A database was compiled from over 45,000 records of monogonont rotifer (Animalia: Rotifera: Monogononta) species in the world at four spatial resolution levels, based on the geographical units used by the Biodiversity Information Standards (formerly Taxonomic Database Working Group, TDWG). Although it is not a complete picture of rotifer distribution due to insufficient sampling in many regions, this is the first global distribution database made available for a group of microorganisms; it can be useful for a range of macroecological analyses, which have so far been mainly applied to larger organisms.
This electronic database is provided as supplementary material to Fontaneto et al. (2012), and is also made freely available on the website of the Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment (FADA).
Please cite the following paper when using these data:
Fontaneto D., Barbosa A.M., Segers H. & Pautasso M. (2012) The ‘rotiferologist’ effect and other global correlates of species richness in monogonont rotifers. Ecography 35: 174-182
