Petrone, A., Pereira, F., Borges, P.A.V. & Elias, R.B. (2026). New spatial records of vascular plants in the Azores Archipelago: the PRIBES project and the Azorean Biodiversity Portal (ABP) initiatives - III. Pico island. Version 1.0. Universidade dos Açores. Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt.gbif.pt/ipt/resource?r=pico_vascular_plants&v=1.3
This study was conducted on Pico Island, a volcanic island of the Azores Archipelago (North Atlantic Ocean), located along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge within the Macaronesian biogeographic region. Pico is the second largest and youngest island of the archipelago and hosts the highest elevation in Portugal (2351 m a.s.l.), resulting in pronounced altitudinal gradients. Its geomorphology is shaped by recent volcanic activity and complex volcano-tectonic structures, while soils are generally young, poorly developed and of limited agricultural suitability, contributing to low land-use intensity and relatively well-preserved natural habitats. The climate is temperate oceanic, characterized by mild temperatures, high humidity and persistent cloud cover, with precipitation increasing markedly with elevation and exceeding 4000 mm annually in higher areas. Strong environmental gradients drive a well-defined altitudinal zonation of vegetation, ranging from coastal woodlands to alpine scrublands. Pico is unique within the Azores in preserving nearly the full sequence of vegetation belts, resulting in high ecological heterogeneity and the highest plant diversity in the archipelago. Despite historical human impacts, including land-use change and biological invasions, the island still retains some of the best-preserved natural ecosystems of the region, particularly at higher elevations. On Pico Island, a total of 251 vascular plant taxa were recorded, encompassing 6 classes, 39 orders, and 89 families. These records correspond to 11,036 individual plant occurrences, including repeated observations of the same species across different sites. As each photographic observation is associated with unique geographic coordinates, all recorded specimens represent new spatial records for the island’s flora. Among the recorded taxa, 59 are endemic to the Azores, 68 are native, 123 are introduced, and 1 is of uncertain status, corresponding to 6,036 endemic, 3,375 native, 1,623 introduced, and 2 indeterminate occurrences. At the family level, 34 families include endemic taxa, 36 include native taxa, 61 include introduced taxa, and 1 includes taxa of uncertain origin.
