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. 2019 Jul 8;6(1):118.
doi: 10.1038/s41597-019-0120-8.

FLOTROP, a massive contribution to plant diversity data for open ecosystems in northern tropical Africa

Simon Taugourdeau  1   2 , Philippe Daget  3 , Cyrille Chatelain  4 , Daniel Mathieu  5 , Xavier Juanes  6   7 , Johann Huguenin  6   7 , Alexandre Ickowicz  6   7
Affiliations

FLOTROP, a massive contribution to plant diversity data for open ecosystems in northern tropical Africa

Simon Taugourdeau et al. Sci Data. .

Abstract

The FLOTROP dataset contains numerous plant observations (around 340,000 occurrences) in northern tropical Africa (from the 5th to 25th parallel north) in open ecosystems (savannah and steppe). They were collected by multiple collectors between 1920 and 2012 and were managed by Philippe Daget. These observations are probably the most important and unique source of plant distribution over the Sahel area. The data are now available in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Tela Botanica website, and as maps in the African Plant Database. For the overall area involved, this dataset has increased by 40% the data available in the GBIF. For some countries between the 15th and 21st parallel north, the FLOTROP dataset has increased available occurrences 10-fold compared to the data existing in the GBIF.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Temporal distribution of species occurrence in the FLOTROP database. Each bar represents the total number of occurrences now available in GBIF by decades. (In black the addition from FLOTROP and in grey the occurrences previously available in GBIF).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Latitudinal distribution of species occurrence in the FLOTROP database. Each bar represents the total number of occurrences now available in GBIF or the different parallels from the 5th parallel N to the 25th parallel N. (In black the addition from FLOTROP and in grey the occurrences previously available in GBIF).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Map of the density of species occurrence in the FLOTROP dataset. number of occurrences per 100 km² for the different administrative units in the FLOTROP region.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Number of occurrences for the most frequent species in FLOTROP. Each bar represents the total number of occurrences now available in GBIF for 19 species with more than 2,000 occurrences in the FLOTROP database (in black the addition from FLOTROP and in grey the occurrences previously available in GBIF).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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