS Excel spreadsheet). The earlier version of the database supplemented by all available records from the literature and herbarium collections was used to produce maps for the standard "Flora of Vladimir Oblast: checklist and atlas" (
In line with the
Field data obtained by the author during 2014–2020 and new data published recently in various references were fully integrated into the dataset. New field data were obtained by the author during 77 standard one-day grid square surveys, as well as dozens of occasional field excursions focused on specific plant habitats, communities or species. This update added 7,000 new grid records into the dataset, including records of 26 new species. For at least 11,190 grid records, the date of the last record was updated to show current presence of the species. Three new grid squares were added on the fringes of Vladimir Oblast. The average number of grid records increased within seven years from 363 to 380 species (Table The taxonomic backbone of this occurrence dataset follows An aggregation of the records by standard grid square surveys was performed using the "eventID" field of the DarwinCore.
We amended the dataset on 29 Apr 2021 after a thorough data audit, performed by Dr Robert Mesibov (
As of 19 April 2021, the Vladimir Oblast occurrence dataset on the flora makes the seventh largest dataset on biodiversity of Russia published in GBIF (Table
Amongst the datasets published by the Russian institutions, this occurrence dataset on the flora makes the fourth largest dataset available in GBIF (Table
Grid mapping of the Vladimir Oblast flora
Alexey P. Seregin
Vladimir Oblast is located in Russia, specifically, in the central part of the East European Plain, ca. 100–400 km east of Moscow. It spans ca. 190 km from north to south and ca. 290 km from west to east, covering an area of 29,084 km2. The area is situated within the Volga River Basin with altitudes ranging from 67 to 271 m a.s.l.
Other native plant communities of Vladimir Oblast are peat bogs, xeric meadows on steep slopes and alder stands along smaller streams, as well as meadows, marshes and willow thickets on flood plains. Currently, 29.9% of land is used for agriculture, while 55% is covered by forests (official data).
Floristic divisions of Vladimir Oblast are based on UPGMA cluster analysis of grid data (Fig.
In contrast, the Oka-Tsna Ridge with similar boreal forests typically lacks species from wetland habitats due to the proximity of limestone. The Klin-Dmitrov Ridge has the most eutrophic conditions and is characterised by the Querco–Fagetea and Galio–Urticetea classes, while, in the adjacent Opolye Querco–Fagetea, woodlands are framed by Trifolio–Geranietea sanguinei communities. The Gorokhovets Ridge and the Oka Plain are covered by Querco–Fagetea woods and xeric meadows with some diagnostic species of the Festuco–Brometea class. The Sudogda Upland is the only Region where both Querco–Fagetea and Vaccinio–Piceetea communities are equally present.
The dataset combines two types of records, namely, field records by the author and data from other sources. The field records collected by the author (121,737 ocurrences) were obtained during 594 standard grid surveys. Typically, two surveys were performed in each grid square: (1) a summer survey (between June and September) and an additional (2) spring survey (late April to May). The numbers of grid records, obtained during the most comprehensive one-day standard grid surveys, are given on the map (Fig.
Data extracted from the relevant literature, unpublished sources, herbarium collections and citizen science projects are not massive (8,317 records), since the dataset comprises only the latest records per grid for each species. A short historical overview of the most important sources was published in Russian in
A standard one-day survey began with the preparation of the route using satellite images. It was designed to link known localities of rare species and areas of potential interest. Route planning helps to avoid various delays and fruitless searches. Plants that are difficult to identify in the field were collected for further examination as herbarium specimens. Previously-known localities of rare species were to be revisited.
Usually, a floristic survey of a grid square took one day (6–9 h, sometimes up to 12 h). The track was permanently controlled using GPS in the field. Before 2018, the author used a printed spreadsheet in a field notebook with a list of the most common plants, which comprised about half of the regional flora (Fig.
During field surveys, we kept a record of 680 most widely distributed species on printed spreadsheets to avoid omissions of common species. Nonetheless, a map of omissions of the top-100 most recorded species (Fig.
