DOI: 10.5061/dryad.nk98sf86q
title: Odonata records from the Middle East (2013–2022)

description: This dataset includes 12,770 georeferenced occurrence records documenting
 144 Odonata species (dragonflies and damselflies) observed between 2013
 and 2022 across the Middle East. The data are provided in two components.
 The dataset deposited in Dryad consists of author-compiled, occurrence
 records derived from peer-reviewed scientific literature. Additional
 GBIF-derived occurrence records, including those published in The Atlas of
 the Dragonflies and Damselflies of West and Central Asia, are made
 available separately as Supplemental Information via Zenodo. The dataset
 was subjected to thorough preprocessing to ensure taxonomic and geographic
 consistency. Species names were validated and standardized using regional
 and global taxonomic references. Several taxa were synonymized following
 current taxonomic consensus, including the treatment of Calopteryx
 orientalis as a subspecies of Calopteryx splendens, Coenagrion vanbrinkae
 as a synonym of Coenagrion ornatum, Enallagma risi under E. cyathigerum,
 and Cordulegaster nobilis under C. charpentieri. Duplicate records—defined
 as entries with identical geographic coordinates (rounded to four decimal
 degrees) within the same year—were removed. Records lacking species-level
 identification or geographic coordinates were excluded. Subspecies and
 varieties were merged into their respective species.
description: # Odonata records from the Middle East (2013–2022) Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.nk98sf86q](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.nk98sf86q) ##
 Description of the data and file structure This dataset includes 12,770
 georeferenced occurrence records documenting 144 Odonata species
 (dragonflies and damselflies) observed between 2013 and 2022 across the
 Middle East. The data are organized into two components. The primary data
 file (Addition_to_the_Middle_east_Odonata.xlsx) deposited in Dryad
 consists of author-compiled, occurrence records derived from peer-reviewed
 scientific literature. GBIF-derived occurrence records
 (Middle_east_odonata_2013_onward_gbif.csv), including those used in *The
 Atlas of the Dragonflies and Damselflies of West and Central Asia*, are
 provided separately as Supplemental Information via Zenodo. To reduce
 potential conservation risks, geographic coordinates were generalized
 based on species conservation status. Coordinates for near-threatened
 species were rounded to 0.01 decimal degrees, for vulnerable species to
 0.1 decimal degrees, and for endangered species to a minimum precision of
 1 degree. As a result, spatial precision varies among records.
 References:  Boudot, J.-P., Borisov, S., De Knijf, G., van Grunsven, R.
 H., Schröter, A. & Kalkman, V. J. (2021) Atlas of the dragonflies and
 damselflies of West and Central Asia. *Brachytron,* **22** Supplement.
 Eslami Barzoki, Z., Ebrahimi, M., Kiany, M. & Sadeghi, S. (2021b)
 Ecological drivers of Odonata beta diversity in arid and semi‐arid regions
 of the central plateau of Iran. *Insect Conservation and Diversity,*
 **14,** 40-51. Waldhauser, M., Vierstraete, A. & Schneider, T. (2023)
 Records of little-known Odonata from south-western Saudi Arabia. *Notulae
 Odonatologicae,* **10,** 17-29. ###
 Addition_to_the_Middle_east_Odonata.xlsx **Description:**  #### Variables
 * Longitude: Longitude in decimal degrees (WGS84) * Latitude: Latitude in
 decimal degrees (WGS84) * Species: Scientific name of the Odonata species
 * genus: The genus name of the recorded Odonata species. * family: The
 taxonomic family to which the species belongs, following standard Odonata
 classification. * suborder: The taxonomic subdivision within Odonata,
 distinguishing between dragonflies (*Anisoptera*) and damselflies
 (*Zygoptera*). * order: The taxonomic order of the recorded insect. All
 records belong to the order *Odonata*. * year: The year in which the
 observation or specimen record was collected or reported. * country: The
 country where the record was observed or collected ## Code/software For
 data analysis and visualization, the file can also be imported into
 open-source statistical software such as **R** or **Python**. Basic data
 cleaning and formatting were performed in R using the packages `dplyr` and
 `readr`. No proprietary or custom software is required to access or use
 the dataset. ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of
 the data:
 [https://www.gbif.org/dataset/17298ce5-235a-4da7-ae6f-bd6cd26282ab](https://www.gbif.org/dataset/17298ce5-235a-4da7-ae6f-bd6cd26282ab)