TreeGOER 2024 Expansion: Expansion with additional tree and bamboo species identified via the World Checklist of Vascular Plants

The database provides globally observed environmental ranges for an additional list of species not included in the TreeGOER database. Candidate species were identified via the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) version 11. Many of the additional species were hybrids or bamboo species that were excluded from GlobalTreeSearch. Taxonomical details given in a separate file correspond to information provided by the WCVP, as well as information on the life form of each species. Field n in the taxonomical data sets shows the number of records used to provide range information for the expansion of TreeGOER.

Tree species were filtered from the WCVP by selecting species records with an empty acceptedNameUsageID field (a field that refers to a current name if not empty) and afterwards filtering for records where the lifeform_description field contained one from the categories of tree (3580 candidate species for the TreeGOER 2024 expansion), shrub or tree (3129), scrambling shrub or tree (138), climbing shrub or tree (58), succulent shrub or tree (40), succulent tree (37), scrambling tree (32), liana or tree (6), , tuberous tree (3), tuberous shrub or tree (3), semisucculent tree (2), or semisucculent shrub or tree (3)

Species that could not be matched with the GlobalTreeSearch database (version 1.7) were candidates for the expansion of species documented in TreeGOER. Standardization to the WCVP was achieved via the WorldFlora R package, using the same scripts available in this Rpub: . https://rpubs.com/Roeland-KINDT/1134151.

Occurrence data were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility via the following downloads. Downloads were facilitated by prior identification of the GBIF usageKey via the rgbif::name_backbone function, afterwards filtering records that matched with a current species name in the GBIF backbone taxonomy, using package rgbif version 3.7-9.

• batch 1:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.upqqve
• batch 2:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.fhqdpg
• batch 3:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.w3k3n7
• batch 4:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.xqp7qg
• batch 5:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.t92qsg
• batch 6:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.7ug5z5
• batch 7:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.8tp9p8
• batch 8:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ewdj7m
• batch 9:  GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.gccja8
• batch 10: GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.jg7gzs
• batch 11: GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.6gww7b
• batch 12: GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.9h8axh
• batch 13: GBIF.org (27 March 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.mswf23

For bamboo species, identified by a similar process as documented above but now filtering in the WCVP for the lifeform of bamboo, occurrence data were obtained from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility via the following downloads:

• batch 1:  GBIF.org (08 April 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.6xt5qu
• batch 2:  GBIF.org (08 April 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.tdmva4
• batch 3:  GBIF.org (08 April 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.u2gpxv

After downloading the GBIF occurrence data sets, the same procedures were used to calculate the globally observed environmental ranges as in the TreeGOER database which have been described by Kindt, R. (2023). TreeGOER: A database with globally observed environmental ranges for 48,129 tree species. Global Change Biology, 00, 1–16. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.16914. 

A new check for the availability of species observations was made also for species listed in the GlobalUsefulNativeTrees database, but not in TreeGOER. Taxonomical details for these species are given as a 'set 2' in the database.

Downloads from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility were:

• batch 1: GBIF.org (04 April 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.ajwegx
• batch 2: GBIF.org (04 April 2024) GBIF Occurrence Download  https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hxk5be

Version 2024.06 included a new field in the Tmo10 zones files of 'A18' that flags 717 species that occur in zones where all months have a mininum temperature of 18 degrees or above, using similar methods as the 2024.06 version of TreeGOER.

The development of the TreeGOER 2024 Expansion was supported by the Darwin Initiative to project DAREX001 of Developing a Global Biodiversity Standard certification for tree-planting and restoration, by Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia to the Provision of Adequate Tree Seed Portfolio project in Ethiopia, by the Green Climate Fund through the IUCN-led Transforming the Eastern Province of Rwanda through Adaptation project and through the Readiness proposal on Climate Appropriate Portfolios of Tree Diversity for Burkina Faso, by the Bezos Earth Fund to the Bezos Quality Tree Seed for Africa in Kenya and Rwanda project and by the German International Climate Initiative (IKI) to the regional tree seed programme on The Right Tree for the Right Place for the Right Purpose in Africa. When using TreeGOER 2024 Expansion in your work, cite the publication (Kindt 2023) as well as this repository using the DOI (https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.11208040).