Vladimir Oblast, Russia, in its administrative borders and some records from adjacent parts of the grid squares, which are only partly within the Vladimir Oblast borders. During 21 years, the area was evenly sampled, thus the number of recorded species across grid squares gives a good overview of natural patterns, rather than sampling efforts (Fig.
The second book of the series (
55 and 57 Latitude; 38 and 43 Longitude.
A total of 1,465 vascular plant taxa–largely species, but also hybrids, microspecies, undivided genera and some uncertain species. Table
Rank | Scientific Name | |
---|---|---|
phylum |
|
PLEASE FILL IN TRAIT INFORMATION HERE
01-01-1867 through to 31-01-2021.
The year of observation is clearly indicated in 113,578 grid records (87.3%). Undated records resulted from digitisation of old references and specimen records, as well as from earlier surveys during which an interval instead of a specific date was indicated. As we include only the latest grid records for each species, the number of undated records is permanently decreasing. Merely all dated records (i.e. 112,992) were made during 2000–2020. In 2009, 21,220 grid records were added into the dataset (Fig.
By the end of 2017, many biased maps of species grid distributions were updated as a result of extensive field surveys. Thereby, the data collected during the last three years (2018 to 2020) clearly indicate further expansion of invasive or potentially invasive species (
Other
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License.
Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020)
7afb26e9-aad6-47cb-a5bf-de49dc7597a4,
1
Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020)
Darwin Core
47
"Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867–2020)" contains 130,054 unique occurrences of 1,465 vascular plant taxa (species, hybrids, aggregates) from Vladimir Oblast and tiny parts of the adjacent areas. The average number of grid records increased in seven years from 363 to 380 species (
The grid occurrences are largely based on the field studies by the author performed in 1999–2020 (121,737 records), as well as on the data extracted from relevant literature, manuscripts, herbarium collections and citizen science projects (8,317 records). An aggregation of the grid records by 342 grid squares was performed using "Event ID" field of the DarwinCore. Taxonomic backbone of the occurrence grid dataset is following
As of April 2021, "Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867–2020)" is the fourth largest dataset on vascular plants of Russia published via GBIF.
Column label | Column description |
---|---|
occurrenceID | An identifier for the occurrence. A variable constructed from a combination of two identifiers (datasetID and catalogNumber). For example, "urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:15550:02:000001". |
dcterms:type | The nature or genre of the resource. A constant ("Dataset"). |
dcterms:modified | The most recent date-time on which the resource was changed. A constant ("2021-04-16"). |
dcterms:language | A language of the resource. A constant ("en" = English) |
dcterms:license | A legal document giving official permission to do something with the resource. A constant ("http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode"). |
dcterms:rightsHolder | A person or organisation owning or managing rights over the resource. A constant ("Moscow State University"). |
dcterms:accessRights | Information about who can access the resource or an indication of its security status. A constant ("Use under CC BY 4.0"). |
institutionID | An identifier for the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record. A constant ("http://grbio.org/institution/moscow-state-university" for the Moscow Sate University). |
collectionID | An identifier for the collection or dataset from which the record was derived. A constant ("urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:15550" for the Moscow University Herbarium). |
datasetID | An identifier for the set of data. May be a global unique identifier or an identifier specific to a collection or institution. A constant ("urn:lsid:biocol.org:col:15550:02"). |
institutionCode | The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having custody of the object(s) or information referred to in the record. A constant ("Moscow State University"). |
collectionCode | The name, acronym, coden or initialism identifying the collection or dataset from which the record was derived. A constant ("MW" for the Moscow University Herbarium). |
datasetName | The name identifying the dataset from which the record was derived. A constant ("Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020)"). |
ownerInstitutionCode | The name (or acronym) in use by the institution having ownership of the object(s) or information referred to in the record. A constant ("Moscow State University"). |
basisOfRecord | The specific nature of the data record - a subtype of the dcterms:type. A variable (three terms: "Literature", "PreservedSpecimen", "HumanObservation" before translation). "Literature" was translated as "HumanObservation" following Darwin Core Type Vocabulary. |
informationWithheld | Additional information that exists, but that has not been shared in the given record. A constant ("Occurrence is placed in the grid square centroid; real coordinates, habitat details and voucher information (if present) are obscured.") |
