The effectiveness of management and conservation actions relies, among others, on the availability of biodiversity data. For these data to be effectively utilized, their accuracy, completeness, and accessibility are prerequisites and thus various datasets focusing on different aspects and levels of ecosystems have been developed and launched over the years. In this context, the aim of this report is to provide a critical analysis of the biodiversity datasets in Europe. To achieve this, opportunistic and targeted searching procedures were followed, using data's geographical nature, accessibility, and coverage as criteria. Hence, 29 data repositories were assessed, from which 102 datasets were selected and further evaluated. 62 datasets were species-specific, 33 were habitat-specific, 3 were species’ habitat specific, and 4 datasets referred to biodiversity indices. In terms of taxa, the most representative classes (by number of data retrieved) were vascular plants, followed by mammals and birds, while in terms of realms, marine ecosystems were more represented than terrestrial ecosystems. Regarding spatial completeness, the northern, western, and central regions of Europe had more available data compared to the eastern and southern regions. However, for species and habitats that fall under the framework of European directives, data were available for the entire European territory and seas. Thus, the current report provides useful insights into the available biodiversity data, which can be used for research purposes and to promote current and future European policies and actions, especially those related with environmental data accessibility.
KEFALAS George;
LORILLA Roxanne Suzette;
BORMPOUDAKIS Dimitrios;
DRAKOU Evangelia G.;
2025-03-06
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC141166
978-92-68-24319-0 (online),
OP KJ-01-25-092-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC141166,
10.2760/1700453 (online),
