Researchers from the Biodiversity and Environment Institute BIOMA participate in the creation of the largest database on the distribution of Iberian arthropods
09 | 07 | 2025
A research team from the BIOMA Institute of the University of Navarra has participated in the creation of IberArthro, the most complete database to date on the distribution of arthropods in the Iberian Peninsula and Balearic Islands. The work has been recently published in the scientific journal Ecosistemas and has counted with the partnership of experts from more than a dozen universities and research centers around the country.
The database gathers more than one million records validated by specialists, representing more than 4,600 species of groups as diverse as butterflies, beetles, bees or trichoptera. These data, collected from the 18th century to the present day, are available in open access through the GBIF platform and constitute acore topic tool to advance knowledge on the distribution patterns and conservation of Iberian biodiversity.
Enrique Baquero, Arturo H. Ariño and David Galicia, researchers at the BIOMA Institute, have played a leading role thanks to their experience in the collection and validation of springtail records. "This group of small arthropods is essential for the balance of ecosystems, as they act as indicators of soil health and reflect environmental disturbances. However, they are often neglected in biodiversity inventories," says Dr. Enrique Baquero. His work has made it possible to incorporate thousands of data from scientific collections, previous programs of study and field observations, thus enriching the knowledge available on this group.
The goal of this work is to facilitate access to reliable information on groups of organisms traditionally ignored in conservation strategies, such as arthropods.
IberArthro has been developed within the framework of theDigit_Artro project , funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the European Union (NextGenerationEU), and represents an example of collaborative and open science with real impact on conservation policies.
