CIFOR-ICRAF and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) version v.2023.1

Introduction

The GlobalUsefulNativeTrees species selection App combines species data from the Botanic Gardens Conservation International GlobalTreeSearch database (GTS) ( website ; Beech et al. 2017 ) with data available from the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS) ( Diazgranados et al. 2020 ). GTS documents the native country distribution of close to 60,000 tree species, whereas the WCUPS contains 40,283 plant species names from the Plantae kingdom, documenting human usage across 10 categories of usage that was modified from the Economic Botany Data Collections Standard.

Besides the main objective of this App to provide lists of native tree species to selected countries, the App also provides summaries about the global distribution of tree uses

A particular aim of this App is to contribute to the Global Biodiversity Standard , especially to inform the use of native species.

Countries were allocated to continents and 'subcontinents' based on the second edition of the World Geographical Scheme for recording Plant Distributions ( Brummit 2001 ).

The list of tree species was expanded (to also include some hybrids, bamboos, rattans and shrubs) to fully match the species identified in a 'top-830+' list of tree species prioritized for planting in the tropics and subtropics that was compiled by Kindt et al. (2021) .

For each tree species, a link is provided to the Agroforestry Species Switchboard that crosslinks species with their information in 50+ global and regional databases.

Species names in the different databases were matched by standardizing species names to World Flora Online ( Borsch et al. 2020 ) and the World Checklist of Vascular Plants ( Govaerts et al. 2021 ). Standardization of species names was done via the WorldFlora package through scripting pipelines similar to those described by Kindt (2021) . Species with 'fuzzy matching' were manually checked in a process that was also used during the 2022 update of the Agroforestry Species Switchboard; a separate section gives details on the type of matching process such as 'direct' or 'manual'.

Some further details, such as the versions of taxonomic backbone databases used for species matching, are given in the section of 'Methods'.


When using GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, cite the following:

Beech E, Rivers M, Oldfield S and Smith PP. 2017 GlobalTreeSearch: the first complete global database of tree species and country distributions Journal of Sustainable Forestry 36(5): 454-489.

BGCI. 2022. GlobalTreeSearch online database (version 1.6) Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Richmond, UK. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34206.61761 https://tools.bgci.org/global_tree_search.php ACCESSED 8th May 2022

Diazgranados M, Allkin B, Black N, Cámara-Leret R., Canteiro C., Carretero J, Eastwood R, Hargreaves S, Hudson A, Milliken W, Nesbitt M, Ondo I, Patmore K, Pironon S, Turner R and Ulian T. 2020. World Checklist of Useful Plant Species Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.

Kindt R, Graudal L, Lilleso J-P, Pedercini F, Smith P and Jamnadass R. 2022. GlobalUsefulNativeTrees: country-specific selections of native tree species for forest landscape restoration and biodiverse plantings https://patspo.shinyapps.io/GlobalUsefulTrees/ ACCESSED DD-MM-YYYY

Kindt R, Graudal L, Lilleso J-P, Pedercini F, Smith P and Jamnadass R. 2022. GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, a database of 14,014 tree species and their uses, supports synergies between biodiversity recovery and local livelihoods in landscape restoration https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.25.517923



Select a country

The native distribution of tree species was obtained from GlobalTreeSearch on 8th May 2022. Note that the GlobalTreeSearch is being updated on a continuous basis (hence ideally you would verify online with this database) and also that this database provides a full list of tree species (not only the subset of useful species shown here).

Countries were assigned to continents and subcontinents based on the second edition of the World Geographical Scheme for recording Plant Distributions ( Brummit 2001 ). See the 'Methods' section for the few modifications we introduced to this scheme.

Where Plants of the World Online ( Accessed October 2022 ) provided native distribution levels at subnational level, it is possible to select a subset of species native to this subnational level.













Select uses

By checking these boxes, species will be shortlisted that were documented in the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species to provide that particular use. The last category corresponds to a list of 830 tree species prioritized for planting in the tropics and subtropics .

Selecting several boxes will result in species being filtered for each of the selected categories.



Select the plant family and genus

These lists show the families and genera native to the country that was selected. In case you ticked any of the checkboxes from the 'Filter uses' TAB, only species (and their families and genera) that provide all the selected uses will be shown.


Selected country (select from the 'Select country' TAB)

Loading...

Selected subnational level (select from the 'Select country' TAB)

Loading...

Selected uses (select uses from the 'Filter uses' TAB)

Loading...

The table shows the tree species matching the filters that you selected. By selecting to show all families and all genera, endemic species can be identified by sorting by the number of countries where the species are native.

