Data from: A taxonomic and molecular survey of the pteridophytes of the Nectandra Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica

Floristic surveys are crucial to the conservation of biodiversity, but the
vast majority of such surveys are limited to listing species names, and
few take into account the evolutionary history of species. Here, we
combine classical taxonomic and molecular phylogenetic (DNA barcoding)
approaches to catalog the biodiversity of pteridophytes (ferns and
lycophytes) of the Nectandra Cloud Forest Reserve, Costa Rica. Surveys
were carried out over three field seasons (2008, 2011, and 2013),
resulting in 176 species representing 69 genera and 22 families of
pteridophytes. Our literature survey of protected areas in Costa Rica
shows that Nectandra has an exceptionally diverse pteridophyte flora for
its size. Plastid rbcL was selected as a DNA barcode marker and obtained
for >95% of pteridophyte taxa at this site. Combined molecular and
morphological analyses revealed two previously undescribed taxa that
appear to be of hybrid origin. The utility of rbcL for species
identification was assessed by calculating minimum interspecific distances
and found to have a failure rate of 18%. Finally we compared the
distribution of minimum interspecific rbcL distances with two other areas
that have been the focus of pteridophyte molecular surveys: Japan and
Tahiti. The comparison shows that Nectandra is more similar to Japan than
Tahiti, which may reflect the biogeographic history of these floras.