Lebanon biogeography outlined by tree and shrub species distribution pattern

This dataset contains environmental study data on various tree and shrub species in Lebanon. The research examines multiple environmental factors influencing species distribution and presence. Occurrence points were collected from field surveys under various studies, covering Lebanon. We used all the presence points and consistent environmental variables called predictors to conduct ecological niche modelling and further use the outcomes of the predicted distribution of tree and shrub species to outline Lebanon’s biogeography. The data referred to as predictors for ecological niche modelling are the environmental factors used for the study, retrieved from open sources. These include climatic, topographic, and biogeographic factors and predictors retrieved from remote sensing data such as cloud coverage, normalized difference vegetation index, and land surface temperature. This information is used to delineate suitability maps for each species and understand the factors driving..., The data set is a compilation of presence points of phanerophytes across Lebanon to conduct ecological niche modelling, grouping species into regional and global chorotypes, to further define based on their biographic appartunance. In a second step we used dissimilarity indices to define the limits of biogeographic regions and their transition zones. The indices were applied using R package plug ins into GIS tools. , , # Lebanon biogeography outlined by tree and shrub species distribution pattern

## Description of the data files

The dataset consists of structured tabular data across three sheets originating from three articles:

- Stephan et al 2020

- Hammoud and Stephan 2022

- Stephan and Korban 2025

From the list of the predictors used in each of the three publications, we used those listed in the table below:

#### Table 1. Predictors: Data source and calculation tools

Code Predictor Source Tool

DEM Digital elevation model (m) Contour line(a) Topo to raster

Aspect Aspect (°) DEM Aspect

Slope Slope (%) DEM Slope

DFS Distance from the sea (m) DEM Fishnet - Near

CC Mean Cloud Coverage (May -July) (%) Cloud Raster(b) Mean Calculation

Tmin Mean of Minimal Temperature of the coldest month (°C) Mean of Minimal Temperature of the coldest month (c) Mean Calculation

Tmax Mean of Maximum Temperature of the hottest month (°C) Mean of Maximum Temperature of the hottest month (c)...,