For species that were listed in GlobalTreeSearch but not in the expanded list, the species is shown with a hyperlink to the GlobalTree Portal ( BGCI 2022 ). Via this link you can check on the conservation status and actions, and also verify information on country distribution.


Loading...

The full list of species can be downloaded via the button below. When using the downloaded data, cite the following:

Beech E, Rivers M, Oldfield S and Smith PP. 2017 GlobalTreeSearch: the first complete global database of tree species and country distributions Journal of Sustainable Forestry 36(5): 454-489.

BGCI. 2022. GlobalTreeSearch online database (version 1.6) Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Richmond, UK. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34206.61761 https://tools.bgci.org/global_tree_search.php ACCESSED 8th May 2022

Diazgranados M, Allkin B, Black N, Cámara-Leret R., Canteiro C., Carretero J, Eastwood R, Hargreaves S, Hudson A, Milliken W, Nesbitt M, Ondo I, Patmore K, Pironon S, Turner R and Ulian T. 2020. World Checklist of Useful Plant Species Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.

Kindt R, Graudal L, Lilleso J-P, Pedercini F, Smith P and Jamnadass R. 2022. GlobalUsefulNativeTrees: country-specific selections of native tree species for forest landscape restoration and biodiverse plantings https://patspo.shinyapps.io/GlobalUsefulTrees/ ACCESSED DD-MM-YYYY

Kindt R, Graudal L, Lilleso J-P, Pedercini F, Smith P and Jamnadass R. 2022. GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, a database of 14,014 tree species and their uses, supports synergies between biodiversity recovery and local livelihoods in landscape restoration https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.25.517923




Summary tables

Summary tables for unique number of species, genera and families for selected geographical levels.


Diversity of useful tree species

( SR = Species Richness, GR = Genus Richness, FR = Family Richness)


Matching details

Details are given here on the species names in GlobalTreeSearch, the Agroforestry Species Switchboard and the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS).

Note that taxonomy is a dynamic field, so you may wish to cross-check the current status of names in the online versions of World Flora Online (WFO) or the WCVP by following the link shown in the taxonomy field. The 'Synonym taxonomy' field shows details for species that were matched first with a synomym name.

For species that were listed in GlobalTreeSearch but not in the expanded list, the species is shown with a hyperlink to the GlobalTree Portal ( BGCI 2022 ). Via this link you can check on the conservation status and actions, and also verify information on country distribution.


Loading...


Methods


The native distribution for the majority of tree species was obtained from GlobalTreeSearch (GTS).

For species that were listed in a list of 830 tree species prioritized for planting in the tropics and subtropics but not in GTS, the native distribution was obtained from Plants of the World Online ( accessed May-June 2022 ).


Countries were allocated to continents and 'subcontinents' based on the second edition of the World Geographical Scheme for recording Plant Distributions ( Brummit 2001 ).

The scheme was modified here as:

- Cape Verde and Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha were assigned to a newly created subcontinental level of 'Atlantic Ocean'

- Turkey was assigned to Western Asia only ('Turkey-in-Europe' was ignored)

- The Russian Federation was considered as a subcontinental level both for Europe and temperate Asia

Furthermore, the United States Minor Outlying Islands were assigned to different levels within the Pacific based on assignments of individual islands of Johnston I., Midway I., Palmyra I. and Wake I.


For species where information was available at subnational level from Plants of the World Online ( Accessed 16-17 October 2022 ), native distribution details were included for the subnational levels.

Note, however, that this information was only included for species native to the selected country following GlobalTreeSearch.


Besides species listed both in GlobalTreeSearch and the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS), all species from a list of 830 tree species prioritized for planting in the tropics and subtropics were included.

Further included among a 'Top 830+' were the following species listed in the Agroforestree database : Citrus bergamia , Citrus limon , Crotalaria goodiaeformis , Fagraea racemosa , Gnetum africanum , Indigofera arrecta , Irvingia wombolu , Macaranga kilimandscharica , Ocimum gratissimum , Osyris compressa , Pausinystalia johimbe , Saba comorensis , Saba senegalensis , Sarcocephalus latifolius and Tephrosia villosa .

Also included with the 'Top 830+' were the following species listed among the species (trees, bamboos and rattans) of the Tropical Forestry Handbook: Species Files in Tropical Forestry : Bambusa bambos , Calamus caesius , Calamus manan , Calamus trachycoleus , Grevillea pteridifolia , Guadua angustifolia , Phyllostachys edulis and Thyrsostachys siamensis .

