Data Descriptor: Pacific Introduced Flora (PaciFLora)

• Main Authors: Michael Wohlwend, Dylan Craven, Patrick Weigelt, Hanno Seebens, Marten Winter, Holger Kreft, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Mark van Kleunen, Jan Pergl, Petr Pyšek, James Space, Philip Thomas, Tiffany Knight
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pensoft Publishers 2021-07-01
• Series: Biodiversity Data Journal
• Subjects: Island Biogeography; naturalised species; Pacific
• Online Access: https://bdj.pensoft.net/article/67318/download/pdf/

The Pacific region has the highest density of naturalized plant species worldwide, which makes it an important area for research on the ecology, evolution and biogeography of biological invasions. While different data sources on naturalized plant species exist for the Pacific, there is no taxonomically and spatially harmonized database available for different subsets of species and islands. A comprehensive, accessible database containing the distribution of naturalized vascular plant species in the Pacific will enable new basic and applied research for researchers and will be an important information source for practitioners working in the region.Here, we present PacIFlora, an updated and taxonomically standardized list of naturalized species, their unified nativeness, cultivation and invasiveness status, and their distribution across the Pacific Ocean, including harmonized location denommination. This list is based on the two largest databases on naturalized plants for the region, specifically the Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) and the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) databases. We provide an outlook for how this database can contribute to numerous research questions and conservation efforts.