Freshwater fauna in Spain in the mid-19th Century

Abstract

We extracted records of freshwater fauna (mainly, but not exclusively, fish) from the geographic dictionary edited by Pascual Madoz (henceforth ‘the Madoz’), which involved an exhaustive standardized survey of several descriptors of the Spanish territory in the mid-19th century. The Madoz was published between 1845 and 1850 in 16 volumes and contained information on some 70,000 Spanish population centers, rivers and topographical accidents. This work provides a rigorous national inventory of the socio-economic status of all settlements as well as their natural resources, including records of plant and animal species, both wild and domestic. Most mentions to freshwater fauna in the Madoz are reported either when describing rivers and wetlands or as a ‘production’ from a village, together with crops, livestock and game species. Some mentions are also associated to the heading ‘terrain’, although this is much less frequent. We converted these mentions into 10,750 usable records of 39 freshwater-associated taxa from 5,472 localities. These data can be used to describe the historical distributions of several species, including emblematic ones such as Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser sturio; 21 records), European eel (Anguilla Anguilla; 2848 records), Brown trout (Salmo trutta; 3943 records), Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar; 258 records) and others. This knowledge will allow assessing range and niche expansion, contraction, and shifts, and should set the basis to identify conservation baselines to guide the management of freshwater systems.

The project SUMHAL aims at implementing a strategy for biodiversity conservation in the western Mediterranean hotspot by setting a technologically efficient and scientifically robust system. The project combines fieldwork and virtual research environments for the recording, storing, analysis, and dissemination of the conservation status and threats of biodiversity in Andalusia (Southern Spain). The general aim of WP3, in which this datset is framed, is to explore venues on how to mobilize, harmonize and disseminate historical information on biodiversity and its management in order to generate reference conditions for conservation, improve research and enhance its interface with management. SUMHAL’s WP3 aims to produce useful information for the conservation of biodiversity by mobilizing information with three main focuses: 1) gathering historical species occurrence records; 2) inventorying damages produced by animals on human activities or goods; and 3) inventorying management actions and results in protected areas.