Dataset_Benthic_biodiversity_Lake_Orta

The dataset consists of 44 columns. The first columns include identifiers and taxonomic classification fields. In particular, the dataset reports the occurrence ID and event ID, followed by taxonomic information including kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, and subfamily. Additional columns describe the accepted taxonomy, including the accepted genus name, genus epithet, scientific name, author(s) and date of first description, and taxon rank. Information on original taxonomic attribution is also provided, including original cited genus, original cited species epithet, and original name usage. The dataset also contains ecological and sampling information. These include basis of record, year of publication, event date and year, organism quantity and its type (e.g., density), sampling strategy, and sampling zone. Geographical information is provided through locality, decimal latitude and longitude (WGS84 datum), country, biogeographic region, mountain range, and administrative region. Additional environmental descriptors include minimum elevation, substrate type, water transparency, and coordinate uncertainty. Further columns describe lake characteristics, including lake type, maximum depth, and sampling depth.

The dataset includes 6987 records, distributed across four phyla (Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca, and Platyhelminthes), seven classes, 28 orders, 58 families, 151 genera, and 168 species.

General description: The dataset covers macroinvertebrates assemblages and includes four Phyla: Annellida (38 taxa), Arthropoda (112 taxa), Mollusca (11 taxa) and Platyhelminthes (7 taxon).

Taxonomic ranks: Data are generally reported as species, but also at the genus and higher rank level (family). Taxonomic methods: All original names reported during the project were included and reported in the column ‘original_name_usage’. All scientific names were updated to the currently accepted nomenclature, using the taxonomic backbone of GBIF (https://www.gbif.org/) and the WoRMS catalogue for freshwater species (https://www.marinespecies.org/).