Potaninia mongolica, a nationally protected plant species of Class II in China, is a Tertiary relict whose communities form a distinctive desert landscape on the eastern margin of the Afro-Asian desert region. Based on field survey data collected from September 1998 to August 2024, supplemented by relevant literature, this study investigated the geographical distribution, community characteristics, and community classification of Potaninia mongolica desert communities. Survey sites were located in Etoke Banner and Hangjin Banner of Ordos City, Alxa Left Banner and Alxa Right Banner of Alxa League, Urad Rear Banner and Urad Middle Banner of Bayannur City in Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, as well as Minqin County of Wuwei City and Linze County of Zhangye City in Gansu Province, China, and South Gobi Province and East Gobi Province of Mongolia. A total of 83 community investigation plots were established, including 67 quadrats and 16 registration plots (field-recorded coordinates of Potaninia mongolica distribution without quadrats). In the quadrat, one to three shrub quadrats (10 m × 10 m, with some early quadrats slightly smaller) were randomly placed within Potaninia mongolica communities, and each was divided into four sub-quadrats (5 m × 5 m). If herbaceous plants were present, herbaceous quadrats (1 m × 1 m) were established within the sub-quadrats. For each species in the shrub and semi-shrub layers, species name, height, and crown diameter were recorded. For the herbaceous layer, species name, height, clump diameter, and individual count were documented. The registration plots recorded basic information such as species composition, dominant species, and community types. The results showed that: (1) Potaninia mongolica communities were mainly distributed in the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau desert region. (2) The field investigation was recorded 42 species of seed plants belonging to 30 genera and 10 families, including 1 tree species, 15 shrub species, 15 semi-shrub species, 8 perennial herbaceous species and 3 annual herbaceous species. In terms of water ecological types, there were 21 strongly xerophytic species and 19 xerophytic species. (3) Based on dominant species and community structure, Potaninia mongolica desert communities can be classified into four association group: Potaninia mongolica temperate shrub desert group, Potaninia mongolica-bunchgrass desert group, Potaninia mongolica-temperate semi-shrub desert group, and Potaninia mongolica-temperate shrub desert group, which can be further subdivided into 25 associations. (4) Potaninia mongolica communities occur in arid, cold desert climate zones characterized by very low precipitation. This dataset is comprehensive and of high scientific value, providing critical evidence for understanding the geographical distribution, species composition, and structural features of Potaninia mongolica communities. It offers essential baseline data for further research on the basic characteristics of these communities and supports the compilation of the desert volume of Vegetation of China.

Insects represent the most diverse group of organisms on Earth, and research on the mitochondrial genomes of specific insect groups remains in the stages of development and accumulation. A notable lack of mitochondrial genome data for certain Hemiptera species in the GenBank database has hindered further exploration and applications in this field. This study reports detailed mitochondrial genome information for seven Hemipteran species: Maevius indecorus, Limnogonus cereiventris, Oxycarenus laetus, Hormaphis cornu, Melanaphis donacis, Pentalonia nigronervosa, and Acanthococcus lagerstroemiae. Among these species, Maevius indecorus and Pentalonia nigronervosa represent the first complete mitochondrial genomes reported for the family Hyocephalidae and the genus Pentalonia, respectively. The mitochondrial genome data for these seven species were retrieved from the SRA database, encompassing seven regions across six countries: Australia, Cameroon, China, India, Kenya, and the United States. This dataset provides valuable support for research on phylogenetic relationships, biodiversity, and population differentiation within certain Hemiptera species.

The inherent ecological and life-history characteristics of organisms are fundamental in determining species population dynamics and survive strategies, as well as their ability to adapt to environmental changes. Snakes are a group of vertebrates with a high degree of morphological specialization. However, due to the cryptic nature of snakes and their solitary behavior, life-history and ecological studies on snakes remain relatively lagged compared with other vertebrate groups, and no comprehensive trait database specifically dedicated to snakes has been available. This study collected and compiled 28 traits of 4,145 snake species by systematically consulting published snake books, peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literature, online databases and other data resources. These traits include life-history traits (8 traits including body mass, total length, prey), ecological traits (7 traits including distribution, microhabitat, elevational distribution), and biogeographical traits (13 traits including annual mean temperature, annual mean precipitation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)). The data completeness of these traits ranged from 42.41% to 99.90%. Compared to other datasets, this dataset has the most complete number of species, the richest traits, and offers higher completeness for some traits. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date global trait dataset for snakes, it provides valuable data support for research in ecology, biogeography and conservation biology of snakes at both global and region scales.

Long-term camera-trapping data provides critical information on the occurrence of elusive species and indicates the effectiveness of management and conservation interventions. A potential habitat for the Amur tiger in Northeast China is the Zhangguangcai Mountains located in the central and southern areas of Heilongjiang Province and eastern Jilin Province. We summarize camera-trapping records in southern Zhangguangcai Mountains between August 2015 and November 2020. Our research includes detailed species identification and a comprehensive camera-trapping dataset based on 72 camera locations. We compile a comprehensive camera trap survey with a total sampling effort of 88,093 camera-days, capturing 9,206 independent mammal detections and 655 bird detections. Species identification reveals 18 wild mammal species (5 orders and 11 families) and 31 bird species (9 orders and 16 families). Our dataset provides detailed information on camera trap locations, operational days, and independent records of mammal and bird species across different monitoring periods. Further, the dataset includes a comprehensive species list with details on endangered status and relative abundance index. Our dataset is the first comprehensive summary of infrared camera monitoring in the Zhangguangcai Mountains and offers essential scientific data to support targeted conservation and management decisions in the region.

There are 94 cetacean species worldwide, which represent one of the most enigmatic and threatened groups among mammals. Throughout their transition from land to water, cetaceans have evolved numerous morphological, life history, and ecological traits that enhance their adaptability to aquatic environments. However, a comprehensive global database of cetacean ecological characteristics is still lacking. Our study systematically reviews books, literature, and other data resources to collect and compile cetacean characteristic data, including 15 morphological traits, 12 life-history traits, and 11 ecological traits. Based on the collected data, we quantified the trait completeness for each species and employed phylogenetic linear regression model to explore the factors influencing the ratio of data completeness. The completeness of the morphological traits ranges from 72.15% to 100.00%, life history traits from 17.72% to 100.00%, and ecological traits from 25.32% to 100.00%. The regression analyses showed that species described earlier and inhabiting nearshore habitats tend to exhibit higher data completeness. This dataset provides essential foundational information for research in cetacean ecology, conservation biology, and evolutionary biology. It also serves as a significant platform for data sharing and communication in regional and global cetacean conservation efforts.