Usage details that were not available from the WCUPS were obtained from the Agroforestree database for Acacia cincinnata and Acacia pachycarpa and from the World Economic Plants in GRIN-Global for Cratylia argentea , Shorea javanica and Toona ciliata .


Species matching was done during the preparation of the 2022 version of the Agroforestry Species Switchboard .

Matching was done separately between GlobalTreeSearch and the Switchboard and between the World Checklist of Vascular Plants and the Switchboard.

Details on the matching process are given in the 'Matching details' TAB.

A 'direct' match indicates that the exact name was matched between the two databases.

A 'manual' match indicates that a fuzzy match was accepted after visual inspection.

Matches of 'direct via WCVP' or 'manual via WCVP' indicate that the species was first matched with a synonym in the World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP), where the accepted name for the species identified by WCVP was also listed in World Flora Online (WFO).

Note that species matched with the WFO have a taxonomy field that starts with 'wfo-'.

Species not listed in GlobalTreeSearch have as author names '- (TOP830)'.



Credits


The native distribution of tree species was obtained from GlobalTreeSearch ( Beech et al. 2017 ; accessed 8th May 2022 ).

Beech E, Rivers M, Oldfield S and Smith PP. 2017 GlobalTreeSearch: the first complete global database of tree species and country distributions Journal of Sustainable Forestry 36(5): 454-489.

BGCI. 2022. GlobalTreeSearch online database (version 1.6) Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Richmond, UK. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34206.61761 https://tools.bgci.org/global_tree_search.php ACCESSED 8th May 2022

Data on species' uses was obtained from the World Checklist of Useful Plant Species (WCUPS) ( Diazgranados et al. 2020 ).

Diazgranados M, Allkin B, Black N, Cámara-Leret R., Canteiro C., Carretero J, Eastwood R, Hargreaves S, Hudson A, Milliken W, Nesbitt M, Ondo I, Patmore K, Pironon S, Turner R and Ulian T. 2020. World Checklist of Useful Plant Species Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.

Countries were assigned to continents and subcontinents based on the second edition of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions ( Brummit 2001 ).

Brummit RK with assistance of Pando F, Hollis S, Brummitt NA and others. 2001. World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions. Edition 2. Plant Taxonomic Database Standards No. 2. Edition 2, August 2001. Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Carenegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.

Subnational levels of native distribution were obtained from Plants of the World Online ( accessed 16-17 October 2022 ).

The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. 2022. Kew Backbone Distributions. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/

An analysis of global distribution patterns of useful tree species and their threats with GlobalUsefulNativeTrees is available from Kindt et al. 2022 ).

Kindt R, Graudal L, Lilleso J-P, Pedercini F, Smith P and Jamnadass R. 2022. GlobalUsefulNativeTrees, a database of 14,014 tree species and their uses, supports synergies between biodiversity recovery and local livelihoods in landscape restoration bioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.11.25.517923

Standardization of species names was done via the WorldFlora package ( version 1.10 ; Kindt 2020 ).

Kindt R. 2020. WorldFlora: An R package for exact and fuzzy matching of plant names against the World Flora Online taxonomic backbone data Applications in Plant Sciences 8: e11388

Standardization of species names was achieved by matching names to World Flora Online (WFO) ( version 2021.12 ; Borsch et al. 2020 ) and (for species that could not be matched to WFO) to the World Checklist of Vascular Plants ( version 8 ; Govaerts et al. 2021 ).

Borsch T, Berendsohn W, Dalcin E, Delmas M, Demissew S, Elliott A, Fritsch P, Fuchs A, Geltman D, Güner A and Haevermans T. 2020. World Flora Online: Placing taxonomists at the heart of a definitive and comprehensive global resource on the world's plants Taxon 69: 1311-1341.

Govaerts R, Lughada EN, Black N, Turner R and Paton A. 2021. The World Checklist of Vascular Plants, a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity Scientific Data 8. Article number: 215

Species names from GlobalTreeSearch are shown as hyperlinks to the GlobalTree Portal ( BGCI. 2022 ).

BGCI 2022. GlobalTree Portal https://www.bgci.org/resources/bgci-databases/globaltree-portal/ Accessed on DD-MM-YYYY



We greatly appreciate funding provided by the Darwin Initiative to project DAREX001 of Developing a Global Biodiversity Standard certification for tree-planting and restoration and by Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative through the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Ethiopia to the PATSPO project on Provision of Adequate Tree Seed Portfolio in Ethiopia .



Version v.2023.1

- Inclusion of information on subnational levels where available from Plants of the World Online.

Version 2022.11

- First openly released version.