Dataset of Phenology of Mediterranean high-mountain meadows flora (Sierra Nevada, Spain)

Abstract

Sierra Nevada mountain range (southern Spain) hosts a high number of endemic plant species, being one of the most important biodiversity hotspots in the Mediterranean basin. The high-mountain meadow ecosystems (borreguiles) harbour a large number of endemic and threatened plant species. In this data paper, we describe a dataset of the flora inhabiting this threatened ecosystem in this Mediterranean mountain. The dataset includes occurrence data for flora collected in those ecosystems in two periods: 1988-1990 and 2009-2013. A total of 11002 records of occurrences belonging to 19 orders, 28 families 52 genera were collected. 73 taxa were recorded with 29 threatened taxa. We also included data of cover-abundance and phenology attributes for the records. The dataset is included in the Sierra Nevada Global-Change Observatory (OBSNEV), a long-term research project designed to compile socio-ecological information on the major ecosystem types in order to identify the impacts of global change in this area.

Keywords: Sierra Nevada (Spain); Wet high-mountain meadows; abundance; global change monitoring; long-term research; observation; occurrence; phenology.

Figure 1.

Location of Sierra Nevada (southern Spain) and boundaries of the National and Natural Parks (top panels). The bottom panel shows the location of the borreguiles in the San Juan river basin with the sampling plots along an altitudinal gradient.

Figure 2.

Taxonomic coverage. The upper bar shows the percentage of records of the dataset belonging to each phylum. The bottom bars show the percentage of total records in the dataset by order. The number of records is included above the bars. The order bars is aggregated by class.

Figure 3.

Taxonomic coverage (families). Percentage of dataset records by families. The numbers indicate the records of each family.

Figure 4.

(a) Panoramic view of the borreguil of San Juan valley. The particular zonation of this ecosystem depending on soil moisture is reflected in the different colours of the borreguil. (b) Schematic representation of the vegetal communities forming the borreguiles, including dry borreguil (4 Armerio-Agrostietum nevadensis), dense grassland (1 Nardo-Festucetum ibericae), incipient peat formations (2 Ranunculo-Caricetum intrincatae) and variants of borreguil in promontory areas (3 Ranunculo-Vaccinietum uliginosi). Modified from Losa-Quintana et al. (1986). Picture: JM Martín-Martín.

Figure 5.

Schema of the sampling design. a Different sampling plots were distributed along an altitudinal gradient. For the middle-altitude locality the plots were sampled in two periods: 1988–1990 and 2009–2013. View of a sampling plot of 1 × 1 m (b) that was divided into quadrats of 25 × 25 cm to facilitate counting (c) and to record the cover-abundance and the number of individuals in flowering (d) or in fruit phenophase.