China serves as a global biodiversity hotspot for Gesneriaceae, with particularly high species richness and exceptional endemism rates concentrated in its southwestern regions. The family Gesneriaceae is characterized by its rich biological diversity, reproductive and nutritional organ phenotypic polymorphism, and a pan-tropical distribution pattern. These characteristics make this taxon a primary focus in research related to biogeography, evolutionary ecology, conservation biology, and more. Despite the importance of Gesneriaceae, investigations concerning its biodiversity in China have been limited to cataloging species, or some other generic analyses. This has left a gap in understanding the diversity distribution patterns of Gesneriaceae throughout China. To fill this gap, this study compiled literature and specimen data to catalogue Gesneriaceae and establish a geographic distribution database for China’s known Gesneriaceae. The findings reveal that Gesneriaceae primarily inhabit the tri-junction of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, as well as the Hengduan Mountains, southeastern Tibet, and across southern provinces. As of 30 June 2024, the Gesneriaceae in China comprised 46 genera and 880 species (including 58 varieties). Among these, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region had the most species (324), followed by Yunnan Province (319 species) and then Guizhou Province (159 species). At the county scale, Malipo County (70 species) and Pingbian Miao Autonomous County (63 species) of Yunnan Province had the most Gesneriaceae diversity. These invaluable findings will enable Chinese researchers to further their investigations and conservation efforts related to Gesneriaceae.

Species diversity is an important indicator of community structure, composition and function of forests. Evaluating and monitoring changes in species diversity of forest communities are crucial for natural resource management and conservation effectiveness, providing important support for scientific research, policy-making, and ecological conservation. The Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu National Park candidate area is located within a priority area for biodiversity conservation in China, preserving contiguous large-area mid-subtropical low-altitude evergreen broad-leaved old-growth forests that exemplify typical, integrity, and nationally representative characteristics. The Zhejiang Qianjiangyuan Forest Biodiversity National Observation and Research Station (hereinafter referred to as “Qianjiangyuan Station”) established a 24-ha forest dynamics plot within the Gutianshan area (formerly the Gutianshan National Nature Reserve) of the Qianjiangyuan section, which is part of the Qianjiangyuan-Baishanzu National Park candidate area following ForestGEO protocols during 2004-2005. The plot provides an ideal platform for long-term monitoring of species diversity in subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest communities. This study is based on four censuses organized by the Qianjiangyuan Station in 2005, 2010, 2015, and 2020 on the 24-ha subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest dynamics plot in Gutianshan. We conducted data quality control assessments and statistical analyses of census data for all stems with diameters at breast height (DBH) ≥ 1 cm of woody species. The study provides species diversity data for 600 quadrats of 20 m × 20 m scale. It calculates community α diversity indices (species richness, Shannon-Wiener diversity index, and Pielou evenness index) and β diversity (Jaccard index) were calculated for each quadrat. These data offer a foundational basis for in-depth research into biodiversity, community structure, and functions in the subtropical forest communities of Gutianshan. Furthermore, these data support evaluations of biodiversity conservation effectiveness and adaptive management strategies in this national park.

Database/Dataset Profile

Calls are a critical mode of interspecific and intraspecific interactions in anurans. Analyzing their call characteristics is fundamental for bioacoustics research, species behavior studies, and biodiversity monitoring. It is vital for understanding species identification, reproduction, distribution and evolutionary processes. In June, 2024, we collected call data from 11 anuran species (belonging to 6 families and 8 genera) in the Chebaling National Nature Reserve and nearby areas in Guangdong Province. The dataset includes call characteristics for these species, featuring oscillograms and spectrograms data from 11 advertisement calls and 1 fighting call. The dataset encompasses both temporal and spectral parameters, including simple calls, complex calls, call duration, note duration, note interval, number of pulses, dominant frequency, and fundamental frequency. This resource provides essential data for bioacoustic research and species monitoring of anurans in South China.

Database/Dataset Profile

Here is a dataset offers the information on fluorescence, photosynthesis gas exchange, and leaf traits for 48 species in the tropical rainforest of Qixianling Hot Spring National Forest Park in Baoting, Hainan, China. This dataset consists of 5 subsets in total. This dataset consists of five parts: (1) Species list file; (2) Raw data files of fluorescence photosynthetic gas exchange, totaling 5,328 records; (3) Leaf functional traits and environmental factors file, totaling 144 records; (4) Response curve fitting parameters files, totaling 432 records; (5) Species photographs. This dataset contributes valuable firsthand information to researchers, providing basic data for further studies on the photosynthetic physiological characteristics, ecological adaptation strategies, and responses to environmental changes of tropical plants.

A biodiversity study was conducted from July 7 to October 7 2021 in the Mt. Helanshan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. Specimens were obtained through three passive collection methods: flight interception trap (FIT), Malaise trap (MT), and pitfall trap (PT). The dataset comprises 20 sampling points with one FIT, one MT, and ten PTs each. In total, 9,984 beetles were collected from 30 families and 191 species. The dataset contains: (1) 816 original group photos of beetle specimens from the sampling points; (2) Group photos of beetle specimens labelled with their morphological species numbers; (3) A quantitative statistical table of beetle specimens; (4) Morphological species identification charts; (5) Information table of latitude, longitude, and altitude data for the sampling points; (6) A timeline of sample collection and field photos of the sampling points. This dataset not only provides effective and feasible passive collection methods for gathering beetles but also quantitatively assesses beetle diversity in Helan Mountain, thereby enriching related research.

