title: RAINBIO: a mega-database of tropical African vascular plants distributions.
abstract: The tropical vegetation of Africa is characterized by high levels of species diversity but is undergoing important shifts in response to ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic pressures. Although our knowledge of plant species distribution patterns in the African tropics has been improving over the years, it remains limited. Here we present RAINBIO, a unique comprehensive mega-database of georeferenced records for vascular plants in continental tropical Africa. The geographic focus of the database is the region south of the Sahel and north of Southern Africa, and the majority of data originate from tropical forest regions. RAINBIO is a compilation of 13 datasets either publicly available or personal ones. Numerous in depth data quality checks, automatic and manual via several African flora experts, were undertaken for georeferencing, standardization of taxonomic names and identification and merging of duplicated records. The resulting RAINBIO data allows exploration and extraction of distribution data for 25,356 native tropical African vascular plant species, which represents ca. 89% of all known plant species in the area of interest. Habit information is also provided for 91% of these species.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR DIADE, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier, France; Laboratoire d'évolution Biologique et Ecologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP160/12, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; CESAB / FRB, Domaine du Petit Arbois, Av. Louis Philibert, Aix-en-Provence, 13100, France.
authors.forename: Gilles
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dauby
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP, Boulevard de la Lironde TA A-51 / PS 2 34398 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zaiss
authors.affiliation: Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Blach-Overgaard
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Catarino
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Biosystematics Group, Droevendaalsesteeg 1 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Damen
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR DIADE, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier, France; Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; Laboratoire de Botanique Systématique et d'Écologie, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Yaoundé I, PO Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Deblauwe
authors.affiliation: Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dessein
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dransfield
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR AMAP, Boulevard de la Lironde TA A-51 / PS 2 34398 Montpellier, France; Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; Laboratoire de Botanique Systématique et d'Écologie, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Yaoundé I, PO Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, St. Louis, United States of America.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Droissart
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (CE3C), Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Cristina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Duarte
authors.affiliation: Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium.
authors.forename: Henry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Engledow
authors.affiliation: Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Geoffrey
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fadeur
authors.affiliation: CIBIO/InBio, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Universidade do Porto. Campus Agrário de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal; CEABN/InBio, Centro de Ecologia Aplicada "Professor Baeta Neves", Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Universidade de Lisboa, Tapada da Ajuda, 1349-017 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Figueira
authors.affiliation: Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, St. Louis, United States of America.
authors.forename: Roy E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gereau
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'évolution Biologique et Ecologie, Faculté des Sciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP160/12, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Olivier J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Hardy
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR DIADE, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands; Picturae, De Droogmakerij 12, 1851LX Heiloo, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Janneke
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Heij
authors.affiliation: Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Janssens
authors.affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands; Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Vinicna 7, CZ-12843, Prague, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Yannick
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Klomberg
authors.affiliation: Institut für Geobotanik und Botanischer Garten, University Halle-Wittenberg, Neuwerk 21, 06108 Halle, Germany.
authors.forename: Alexandra C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ley
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK.
authors.forename: Barbara A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Mackinder
authors.affiliation: Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; Laboratoire d'Ecologie végétale et Biogéochimie, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Meerts
authors.affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeike L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: van de Poel
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Botanique Systématique et d'Écologie, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Yaoundé I, PO Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Bonaventure
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sonké
authors.affiliation: Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium.
authors.forename: Marc S M
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sosef
authors.affiliation: Herbarium et Bibliothèque de Botanique Africaine, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Boulevard du Triomphe, B-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium; Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium; Missouri Botanical Garden, Africa & Madagascar Department, St. Louis, United States of America.
authors.forename: Tariq
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stévart
authors.affiliation: Botanic Garden Meise, Nieuwelaan 38, 1860 Meise, Belgium.
authors.forename: Piet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stoffelen
authors.affiliation: Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jens-Christian
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Svenning
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sepulchre
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK.
authors.forename: Xander
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: van der Burgt
authors.affiliation: Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands; Wageningen University, Biosystematics Group, Droevendaalsesteeg 1 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Wieringa
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR DIADE, 911 Avenue Agropolis, 34394 Montpellier, France; Laboratoire de Botanique Systématique et d'Écologie, École Normale Supérieure, Université de Yaoundé I, PO Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon; Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thomas L P
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Couvreur
keywords: Herbarium specimens; biodiversity assessment; cultivated species; digitization; georeferencing; habit; native species; taxonomic backbone; tropical forests