dataGeneralizations | Actions taken to make the shared data less specific or complete than in its original form. A constant ("Occurrence is placed in the grid square (5.0′ lat. x 10.0′ long.) centroid. Only one record per grid per taxon is included in the dataset (normally, the latest one).") |
catalogNumber | An identifier (preferably unique) for the record within the dataset or collection. A variable. For example, "000001". |
recordedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups or organisations responsible for recording the original occurrence. A variable. |
occurrenceStatus | A statement about the presence or absence of a taxon at a location. A constant ("present"). |
associatedReferences | A list (concatenated and separated) of identifiers (publication, bibliographic reference, global unique identifier, URI) of literature associated with the Occurrence. A constant ("Seregin, A.P. assisted by Borovichev, E.A., Glazunova, K.P., Kokoshnikova, Y.S. and Sennikov, A.N. (2012): Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: checklist and atlas. Tula. Grif i K. 620 pp. (in Russian, with English abstract). http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4544.5122/1"). |
eventID | An identifier for the set of information associated with an event. A variable constructed from a combination of three identifiers (grid square index from verbatimLocality, eventDate and initials of the recordedBy person). For example, "Н3/2004-10-23/APS". |
year | The four-digit year in which the event occurred, according to the Common Era Calendar. A variable. |
month | The ordinal month in which the event occurred. A variable. |
day | The integer day of the month on which the event occurred. A variable. |
eventDate | The date or interval during which an event occurred. For occurrences, this is the date when the event was recorded. A variable. |
eventRemarks | Comments or notes about the event. A variable (three options: "Standard survey period 1867-1949", "Standard survey period 1950-1999", "Standard survey period 2000-2020"). |
higherGeography | A list (concatenated and separated) of geographic names less specific than the information captured in the locality term. A constant ("Europe | Russian Federation | Vladimir Oblast"). |
continent | The name of the continent in which the location occurs. A constant ("Europe"). |
country | The name of the country or |
countryCode | The standard code for the country in which the location occurs. A constant ("RU"). |
stateProvince | The name of the next smaller administrative region than country (state, province, canton, department, region etc.) in which the location occurs. A constant ("Vladimir Oblast"). |
verbatimLocality | The original textual description of the place. A variable with grid square index. For example, "Grid square Е17". |
locationAccordingTo | Information about the source of this location information. Could be a publication (gazetteer), institution or team of individuals. A constant ("Seregin, A.P. assisted by Borovichev, E.A., Glazunova, K.P., Kokoshnikova, Y.S. and Sennikov, A.N. (2012): Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: checklist and atlas. Tula. Grif i K. 620 pp. (in Russian, with English abstract). http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4544.5122/1"). |
decimalLatitude | The geographic latitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a location. A variable (latitude of a grid square centroid). |
decimalLongitude | The geographic longitude (in decimal degrees, using the spatial reference system given in geodeticDatum) of the geographic centre of a location. A variable (longitude of a grid square centroid). |
geodeticDatum | The ellipsoid, geodetic datum or spatial reference system (SRS) upon which the geographic coordinates given in decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude are based. A constant ("WGS84"). |
coordinateUncertaintyInMeters | The horizontal distance (in metres) from the given decimalLatitude and decimalLongitude describing the smallest circle containing the whole of the location. A constant ("7000" or an average distance between a grid square centroid and a grid square corner). |
georeferencedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups or organisations who determined the georeference (spatial representation) of the location. A constant ("Alexey P. Seregin"). |
identifiedBy | A list (concatenated and separated) of names of people, groups or organisations who assigned the Taxon to the subject. A variable (for example, "Alexey P. Seregin"). |
scientificName | The full scientific name, with authorship and date information, if known. A variable (for example, " |
kingdom | The full scientific name of the kingdom in which the taxon is classified. A constant (" |
phylum | The full scientific name of the phylum or division in which the taxon is classified. A constant (" |
genus | The full scientific name of the genus in which the taxon is classified. A variable (for example, " |
taxonRank | The taxonomic rank of the most specific name in the scientificName. A variable (three options: "Species", "Genus", "Variety"). |
nomenclaturalCode | The nomenclatural code (or codes in the case of an ambiregnal name) under which the scientificName is constructed. A constant ("International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi and plants"). |
taxonomicStatus | The status of the use of the scientificName as a label for a taxon. A constant ("accepted"). The taxonomy is linked to a checklist dataset (https://doi.org/10.15468/7zk2y5) that defines the concept. |
The study was supported by the grant from Russian Science Foundation (project 21-77-20042).