Plant growth form and life form are important morphological traits for understanding the response and adaptation of plants to environmental changes and are of great significance for the study of the relationship between plants and their environment and ecosystem functions. They are also vital traits in understanding of the geographic distribution pattern of plants and the mechanism of the formation and maintenance of biodiversity. According to the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae and Flora of China, the descriptions of plant growth form and life form in the current edition of Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae are characterized by non-uniform classification standards, in which some of the information is missing, incorrect or ambiguous. In this paper, based on the information of plant traits in national and local flora literature and field surveys, we revised the growth form and life form traits of vascular plants, and established a dataset of the growth form and life form of vascular plants in China. The dataset consists of 35,329 vascular plant species, including plant names, growth form and life form traits, and their data sources. The plant names included names both from the Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, Flora of China, and from the Catalogue of Life China: 2023 Annual Checklist, to allow the readers to cross-check the differences between both taxonomic systems. Based on the degree of stem lignification, plants were classified into two groups: woody plants (12,600 species, 35.7%) and herbaceous plants (22,729 species, 64.3%). The woody plants were primarily dominated by medium shrub growth form (2,917 species, 23.2%) and evergreen life form (7,107 species, 56.4%). The herbaceous plants were dominated by the forb growth form (19,900 species, 87.6%) and the perennial life form (19,554 species, 86.0%). Among the woody plants, tree species were dominated by the families Lauraceae and Fagaceae, and of shrub species by Ericaceae, Fabaceae, and Rosaceae; evergreen species were dominated by Ericaceae and deciduous species primarily consisted of Rosaceae. Among herbaceous growth form, the forbs were dominated by Asteraceae, and the grasses by Poaceae. The annual herbaceous plants were dominated by Poaceae, biennial species by Boraginaceae, and perennial species by Asteraceae. This dataset covers all the vascular plant species and their growth form and life form in China, and can provide a data foundation for the study of plant traits in future research endeavors.

The diversity of beetles in the gobi desert is highly sensitive to climate change and human disturbance, the number, diversity, and functional traits of beetles can be used to evaluate the health and stability of the gobi desert ecosystem. The accumulation of monthly dynamic changes in the distribution and diversity of beetles in the gobi desert can provide data support for the study of animal diversity protection and maintenance mechanisms in desert ecosystems. The central part of the Hexi Corridor is one of the main distribution areas of the gobi desert. In 2012, we established a long-term monitoring set for the distribution and diversity of ground beetles in the north of Linze state desertification land blocking reserve, Gansu Province, located in the central part of the Hexi Corridor. This dataset mainly accumulates information on ground beetle species composition, beetle species photos, activity rhythms, quantity, and functional traits in the gobi desert. This dataset can be used for the identification of typical desert beetle species, the comparison of functional traits of typical beetle species and their spatial and temporal distribution patterns in response to climate change and anthropogenic perturbations.

The Krascheninnikovia compacta community is primarily distributed in extremely cold and arid high-altitude environments typically inaccessible to humans. It represents the most common and widely distributed type of vegetation in the alpine deserts of the Qingzang Plateau. Most investigations into this community take the form of qualitative descriptions, which fail to provide precious sample data. In order to generate a community dataset of K. compacta, this paper recorded and organized the spatial distribution, community characteristics and structure, and climate characteristics of this species based on field survey data collected in 2018, 2019, and 2022, along with a description of the relevant literature. The results showed that: (1) Krascheninnikovia compacta community was mainly found in the Central Kunlun Mountains of the Qingzang Plateau, the Northern Tianshan Mountains, the Altun Mountains, and the Dangjin Mountains Pass. (2) Krascheninnikovia compacta community had the relatively low values in community height, coverage, biomass and species richness. Our study identified 29 species of seed plants belonging to 11 families and 22 genera distributed among 22 typical plots. Hemicryptophytes were the dominant life form, with a total of 18 species, which accounted for 62.07% of all plants and primarily consisted of perennial grasses and perennial weeds. (3) The community structure was relatively simple due to only K. compacta having a consistent presence of more than 50% of all species. There were several subdominant species but mostly companion species and occasional species (93.10%) residing in the shrub layer and herb layer. (4) The vertical structure of the community can be divided into two layers. The first layer consists of a sparse cushioned small semi-shrub dominated by K. compacta, and the second layer consists of a sparse herb layer. (5) The growth environment of this community was characterized by a cold climate and little precipitation that is concentrated in the warmest quarter of the alpine desert climate. This dataset is the only known dataset describing the K. compacta community in China. It represents a valuable resource for studying the species composition and structure of the K. compacta community. The information regarding the geographic climate and community species in the dataset provides basic data for future investigation of Krascheninnikovia compacta community and compilation of Vegegraphy of China.

In order to fully understand the current situation of wild vascular plant resources in Xinjiang and provide basic information for subsequent work, it is necessary to revise and update the wild vascular plant list in Xinjiang. Based on previous studies, we updated the list of wild vascular plants in Xinjiang through literature collection, specimen study, field investigation and the latest taxonomic research results. In total, the present checklist recorded 4,109 species belonging to 800 genera in 113 families (including infraspecific taxa, the same below), with 52 species of lycopods and ferns in 23 genera and 14 families, 22 species of gymnosperms in 6 genera and 3 families, and 4,035 species of angiosperms in 771 genera and 96 families. The top 4 families of lycopods and ferns with the largest number of species were Aspleniaceae (9 species), Equisetaceae (8 species), Dryopteridaceae (7 species) and Cystopteridaceae (7 species), and the largest genus was Asplenium (9 species). Ephedraceae (11 species) and Ephedra (11 species) were the most abundant families and genera of gymnosperms. Angiosperms are the most important components of wild vascular plants in Xinjiang, accounting for 85.0%, 96.4% and 98.2% of the total number of families, genera and species, respectively. The top 5 families with the largest number of species are Asteraceae (600 species), Fabaceae (465 species), Poaceae (423 species), Brassicaceae (215 species) and Ranunculaceae (181 species). The top 5 genera were Astragalus (212 species), Oxytropis (101 species), Carex (86 species), Artemisia (65 species) and Allium (64 species). In addition, the list covers 53 species and subspecific taxa in 41 genera and 20 families of suspected species in Xinjiang, 59 species of protected plants in 26 genera and 20 families in China; 125 species of protected plants in 73 genera and 46 families in Xinjiang; there are 95 species of threatened plants in 61 genera and 38 families. This study can provide basic data for the revision of Xinjiang Flora and biodiversity conservation.

