The global distribution of plants used by humans datasets: list of utilised species, occurrence data and model outputs at 10 arc-minutes spatial resolution

Datasets and model outputs used to map the global distribution of utilised plants by humans. The folder is composed of two subfolders raw_data and processed_data containing respectively the list of utilised plant species modelled -utilised_plants_species_list.csv-, and their occurrence data -occurrence_data.zip- and predicted distribution -species_proba_per_cell.rds-.

The file utilised_plants_species_list.csv in the raw_data folder contains a list of 35687 plant species (and hybrids) used by humans and 10 plant use categories with the following 14 fields:

plant_ID: plant identifier number ranging from between 1-35687

binomial_acc_name: binomial accepted name of the plant species

author_acc_name:  name of the author(s)

is_hybrid: logical TRUE or FALSE indicating whether the species is an hybrid or not.

AnimalFood: forage and fodder for vertebrate animals only.

EnvironmentalUses: examples include intercrops and nurse crops, ornamentals, barrier hedges, shade plants, windbreaks, soil improvers, plants for revegetation and erosion control, wastewater purifiers, indicators of the presence of metals, pollution, or underground water.

Fuels: charcoal, petroleum substitutes, fuel alcohols, etc. Given the importance of energy plants for people, those were distinguished from Materials.

GeneSources: wild relatives of major crops which may possess traits associated with biotic or abiotic resistance and may be valuable for breeding programs.

HumanFood: food for humans only, including beverages and food additives.

InvertebrateFood: plants consumed by invertebrates used by humans, such as bees, silkworms, lac insects and edible grubs.

Materials: woods, fibers, cork, cane, tannins, latex, resins, gums, waxes, oils, lipids, etc. and their derived products.

Medicines: both human and veterinary.

Poisons: plants which are poisonous to both vertebrates and invertebrates, both accidentally and intentionally, e.g., for hunting and fishing, molluscicides, herbicides, insecticides.

SocialsUses: plants used for social purposes, which cannot be defined as food or medicine, for instance, masticatories, smoking materials, narcotics, hallucinogens and psychoactive drugs, and plants with ritual or religious significance.

Totals: total number of uses recorded for a species

The zipfile occurrence_data.zip in the processed_data folder contains 35687 Comma Separated Values (CSV) files, one for each species, containing curated geographic occurrence records used to  build species distribution models with the following 14 fields:

Species: the binomial accepted name of the species

Fullname:  same as species

decimalLongitude: the geographic longitude of the occurrence records of the species in decimal degrees

decimalLatitude: the geographic latitude of the occurrence records of the species in decimal degrees

countryCode: a three-letter standard abbreviation for the country of the occurrence locality

coordinateUncertaintyinMeters: indicator for the accuracy of the coordinate location, described as the radius of a circle around the stated point location

year: year of the observation of the occurrence record of the species

individualCount: the number of individuals present at the time of the observation

gbifID: unique identifier number for the occurrence from the original database

basisOfRecords: the type of the individual record, e.g. observation, physical specimen, fossil, living ex-situ, culture collection specimen

institutionCode: the name of the institution or organization listed as the data publisher on GBIF

establishmentMeans: statement about whether an organism has been introduced to a given place and time through the direct or indirect activity of modern humans

is_cultivated_observation: whether or not an organism is cultivated

sourceID: name of the source database

The file species_proba_per_cell.rds in the processed_data folder is a R Data Serialization (RDS) file containing a data.table object with the following 3 fields:

plant_ID: plant identifier number ranging from between 1-35687

proba: species occurrence probability

cell: raster grid cell number between 1-2251762

This object can be used in combination with a raster layer to reconstruct the modelled distribution of each species or retrieve species richness and endemism.