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Geodiversity data for Europe at 1-km and 10-km resolutions

Toivanen, Maija1; Maliniemi, Tuija1; Hjort, Jan1; Salminen, Henriikka1; Ala-Hulkko, Terhi1; Kemppinen, Julia1; Karjalainen, Olli1; Poturalska, Anita1; Kiilunen, Petteri1; Snåre, Henna2; Leppiniemi, Oona1; Makopoulou, Eirini1; Alahuhta, Janne1; Tukiainen, Helena1

Research facility: University of Oulu
Published Jan 19, 2024 on Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.crjdfn39c

Data files

Jan 19, 2024 version files 171.39 MB

Abstract

The European geodiversity data provides a novel perspective on the diversity of non-living nature over large spatial extents. These data describe geological, pedological, geomorphological, and hydrological diversity, including 78 different geofeatures. Geofeatures refer to individual features that each component of geodiversity (geology, pedology, geomorphology, and hydrology) consists of, such as soil types in the case of pedology. This standardized and accessible geodiversity dataset facilitates comparability for geodiversity research across Europe and can be used for multiple purposes, from studying geodiversity patterns to geodiversity–biodiversity relationship and more. Moreover, the methodology (described in Toivanen et al. 2024) establishes a grid-based approach for quantifying geodiversity, which is suitable for large extents and can be applied in other regions worldwide.

This grid-based geodiversity dataset, available at resolutions of 1-km and 10-km, includes ready-to-use georichness variables (as GEOtiff files), and provides information on the presence and coverage of individual geofeatures that can be used to calculate different measures of geodiversity (as csv files). The data on georichness can be utilized in its entirety, representing the overall geodiversity, or with selected geodiversity components as individual richness layers describing geological, pedological, geomorphological or hydrological feature richness. One key objective of this geodiversity data is to provide complimentary environmental variables for biodiversity modelling and conservation studies. However, the choice of geodiversity data (richness or other index), the scale of analysis (1-km or 10-km), and the specific variables (overall geodiversity or individual components) should be determined by the research question and context.

This is a dataset from: Toivanen, M. et al. (2024). Geodiversity data for Europe. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2023.0173 (accepted for publication 2023-10-19)