Database/Dataset Profile

Guangdong Province has a rich diversity of higher plants, ranking it sixth in China. This study compiles an updated dataset of higher plants with county-level records in Guangdong Province by drawing from sources including floras, illustrated plant books, nature reserve plant checklists, academic papers, dissertations, specimens, photos from the Plant Photo Bank of China, and our own field surveys. The resulting dataset details distributions of various taxa in specific counties and cities. As of July 2023, this dataset contains 8,106 taxa from 374 families and 2,284 genera of higher plants in Guangdong. Native wild higher plants account for 6,864 taxa from 350 families and 1,828 genera, where bryophytes (including hornworts, liverworts and mosses) makeup 865 taxa from 96 families and 272 genera, lycopods and pteridophytes account for 642 taxa from 36 families and 123 genera, gymnosperms total 35 taxa from 7 families and 17 genera, and angiosperms makeup 5,322 taxa from 211 families and 1,416 genera. In addition, 17 species are here reported new to the Guangdong Province. The families with the largest number of species are Poaceae, Fabaceae, Orchidaceae, Cyperaceae, Rubiaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, Rosaceae, Lauraceae and Gesneriaceae. This dataset also includes 323 invasive species from 58 families and 204 genera, 257 species of naturalized plants from 62 families and 206 genera, and 662 species of common cultivated plants from 129 families and 441 genera. Furthermore, this study provides a list of higher plants with excluded and dubious records; this list encompasses includes 905 species from 182 families and 545 genera. This dataset will provide foundational information and a framework for the second edition of Flora of Guangdong.

Database/Dataset Profile

The Xizang Autonomous Region, the provincial administrative region with the second largest land area in China, is located on the vast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which, in addition to being the tallest and largest plateau in the world, is also an incredibly rich biodiversity hotspot, supporting a variety of ecosystem. Initial efforts by research groups in the 1980’s to elucidate the full extent of plant diversity in this region has been described previously in the book series Flora Xizangica, however the collection of records of plants in southern Xizang remains largely incomplete in this work. The study presented here compiles information extracted from floras, periodical literature, dissertations, collected specimens from field surveys, and the Plant Photo Bank of China (PPBC) to provide an updated dataset of vascular plants in all of Xizang. Each record in this dataset represents the distribution of taxonomic groups at the county or city level and includes the following: category, survival status, Chinese family name, Latin family name, Chinese genus name, Latin genus name, Chinese species name, Latin species name, authors of the Latin species name, county or city level distribution, literature evidence, literature notes, specimen evidence, etc. Based on this new dataset, we archived a list of vascular plants of Xizang. As of August 2023, this checklist contains 11,853 taxa across 252 families and 2,049 genera of vascular plants, including 50 taxa belonging to 2 families and 7 genera of lycopods, 699 taxa belonging to 31 families and 110 genera of pteridophytes, 84 taxa belonging to 6 families and 19 genera of gymnosperms, and 11,020 taxa belonging to 213 families and 1,913 genera of angiosperms. From this data we identified the top 10 families possessing the highest number of species in this region (Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, Rosaceae, Ericaceae, Ranunculaceae, Lamiaceae, Primulaceae, and Apiaceae). Finally, we also generated a checklist of vascular plants with excluded/dubious records in Xizang, which includes 900 species of 454 genera across 121 families. This study will provide an expanded basic background and central framework for the second edition of Flora Xizangica, as well as serve as an important reference for plant diversity conservation and monitoring throughout Xizang forward.

Database/Dataset Profile

To facilitate revising and updating the checklist of vascular plants in Tianjin, we provided basic information on the status of wild vascular plant resources there, furthering the development of biodiversity conservation. We updated the checklist of wild vascular plants in Tianjin based on previous research by further examining historical collections, newly published records, data analysis, and the field investigation results of authors published over the past 20 years. The checklist was compiled in accordance with the latest classification of vascular plants. The distribution of each species was verified at the county and municipal level based on the information of voucher specimens (preserved specimens that serve as a verifiable and permanent record of wildlife). The present checklist recorded 996 species (including infraspecific taxa) in total, belonging to 519 genera in 135 families. There are 4 species of lycophytes in 1 genus and 1 family, 31 species of pteridophytes in 18 genera and 12 families, 2 species of gymnosperms in 2 genera and 2 families, and 959 species of angiosperms in 498 genera and 120 families. For lycophytes, the only family is Selaginellaceae (4 species). For pteridophytes, the top three largest families are Pteridaceae (7), Dryopteridaceae (4), and Woodsiaceae (4). For angiosperms, the top 10 largest families are Asteraceae (123), Poaceae (87), Fabaceae (67), Cyperaceae (41), Rosaceae (40), Amaranthaceae (36), Lamiaceae (28), Polygonaceae (27), Ranunculaceae (22) and Brassicaceae (22). The top ten largest genera are Artemisia (21), Cyperus (14), Amaranthus (14), Persicaria (14), Potentilla (12), Carex (12), Euphorbia (11), Cynanchum (10), Aster (9), and Saussurea (9), respectively. The wild plant species in Tianjin are predominantly common species with wide distribution. However, according to literature and specimen records, eight wild plant species are in the list of National Key Protected Wild Plant Species. The number of invasive plant species has continuously increased in recent years. Meanwhile, field surveys of rare and endangered vascular plants and invasive plants in Tianjin were insufficient; therefore, we recommend increasing the breadth and depth of follow-up field surveys. Furthermore, we call for strengthening specialized taxonomic studies on particular families and genera, which will help to further revise and update the checklist.

Database/Dataset Profile

Flower-visiting and pollinating insects play vital roles in maintaining ecosystem functions, but the biodiversity data of these insect groups has been grossly inadequate in China. As a species identification method based on specific gene sequences, DNA barcoding has important application value in specimen identification, discovery of new species, biodiversity conservation, population genetics and evolutionary research. In this study, a total of 815 mitochondrial COI barcodes of flower-visiting insects from Diptera, Lepidoptera and Coleoptera in Daiyun Mountain National Nature Reserve were sequenced and analyzed. The distributions of the insect samples at different elevation were also provided in detail. This dataset can help in constructing regional insect DNA barcode databases, discovering cryptic species, studying altitudinal genetic diversity and biodiversity conservation.