I'd like to acknowledge Dr Robert Mesibov (
All stages of the work were performed by Dr. A.P. Seregin.
eBird dataset (
The grid scheme with 342 squares currently used for the floristic surveillance of Vladimir Oblast, Russia (5′ lat. x 10′ long.).
There were 335 grid squares in the initial scheme (white squares). Subsequently,
Floristic divisions of Vladimir Oblast, based on UPGMA cluster analysis of grid data (
Klin-Dmitrov Ridge ( Opolye ( Nerl District ( Balakhna (Frolishcheva) Lowland ( Meshchera Lowlands ( Sudogda Upland ( Oka-Tsna Ridge ( Gorokhovets Ridge (no counts due to small area of the division and low number of corresponding grid squares) Lower Oka District ( Oka Plain (
Numbers of grid records obtained during the most comprehensive one-day standard grid surveys (equalling the number of taxa).
A page from a field notebook with a printed list of species used for the floristic survey of 15 grid squares in September 2012.
Omissions of the top-100 most recorded species.
Number of records per grid (equalling the number of taxa).
Year of the latest grid records within the dataset (
Progress in the documentation of
By the end of 2011 (79 grid records). Same data as published in the standard flora (
By the end of 2012 (97 grid records)
By the end of 2014 (112 grid records)
By the end of 2015 (130 grid records)
By the end of 2017 (133 grid records)
By the end of 2020 (140 grid records). Current dataset
The growth of the dataset during 2011–2020.
The earlier version of the dataset with 118,231 grid records (as of late 2011) was used for the map production in the standard flora (
End of the year | Number of records | Number of grid squares | Average number of records per grid square |
2011 | 118,231 | 337 | 350.8 |
2012 | 120,854 | 337 | 358.6 |
2013 | 123,049 | 339 | 363.0 |
2014 | 124,100 | 339 | 366.1 |
2015 | 126,682 | 339 | 373.7 |
2016 | 127,245 | 339 | 375.4 |
2017 | 127,415 | 339 | 375.9 |
2018 | 128,966 | 342 | 377.1 |
2020 | 130,073 | 342 | 380.3 |
Top-10 datasets by the number of records on the biodiversity of Russia published in GBIF (as of 19 April 2021).
Rank | Dataset | Reference | Number of records |
1 | iNaturalist Research-grade Observations |
|
1,247,040 |
2 | Moscow University Herbarium (MW) |
|
659,565 |
3 | RU-BIRDS.RU, Birds observations database from Russia and neighbouring regions |
|
433,635 |
4 | EOD - eBird Observation Dataset |
|
282,227 |
5 | Geographically-tagged INSDC sequences |
|
195,451 |
6 | Locations of plants on dot distribution maps in the Flora of Siberia (Flora Sibiraea, 1987–1997) |
|
169,854 |
7 | Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020) |
|
130,054 |
8 | Finnish Floristic Database (Finnish Museum of Natural History Collections) |
|
106,396 |
9 | Birds of Northern Eurasia |
|
86,992 |
10 | Chronicle of Nature - Phenology of Plants of Zhiguli Nature Reserve |
|
86,524 |
Top-10 datasets by the number of records published in GBIF by the Russian institutions (as of 19 April 2021).
