Data from: Checklist of the vascular plants of the Cantabrian Mountains

Associated data to Jiménez-Alfaro et al (2021), Mediterranean Botany (accepted), including the complete dataset of native taxa from the Cantabrian Mountains, the list of non-natives (previously assigned to the study area) and the full list of Hieracium and Pilosella microspecies.

Abstract: We present the first standardized list of the vascular flora of the Cantabrian Mountains, a transitional zone between the Eurosiberian and Mediterranean biogeographic regions in northwestern Spain. The study area comprises 15,000 km2 divided into UTM grid cells of 10 km x 10 km, for which we revised occurrence data reported in the Spanish Plant Information System (Anthos) and the online database of Iberian and Macaronesian Vegetation (SIVIM). We used a semi-automatic procedure to standardize taxonomical concepts into a single list of names, which was further updated by an expert-based revision with the support of national and regional literature. In the current version, the checklist of the Cantabrian Mountains contains 2,338 native species and subspecies, of which 56 are endemic to the study area. The nomenclature of the checklist follows Euro+Med in 97% of taxa, including annotations when other criteria have been used and for taxa with uncertain status. We also provide a list of 492 non-native taxa that were erroneously reported in the study area, a list of local apomictic taxa, a phylogenetic tree linked to The Plant List, a standardized calculation of Ellenberg Ecological Indicator Values for 80% of the flora, and information about life forms, IUCN threat categories and legal protection status. Our review demonstrates how the Cantabrian mountains represent a key floristic region with 42% of the plant species reported in the Iberian Peninsula and a critical biogeographical hub in southwestern Europe. The checklist and all related information are freely accessible in a digital repository for further use in basic and applied research.