Petrone, A., Pereira, F., Borges, P.A.V. & Elias, R.B. (2026). New spatial records of vascular plants in the Azores Archipelago: Graciosa and Santa Maria Islands. Version 1.1. Universidade dos Açores. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=gra_smr_vascular_plants&v=1.1. DOI: 10.15468/hgyfh6
This study was conducted on Graciosa and Santa Maria Islands, two small volcanic islands of the Azores Archipelago located in the North Atlantic Ocean. Graciosa belongs to the Central Group of the archipelago and is a low-relief island with a NW–SE elongated shape, approximately 12–13 km long and 7 km wide, covering about 62 km² and reaching a maximum elevation of about 402–405 m a.s.l. (Larrea et al., 2010; Hipólito et al., 2012). Santa Maria is the southeasternmost and oldest island of the Azores Archipelago, covering approximately 97 km² and reaching a maximum elevation of about 587–590 m a.s.l. at Pico Alto (Abdel-Monem et al., 1975; França et al., 2003; Ramalho et al., 2017). On Graciosa Island, a total of 129 vascular plant taxa were recorded, encompassing 4 classes, 25 orders, and 55 families. These records correspond to 1,346 individual plant occurrences, including repeated observations of the same species across different sites. As each photographic observation is tied to unique geographic coordinates, all recorded specimens represent new spatial records for the island’s flora. Among the recorded taxa, 23 are endemic to the Azores, 31 are native, and 75 are introduced, corresponding to 428 endemic, 451 native, and 467 introduced occurrences. At the family level, 14 families include endemic taxa, 20 include native taxa, and 35 include introduced taxa. On Santa Maria Island, a total of 122 vascular plant taxa were recorded, encompassing 6 classes, 30 orders, and 63 families. These records correspond to 1,376 individual plant occurrences, including repeated observations of the same species across different sites. All records represent new spatial data for the island’s flora due to the georeferenced nature of the observations. Among the taxa, 29 are endemic to the Azores, 25 are native, and 68 are introduced, corresponding to 533 endemic, 304 native, and 539 introduced occurrences. At the family level, 24 families include endemic taxa, 17 include native taxa, and 38 include introduced taxa.
