Modern and fossil occurrences of Ilex in the Paleartic realm since 130 ka BP

Modern and fossil occurrences of Ilex in the Paleartic realm since 130 ka BP. Records in Dataset 1 were retrieved from different sources and excluding stands known to have been historically introduced, as follows. GBIF (www.gbif.org): records were selected from countries where Ilex is known to be native, considering only georeferenced point occurrence data from selected institutions and datasets of specimen collections (Herbaria) and vegetation surveys. Citizen science datasets were excluded. A complete list of the selected institutions and datasets, along with the DOI download reference, is reported. IUCN Red List (www.iucnredlist.org): the geographic ranges of I. aquifolium, I. canariensis, and A. pavarii were retrieved from the respective online assessments. Other databases and online repositories that are not donated to GBIF, whose reference is reported in Dateset 1, ( e.g. The Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, Nationwide Vegetation Plot Database–Sapienza University of Rome, Flora Ionica; FAO Map Catalog; EU-Forest; Flora Croatica Database; Lebanon Flora; TÜBİVES-Turkish Plants Data Service). Literature: an extensive bibliographic survey was carried out on regional floristic checklists, vegetation surveys, conservation reports, scientific papers, and National Floras. The literature search was especially devoted to those regions that are underrepresented in the above-listed databases. Dataset 2 includes the fossil pollen database of chronologically controlled sites (radiometric dates and tephra layers). When needed, we calibrated the published radiocarbon dates, using the CALIB 14C calibration program (CALIB rev.8). Data was mainly retrieved from an extensive bibliographic survey, including synthesis works, supplemented by data from the European Pollen Database (www.epdweblog.org), the Neotoma Palaeoecology Database (www.neotomadb.org), and PANGAEA (www.pangaea.de). Dataset 3 includes macrofossil sites collected from the literature. It includes radiocarbon-dated findings and archaeologically dated samples, mostly charred wood. Dataset 1 is made up of 168,144 occurrence records, including I. aquifolium (164,324 records), I. colchica (179 records), I. hyrcana (27 records), I. canariensis (171 records), and I. perado (3443 records). Dataset 2 is made up of 2380 fossil pollen sites. Dataset 3 is made up of 167 macrofossil sites. Figure 1 is a map of the data sources for the occurrence records of the genus Ilex in the Old World. Figure 2 Maps of the present-day distribution of the five species of Ilex in the Old World, fossil pollen records, and macrofossil records.