BioMonI-PLOTS: Standardized beetle inventory data from Pico & Terceira Islands (Azores)

Oceanic island native forests are highly fragmented yet harbour a disproportionate share of endemic arthropod diversity. To support repeatable monitoring and conservation planning for megadiverse indicator taxa, we mobilise a baseline, Darwin Core–compliant, plot-based inventory of forest beetles (Coleoptera) from the Azores (Pico and Terceira Islands). Sampling was conducted in 16 permanent 50 × 50 m native-forest plots (Pico: 6; Terceira: 10) using an optimised COBRA protocol complemented with beetle-targeted searches (under-bark/epiphytes and coarse woody debris/ground refugia). The dataset is published as a sample-event Darwin Core Archive with 308 event records and 539 occurrence records. In total, 1,787 individuals representing 43 taxa from 16 families were recorded; Pico plots yielded 25 species (620 individuals) and Terceira plots 30 species (1,167 individuals). Endemic taxa dominate both richness and abundance, providing a benchmark for detecting compositional change, enabling island biogeographical analyses, and informing conservation assessments and management of native forest remnants