Here is a dataset offers the biodiversity information of beetles in the Ma On Shan region of Hong Kong, China. We collected beetles from various areas using three passive collection methods (flight interception trap, Malaise trap and pitfall trap) in different areas. The dataset includes beetles collected at Ma On Shan (Hong Kong) sample site from 27th May to 17th June, 2017. The sample site contains 13 sample points, each with one flight interception trap, one Malaise trap, and ten pitfall traps. In total, we collected 3,011 beetles from 45 families and 325 species. This dataset consists of five parts: (1) the original photos of collected beetles (photographed in 198 images); (2) photographs of beetles with identification results; (3) a statistical table showing the number of beetle specimens collected; (4) a morphological species identification chart; (5) an information table with latitude, longitude, temperature, precipitation and altitude of sample points. By using three passive collection methods, this study provides an effective and feasible approach for collecting insects. This dataset can be used to quantitatively assess the diversity of beetles and contribute to the diversity study of beetles in Hong Kong.

As of January 2023, China has a total of 312 snake species, establishing itself as one of the most diverse countries in terms of snake biodiversity worldwide. The characteristics exhibited by snakes hold significant sway over their survival within their respective environments, making them an important role in the study of their evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation biology. However, a comprehensive dataset encompassing the morphological, life-history, and ecological traits of Chinese snakes has yet to be established. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to provide a comprehensive dataset comprising the various traits exhibited by Chinese snakes. To accomplish this goal, we conducted a systematic collection of data from a range of sources, including published snake books, the peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed literatures, as well as the Reptile Database (https://reptile-database.reptarium.cz/). Our data compilation encompasses 41 distinctive traits, which were classified into three main types: morphological traits (25 traits such as scales and teeth), life-history traits (11 traits such as body length, diet, foraging mode, reproductive modes, clutch size, egg size, activity time, and venomousness), and ecological traits (5 traits such as Chinese/island endemism, adult habitat, geographical and elevational distributions). Among all these 41 traits, apart from geographical distribution, mental and rostral scales, which are 100% complete, the data on other traits were incomplete to varying degrees, ranging from 7.72% to 99.70%. This dataset is the most up-to-date and comprehensive collection of Chinese snake traits available to date. It provides a unique and invaluable resource for exploring the evolution, biogeography, ecology, and conservation biology of Chinese snakes.

Hainan Province is an area with a large contiguous area of tropical rainforest in China. It is one of the key areas of biodiversity with the largest tropical rainforest area and the most abundant species diversity in China. During 2012-2015, the Inventory of Plant Species Diversity of Hainan, List of Species in Hainan, and Illustrated Handbook of Plants in Hainan were published in succession. The progress of related cataloging is relatively advanced in China. However, with the in-depth study of Hainan plants, the names of some vascular plant taxa originally recorded have changed after new taxonomic revision. The classification of families and genera and their names need to be adjusted. At the same time, the original classification system also need to be updated. Based on the List of Species in Hainan and Illustrated Handbook of Plants in Hainan, combined with experience from many years of practical field investigation, we systematically searched the literature to fill the gaps in the existing catalog data, checking for omissions and deficiencies. The name was revised, the classification system updated, and relevant information such as plant distribution areas and protection levels improved. Finally, the cataloging and distribution dataset of wild vascular plants in Hainan Province was complete. As of February 2023, the dataset had 4,945 records, including 39 species of lychophytes belonging to 6 genera of 2 families; 531 species of ferns belonging to 121 genera of 32 families; 27 species of gymnosperms belonging to 10 genera of 6 families, and 4,348 species of angiosperms belonging to 1,380 genera of 181 families. Among them, there were 173 species listed in the List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (2021) (8 species in the first class and 165 species in the second class); there were 4,769 species of native wild plants belonging to 1,448 genera and 216 families (including 516 endemic species of Hainan) and 176 species of exotic and naturalized plants (including 63 invasive species). Compared with the first edition of the List of Species in Hainan, the total number of wild vascular plants increased by 225 species. This dataset can be used as important basic data for vascular plant diversity monitoring and protection in Hainan Province.

Species cataloging is the basis of biodiversity research and conservation, and wildlife diversity monitoring is essential for updating local species cataloging data. At present, infrared cameras have become one of the most widely used and effective methods for monitoring large and medium-sized terrestrial mammals and understory birds. The Laojun Mountain National Nature Reserve in Sichuan Province is the first national nature reserve in China to make efforts to protect the Sichuan partridge (Arborophila rufipectus), Phasianidae birds, and evergreen broad-leaved forest ecosystem. In this study, we used infrared camera monitoring to identify the distribution of mammal and bird species in the reserve from April 2013 to September 2020 and to develop a comprehensive camera-trapping dataset of Laojun Mountain. For each camera site, the dataset includes the geographic coordinates of observations, number of mammals and birds identified, number of independent observations, a list of observed mammal and bird species (including distribution among elevations, area of distribution, grid occupancy and relative abundance index in different years, etc.), and infrared photos of observed species. This dataset is the first comprehensive summary of species distributions in the reserve since the infrared camera monitoring work began. This work provides an important basis for scientific decision-making of targeted conservation and management of China’s natural resources.

Vascular epiphytes are abundant in tropical and subtropical forest ecosystems. Vascular epiphytes are often neglected in biodiversity surveys owing to the challenges they pose for investigators. There is no comprehensive national checklist of vascular epiphyte species in China so far. In this study, we reviewed the literature on Chinese vascular epiphytes from 1982 to 2022 and obtained the relevant information for epiphytes. We checked and corrected this information according to the data of Species 2000 China Node. Finally, we obtained the taxonomic and distribution information of 1,739 species of vascular epiphytes, belonging to 246 genera and 49 families. As the first national checklist of Chinese vascular epiphytes, this checklist can provide important data for forest biodiversity conservation, as well as the study of evolutionary biology, biogeography and macroecology, and other life science disciplines.

