Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845

Abstract Archival collections contain an underutilized wealth of biodiversity data, encapsulated in government files and other historical documents. In 1845, the Bavarian government conducted a comprehensive national survey on the occurrence of 44 selected vertebrate species across the country. The...

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Main Authors: Malte Rehbein, Belen Escobari, Sarah Fischer, Anton Güntsch, Bettina Haas, Giada Matheisen, Tobias Perschl, Alois Wieshuber, Thore Engel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-03-01
Series:Scientific Data
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04846-8
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author Malte Rehbein
Belen Escobari
Sarah Fischer
Anton Güntsch
Bettina Haas
Giada Matheisen
Tobias Perschl
Alois Wieshuber
Thore Engel
author_facet Malte Rehbein
Belen Escobari
Sarah Fischer
Anton Güntsch
Bettina Haas
Giada Matheisen
Tobias Perschl
Alois Wieshuber
Thore Engel
author_sort Malte Rehbein
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Archival collections contain an underutilized wealth of biodiversity data, encapsulated in government files and other historical documents. In 1845, the Bavarian government conducted a comprehensive national survey on the occurrence of 44 selected vertebrate species across the country. The detailed expert responses from 119 forestry offices, totalling 520 handwritten pages, have been preserved in the Bavarian State Archives. In this study, we digitized, annotated, geographically referenced, and published these historical records, making them widely available as data for research and conservation planning. Our dataset, openly accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Zenodo, contains 5,467 species occurrence records from 1845. Besides the binary presence/absence data, we have also published the original textual survey responses, which contain rich qualitative information, such as species abundances, population trends, habitats, forest management practices, and human-nature relationships. This information can be further processed and interpreted to address a range of questions in historical and contemporary ecology.
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spelling doaj-art-395ab805efc145a5a06d1a0d94d91eb22025-08-20T02:10:20ZengNature PortfolioScientific Data2052-44632025-03-0112111310.1038/s41597-025-04846-8Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845Malte Rehbein0Belen Escobari1Sarah Fischer2Anton Güntsch3Bettina Haas4Giada Matheisen5Tobias Perschl6Alois Wieshuber7Thore Engel8Chair of Computational Humanities, University of PassauFreie Universität Berlin, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin. Center for Biodiversity Informatics and Collection Data Integration (ZBS)Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN) DummerstorfFreie Universität Berlin, Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin. Center for Biodiversity Informatics and Collection Data Integration (ZBS)Chair of Computational Humanities, University of PassauGeneraldirektion der Staatlichen Archive BayernsChair of Computational Humanities, University of PassauGeneraldirektion der Staatlichen Archive BayernsInstitute of Biodiversity, Friedrich Schiller University JenaAbstract Archival collections contain an underutilized wealth of biodiversity data, encapsulated in government files and other historical documents. In 1845, the Bavarian government conducted a comprehensive national survey on the occurrence of 44 selected vertebrate species across the country. The detailed expert responses from 119 forestry offices, totalling 520 handwritten pages, have been preserved in the Bavarian State Archives. In this study, we digitized, annotated, geographically referenced, and published these historical records, making them widely available as data for research and conservation planning. Our dataset, openly accessible through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and Zenodo, contains 5,467 species occurrence records from 1845. Besides the binary presence/absence data, we have also published the original textual survey responses, which contain rich qualitative information, such as species abundances, population trends, habitats, forest management practices, and human-nature relationships. This information can be further processed and interpreted to address a range of questions in historical and contemporary ecology.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04846-8
spellingShingle Malte Rehbein
Belen Escobari
Sarah Fischer
Anton Güntsch
Bettina Haas
Giada Matheisen
Tobias Perschl
Alois Wieshuber
Thore Engel
Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
Scientific Data
title Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
title_full Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
title_fullStr Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
title_full_unstemmed Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
title_short Quantitative and qualitative Data on historical Vertebrate Distributions in Bavaria 1845
title_sort quantitative and qualitative data on historical vertebrate distributions in bavaria 1845
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-025-04846-8
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