Rank | Dataset | Reference | Number of records |
1 | Moscow University Herbarium (MW) |
|
1,025,148 |
2 | RU-BIRDS.RU, Birds observations database from Russia and neighbouring regions |
|
468,333 |
3 | Locations of plants on dot distribution maps in the Flora of Siberia (Flora Sibiraea, 1987–1997) |
|
169,854 |
4 | Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867-2020) |
|
130,054 |
5 | Birds of Northern Eurasia |
|
90,996 |
6 | Chronicle of Nature - Phenology of Plants of Zhiguli Nature Reserve |
|
86,524 |
7 | MHA Herbarium: collections of vascular plants |
|
78,193 |
8 | Chronicle of Nature - Phenology of Plants of FSE Zapovednoe Podlemorye |
|
54,792 |
9 | Birds and Mammals Collections of the Zoological Museum of M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University |
|
54,120 |
10 | CRIS dataset |
|
54,054 |
Top-100 most recorded species of Vladimir Oblast flora (318+ grid records).
|
|
|
1 | 342 | |
2 | 342 | |
3 | 342 | |
4 | 342 | |
5 | 342 | |
6 | 342 | |
7 | 342 | |
8 | 341 | |
9 | 341 | |
10 | 341 | |
11 | 341 | |
12 | 340 | |
13 | 340 | |
14 | 340 | |
15 | 340 | |
16 | 340 | |
17 | 339 | |
18 | 339 | |
19 | 339 | |
20 | 339 | |
21 | 338 | |
22 | 338 | |
23 | 338 | |
24 | 338 | |
25 | 338 | |
26 | 337 | |
27 | 337 | |
28 | 337 | |
29 | 337 | |
30 | 337 | |
31 | 337 | |
32 | 337 | |
33 | 337 | |
34 | 336 | |
35 | 336 | |
36 | 336 | |
37 | 335 | |
38 | 335 | |
39 | 335 | |
40 | 335 | |
41 | 335 | |
42 | 334 | |
43 | 334 | |
44 | 334 | |
45 | 333 | |
46 | 333 | |
47 | 333 | |
48 | 333 | |
49 | 333 | |
50 | 332 | |
51 | 331 | |
52 | 331 | |
53 | 331 | |
54 | 330 | |
55 | 330 | |
56 | 330 | |
57 | 330 | |
58 | 330 | |
59 | 329 | |
60 | 329 | |
61 | 329 | |
62 | 329 | |
63 | 329 | |
64 | 328 | |
65 | 328 | |
66 | 327 | |
67 | 327 | |
68 | 327 | |
69 | 327 | |
70 | 327 | |
71 | 327 | |
72 | 327 | |
73 | 326 | |
74 | 325 | |
75 | 325 | |
76 | 325 | |
77 | 325 | |
78 | 325 | |
79 | 324 | |
80 | 323 | |
81 | 323 | |
82 | 323 | |
83 | 323 | |
84 | 322 | |
85 | 322 | |
86 | 322 | |
87 | 322 | |
88 | 322 | |
89 | 322 | |
90 | 321 | |
91 | 321 | |
92 | 319 | |
93 | 319 | |
94 | 319 | |
95 | 319 | |
96 | 319 | |
97 | 318 | |
98 | 318 | |
99 | 318 | |
100 | 318 |
Growth in the number of grid records during the last three years (2017 vs. 2020) across Vladimir Oblast.
Presumable causes of the data growth include true
Species | Cause of the data growth | Records by the end of 2017 | Records by the end of 2020 | New grid records (2017 vs. 2020) |
expansion | 217 | 232 | 15 | |
orchid's life cycle | 185 | 197 | 12 | |
expansion | 110 | 122 | 12 | |
expansion | 31 | 43 | 12 | |
expansion | 26 | 38 | 12 | |
expansion | 223 | 234 | 11 | |
earlier under-recording | 71 | 82 | 11 | |
earlier under-recording | 200 | 210 | 10 | |
orchid's life cycle | 161 | 171 | 10 | |
expansion | 76 | 86 | 10 | |
short life cycle | 70 | 80 | 10 | |
expansion | 41 | 51 | 10 | |
earlier under-recording | 271 | 280 | 9 | |
earlier under-recording | 172 | 181 | 9 | |
expansion | 32 | 41 | 9 | |
expansion | 13 | 22 | 9 |
A grid scheme used for "Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia" dataset
shapefile of the grid (*.kml)
A grid scheme (*.kml file) used for georeferences in the "Flora of Vladimir Oblast, Russia: an updated grid dataset (1867–2020)" (
This file is also available on Zenodo (
An earlier version of the grid is available on Google Maps as a kml file at
File: oo_549170.kml