Calls of anuran species (frogs and toads) are generally species-specific. This means that bioacoustics can be used to investigate species diversity and monitor species, but only if the call characteristics are known. In this study, we summarize the call data and sample information of 43 anuran species (from 26 genera in 7 families) recorded in the field with high-fidelity recorders from 2012 to 2020. In addition, we provide a call characteristic dataset with oscillograms and spectrograms of 61 calls (after noise reduction processing). The dataset contains temporal and spectral characteristics of the calls, such as the note number, note duration, inter-note interval, call duration, dominant frequency, fundamental frequency, harmonics, and whether they are monosyllabic or multisyllabic. This dataset is essential for using acoustic techniques to survey species diversity and monitor anuran species in China using their calls.

The complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) have been widely used in the studies of molecular evolution, genomics and phylogeny. Aphids are important agricultural and forestry pests. Considering the reported complete mitogenomes of aphids are still limited, it will be of great value to obtain more aphid mitogenome data for related researches. This paper reports the complete mitogenome sequences of three aphid species, Greenidea ficicola, Aphis aurantii and Mindarus keteleerifoliae. The data of their detailed annotation, their gene sequence and gene structure, and the codon usage are also presented. These data can benefit future researches such as insect phylogenetic relationships, population divergence patterns as well as insect pest control.

The world is currently experiencing a biodiversity crisis, and climate and land-cover changes are now recognized as two major threats to biodiversity. China is one of the mega-biodiversity countries and the threatened species list of China’s higher plants was reported in 2017. This list provided important data for biological conservation and protected area planning from regional to global scales. However, it was mainly based on the past and current status of species population and distribution, while future responses of species to climate and land-cover changes were rarely considered. This will lead to an underestimation of future local extinction risks. Using high-resolution species distribution data of woody plants and species distribution models, we evaluated the impacts of climate and land-cover changes on woody species distributions and estimated changes in the extent of occurrence (EOA) for each species. Our results indicate that 12.9%-40.5% of woody species will be threatened under different climate and dispersal scenarios. Based on these results, we updated the list of threatened woody species in China based on the IUCN Red List Criteria. This new list of threatened woody species provides important data for assessing the conservation priorities of woody plants, for the planning of future nature reserve extension, for improving the performance of nature reserves under future global change scenarios, and for updating the list of threatened species of other taxa.

It is an important basis for the research on the prevention and early warning mechanism of alien invasive plants in China to figure out the types of alien plants in China, where they come from, how to enter China, what kind of groups of these alien plants are, as well as their biological and ecological characteristics. The information of alien plants recorded in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae, Flora of China and their records in the Chinese province flora is very limited due to various reasons. At present, there is no any available database including the complete information of alien plants in China. By integrating materials related to alien plants in recent years, and textual research on the origin, then added the habits of alien plants through literature, then using computer network, databases and big data analysis technical means, after information treatment and taxonomic correction, with reconstruction of the classification, this paper finally provided a dataset on catalogue of alien plants in China. There are 14,710 data in this set, with 14,710 taxa of Chinese alien plants belonging to 3,233 genera and 283 families (including 13,401 original species, 332 hybrids, 2 chimeras, 458 subspecies, 503 varieties and 14 forms). Each taxon includes basic information such as taxon, Chinese family name, family name, Chinese genus name, genus name, Chinese name, surname, scientific name, authors, living status, life span, growth habit, native countries or regions, and introduced provinces in China. The data set shows that alien plants have accounted for a considerable proportion in the composition of the Chinese flora (By December 31, 2021, there are 52,177 taxa of vascular plants in China, including 37,464 native taxa and 14,710 alien taxa, the proportion of alien plants is as high as 28.19%). In terms of survival status, cultivated plants account for 91% of all alien plants, escape plants account for 7.36%, naturalized plants account for 6.69% and invasive plants account for 2.66%; The analysis of life forms shows that perennial groups account for the vast majority of alien plants (13,625 species, about 92.6%), and the number of herbs (8,937 species, about 60.8%) is more than that of trees (2,752 species, about 18.7%), shrubs (4,916 species, about 33.4%) as well as the other life forms. Most of the alien plants in China were from North America (4,242 species), Africa (3,707 species), South America (3,645 species), and Asia (3,102 species), but less were from Europe (1,690 species) and Oceania (1,305 species). The top 10 provinces in China with more exotic plants are Taiwan (6,122 species), Beijing (5,244 species), Fujian (3,667 species), Guangdong (3,544 species), Yunnan (3,404 species), Shanghai (2,924 species), Jiangsu (2,183 species), Jiangxi (1,789 species), Zhejiang (1,658 species) and Hubei (973 species). This data set is the first comprehensive and systematic collation of alien plants in China. It can be used as a reference for research related to alien plants, as well as basic data for plant diversity research. It can also be used as a reference dataset for people in agriculture, forestry, prataculture, horticulture, herbal medicine, nature protection and environmental protection, as well as teachers and students in colleges and universities.

Impatiens is distributed mainly in the tropical and subtropical mountains of the Old World and has strict requirements on the growth environment. In-depth analysis of its geographical distribution pattern and characteristics can provide a basis for germplasm resources investigation and utilization. In this study, the species list of wild Impatiens in China was updated through systematic literature retrieval, and the geographical distribution database of wild Impatiens in China was established by integrating their information of distribution, altitude and endemism. Up to March 2022, 352 wild Impatiens species (including 18 varieties, 1 subspecies and 1 form) have been recorded in China, 273 of which are endemic to China. Impatiens is distributed in all provinces of China except Shanghai. There are 165 species in Yunnan, where has the highest species richness and endemism at the provincial level, followed by Sichuan with 119 species, Tibet with 69 species. At the county level, Gongshan County and Tengchong City ranks first in species richness with 51 species, followed by Fugong County with 42 species. In China, the distribution of Impatiens presents a pattern of diffusion from the tropics and subtropics zone to high latitudes and high altitudes. The broad sense Hengduan Mountain area, southern Tibet, Yunnan-Guizhou-Guangxi karst area and middle-lower Yangtze River Plain are hot spots for the concentrated distribution of Impatiens.

