Summary

Agroforestry is increasingly advanced as a nature-based solution that can reconcile production with biodiversity conservation—an especially pressing need on oceanic islands, where high endemism and severe habitat fragmentation elevate conservation stakes.  We established a permanent agroforest monitoring plot at Vale da Fonte (Pico Island, Azores) to generate an open baseline for vascular plants and terrestrial arthropods and to test whether a structurally complex orchard embedded within native coastal forest functions as habitat and corridor for native and endemic biotas while supporting key ecosystem functions. In total, we collected 69 standardized samples (5 plant; 64 arthropod), with full QA/QC (parataxonomist/expert cross-validation, standardized georeferencing) and archived the dataset as a Darwin Core Archive via the GBIF IPT for long-term reuse and interoperability. The botanical survey documented 155 vascular plant species being twelve taxa recorded for the first time for Pico Island: Centaurium tenuiflorum (Hoffm. & Link) Fritsch ssp. tenuiflorum (Naturalized), Lolium rigidum Gaudin (Naturalized), Malus domestica Borkh (Casual), Mentha spicata L. (Naturalized), Monstera deliciosa Liebm (Casual), Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill. (Naturalized), Passiflora edulis Sims (Casual), Poa pratensis L. (Casual), Prunus armeniaca L. (Casual), Scrophularia auriculata L. (Casual), Trifolium pratense L. (Naturalized), Verbena rigida Spreng. (Naturalized). The arthropod survey documented 169 taxa with 150 identified at species or subspecies level. A total of 18 species are new for Pico Island, one of which is also a new for Azores Archipelago, Polistes dominula (Christ, 1791) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae).

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https://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=biotavalefonte