An inventory of vascular plants in a region is of great significance for regional plant diversity conservation and sustainable utilization of plant resources. Beijing is the capital of China, where the inventory work has been carried out early since the 1960s, but it has not been systematically updated in the past three decades. Currently, the existing data is outdated, scattered and unsystematic, and the inventory progress has even fell behind the neighbouring areas of Beijing. Based on the inventory of vascular plants from the Flora of Beijing (1992 Revised Edition) and combined with the field survey from many years, we have composed a dataset on new inventory and geographical distributions of vascular plants in Beijing (including two sheets for native plants and introduced plants, the latter is incomplete currently), by supplementing with new taxa, new records and new distributions from comprehensive literatures, revising the scientific names (based on the new revision of classification), updating the classification systems (using those based on molecular data), and also adding some related information such as taxon rank, distribution status, growth status, outdoor/indoor, distribution areas, knowledge degree and conservation status. Up to December 31, 2021, the dataset has a total of 2,883 data items, with 1,680 items for native plants and 1,203 for introduced plants. There are 134 families, 611 genera, 1,597 taxa (1,440 species 3 natural hybrids 46 subspecies 97 varieties and 11 forms) of native wild vascular plants in Beijing, and totally 3 families, 26 genera, 173 species 4 subspecies 28 varieties and 11 forms should be supplemented to the last version of Flora of Beijing. The Beijing native wild plants included in the ‘List of National Key Protected Wild Plants (2021)’ have only been counted for 16 species (only 1 at the first class, others all at the second class). There are also 90 species 3 subspecies and 4 varieties included in the ‘List of Beijing Key Protected Wild Plants (2008)’. On introduced plants, so far 137 families, 581 genera and 1,184 taxa (992 species and other infraspecific taxa) are counted, including many cultivated plants (854 species 19 hybrids 15 subspecies 29 varieties 2 forms 87 cultivars 38 cultivar groups). There are still escape plants (132 species 1 subspecies), naturalized plants (77 species 2 varieties), and invasive plants (27 species) in Beijing. The dataset shows that the diversity of native wild vascular plants in Beijing is generally not very abundant, mainly dominated by widely distributed common species, and lacking endemic species, narrow-range species, or rare and endangered species; meanwhile, there are a large number of introduced plants in Beijing. Even many have long been recorded in the versions of Flora of Beijing but they are also an important part of the diversity of vascular plants in Beijing, although they also bring some confusion and uncertainty to the analysis of it due to the incomplete data.

China has a total of 226 native lizard species as of 2020 and is one of the countries with the richest lizard diversity in the world. Systematically gathering the trait data of Chinese lizards is of great importance in studying their origin, evolution, extinction, and conservation. However, there is no complete database on the life-history, ecological traits, and geographic distribution of Chinese lizards. The aim of this study is to provide a comprehensive dataset of species traits for Chinese lizards. Through extensive retrieval and collection, we systematically collated data on 19 characteristic traits for all the 226 native species of Chinese lizards: year of description, China Red List status, IUCN Red List status, Chinese endemism, insular endemism, mean snout-vent length, mean body mass, diet, clutch size, reproductive mode, leg development, activity time, substrate, habitat type, habitat width, elevation range, geographic range size, biogeographic realm, and domestic distribution. Nevertheless, data completeness varied from 47.14% to 100% among traits. Leg development, year of description, Chinese endemism, insular endemism, and domestic distribution were the only traits with a complete dataset. Our database is the latest and most complete one on species traits of Chinese lizards. This dataset can provide support for the research fields of ecology, evolution, biogeography, and conservation biology of Chinese lizards.

Database/Dataset Profile

China has a total of 591 amphibian species (not including alien invasive species) as of the end of 2021 and is one of the countries with the richest amphibian diversity in the world. The species traits of amphibians affect their survival in the environment and play an important role in the study of evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation biology. AmphibiaChina (https://www.amphibiachina.org) has compiled some data on the life-history traits, ecological traits, and geographical distribution of Chinese amphibians. However, we still lack an accessible database of the species traits of Chinese amphibians. Through extensive retrieval and searching, we systematically collected data on 22 characteristic traits related to the life-history, ecology, and geographic distribution of all the 591 amphibian species in China. The 22 characteristic traits included: the discovered time of species, holotype location, China Red List status, IUCN Red List status, threatened factors, Chinese endemism, insular endemism, body size of male/female, clutch size, egg size, breeding site, primary larval habitat, adult microhabitat, activity cycle, reproductive cycle, breeding time, parental care, fertilization type, elevational range, domestic distribution, and the number of provinces distributed. Except for the discovered time of species, domestic distribution, the number of provinces distributed, and insular endemism, the data on other traits were incomplete to varying degrees. The data completeness varied from 27.92% to 100%, with the mean completeness of 71.72% and a standard deviation of 24%. This dataset is the latest and most complete one of species traits of all the amphibian species native to China. This dataset can provide data support for the research of the ecology, conservation biology, and biogeography of Chinese amphibians.

Species traits reflect the species’ ecological function and fitness. The trait data play a vital role in studying biodiversity maintenance and loss, species evolution and adaptation, ecological interactions and processes, ecosystem functions, and species responses to both climate change and human pressures. China is one of the countries with the richest mammal diversity in the world, so far, there is no comprehensive resource of morphological, life history, ecological and geographical distribution data of the mammals in China. We compiled 24 traits data of 754 Chinese mammals (including recently regional extinct species and those species with disputed taxonomy and distribution) between 2008 and 2021 through systematic literature review and dataset integration, referred to mammalian monographs and field guides. The main sources used in completing the dataset were: the life history traits were retrieved from A Field Guide to the Mammals of China (Pan et al, 2007), A Guide to the Mammals of China (Smith & Xie, 2009), and trait database (COMBINE: COalesced Mammal dataBase of INtrinsic and Extrinsic traits, Soria et al, 2021), and the zoogeographical regionalization and distribution type were searched in China Animal Geography (Zhang, 2011), and species distribution in provinces and threatened category were cited from China’s Red List of Biodiversity: Vertebrates, Volume I, Mammals (Jiang et al, 2021) and Handbook of Mammals of China (Liu et al, 2019, 2020). In addition, Handbook of the Mammals of the World (Wilson & Mittermeier, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019; Wilson et al, 2016, 2017), Mammal Diversity Database (American Society of Mammalogists, ASM, 2021) and COMBINE database (Soria et al, 2021) were taken as supplementary data source. Further, peer-reviewed scientific publications from 1990 to 2021 were searched in CNKI, Google Scholar to supplementary traits data. Our dataset included body weight, brain size, head body length, tail length, forearm length (Chiroptera), hind foot length, ear length, sexual maturity time, gestation length, litter size, litters per year, generation length, diet, activity pattern, habitat type, habitat breadth, realm, biome, endemic species, elevational range, distribution type, zoogeographical regionalization, geographical distribution. Among these twenty-four traits, the data integrity ranged from 30% to 100%. The traits data were incomplete to some extent due to lack of research while the information about endemic species, geographical distribution in province of China’s mammals are completed. The dataset is the latest and most complete database on the traits of China’s mammals, which lays the foundation for future researches in mammalogy and biodiversity study and promote information sharing and in-depth mining of mammal diversity in China.

It is important to quantitatively assess the relationship between insect diversity and the environment by laying long-term sample plots at a global scale. Consequently, the SITE100 International Science Project was proposed. The project plans to select 100 large sites around the world and use three types of data collection methods, namely, flight interception trap (FIT), Malaise trap (MT), and pitfall trap (PT). The global insect diversity pattern is explored from three dimensions: species diversity, morphological diversity and genetic diversity. Huaping, Guangxi was selected as one of the 100 sites to explore the origin of global insect diversity and its relationship with the environment through long-term monitoring and cross-regional large-scale comparison. In this study, the data set of beetles collected from the Huaping site during 2020 growing season lasted 7 months (2020.05.09-2020.11.23), covering 10 sites. Each site contained one FIT, one MT and 10 PT. All sites were visited once a week on average. A total of 8,914 beetles were collected during the study period. 563 morphological species from 57 families were identified. The data set consists of four parts. The first part is the original photos of all beetle specimens obtained from all traps at various collection points, with a total of 644 photos. After compression, the file name is Photo-1.zip. The second part is the photos of beetles grouped by morphological species. After compression, the file name is Photo-2.zip. The third part is the statistics of each beetle specimen: the collection method, and the longitude, latitude, and altitude of its sampling point. The file name for this data set is data-1.zip. The fourth part is detailed identification information of the morphological species of each specimen. The file name is data-2.zip. In addition to joint analysis with the results from other SITE100 sites, this data set can also be used to analyze and compare the distribution and morphological differences of beetle taxa in different habitats. The images of some taxa can provide data support for subsequent geometric morphometrics or morphological studies. This dataset is the first quantitative assessment of beetle diversity in Huaping, and is of great significance in enriching biodiversity background data in China and understanding the origin of insect fauna in southern China.

The genus Rhododendron is widely distributed, lives in diverse habitats, and its group structure is complex. An in-depth analysis of its geographical distribution pattern and characteristics can provide a basis for conservation and utilization of germplasm. Based on current literature and data, this paper updates the list of species of wild Rhododendron distributed in China, explores species composition, and establishes a geographical distribution database of wild Rhododendron in China. As of July 2021, 720 species (including 114 varieties, 45 subspecies and 2 forms) of 7 subgenera have been recorded, of which 450 are endemic to China. The genus Rhododendron is distributed in all provinces of China except the arid desert areas of Ningxia and Xinjiang. Over half of all Rhododendron (393) species are distributed in the Yunnan Province, which is the highest species richness and endemism at the provincial level. There are 278 species in Sichuan province and 271 species in Tibet Autonomous Region. At the county level, Gongshan and Zayul counties are tied for having the most species of Rhododendron at 134 species, followed by 128 species in Deqin County. This study revised and updated the list of wild Rhododendron plants and their geographical distribution in China in order to provide reference for germplasm investigation and application research.

Camera-trapping has become one of the most efficient approach to detect and investigate the large- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals and birds, which can provide reliable data to the biodiversity inventory and wildlife baseline survey of protected areas. Laohegou Protected Area, with an area of 110 km² in central Minshan Mountains, locates in Pingwu County, Sichuan Province, and harbors the habitat of a rich fauna such as the endangered giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) and chestnut-throated partridge (Tetraophasis obscurus). In this study, we summarized the camera-trapping records in Laohegou between 2011 and 2015, and provided a comprehensive camera-trapping dataset of Laohegou. The dataset includes data collected from 130 camera locations with an elevation range of 1,317-3,265 m and an extensive sample effort of 10,185 camera-days. With a total of 159,694 photographic records, we identified 28 wild mammal species (belonging to 5 orders and 15 families) from the 91,839 records of mammals (No. of independent photograph = 3,017), 60 bird species (belonging to 7 orders and 19 families) from the 37,775 records of mammals (No. of IP = 1,311), 1 amphibian species (belonging to 1 order and 1 family) from the 8 records of amphibians (No. of IP = 2), and 1 domestic animal species from 47 records (No. of IP = 5).

China has a total of 1,445 bird species and is one of the countries with the richest bird diversity in the world. Species traits strongly determine the species' ability to persist in a variety of environments and are fundamental to ecological, evolutionary and conservational research. Therefore, it is important to collecting data on life-history, ecological and geographic traits of Chinese birds. However, so far, no efforts have been made to gather such trait data of Chinese birds. The aim of this study is thus to provide a comprehensive dataset of natural history traits for Chinese birds. We collected data on 17 traits related to geographical, morphological, ecological and life-history features for the 1,445 species of Chinese birds. Between 2015 and 2021, we compiled data by systematically searching all related literature, including academic ornithological books, field guides, peer-reviewed scientific publications, Baidu Scholar, Google Scholar and specialized websites. The 17 traits included body mass, body length, bill length, wing length, tail length, tarsus length, primary diet, clutch size, egg size, egg volume, nest site, nest type, flocking status, migrant status, endemic status, biogeographic distribution and the number of provinces distributed of Chinese birds. However, data completeness varied from 60.83% to 100% among traits. Except for migrant status, endemic status, biogeographic distribution and the number of provinces distributed, the data on other traits were incomplete to some extent. Flocking status was only available for 60.83% of Chinese birds. Our dataset is the latest and most complete one on species traits of Chinese birds. The dataset will be helpful for advancing the research fields of ecology, evolution, biogeography, and conservation biology in Chinese birds.