The problem of assessing the diversity of biotic complexes is extremely important and relevant and has been covered in numerous publications, mostly for certain taxonomic groups. The use of information retrieval systems with large databases opens up new opportunities and approaches to automated biodiversity assessment. All the data used in this article are taken from the web resource of the Data Centre “Biodiversity of Ukraine” and include data from museum collections, literature and human observation. To evaluate species diversity included in the Red Data Book of Ukraine, we developed a scoring scale for each protected category based on a ranking system according to its protected category. For the assessment, we used Disappearing species, Vulnerable species, and Rare species only. To highlight hotspot areas we used the aggregation maps with 20 × 20 km squares. Species diversity of the species included in the Red Data Book of Ukraine of the western region of Ukraine in the CDBU is represented by 498 species (fungi 41, plants 191, animals 266). By oblasts of the western region of Ukraine: Volyn oblast 139 species (fungi 3, plants 51, animals 85), Rivne oblast 85 (fungi 5, plants 32, animals 48), Lviv oblast 260 (fungi 17, plants 90, animals 153), Ternopil oblast 182 (fungi 9, plants 48, animals 125), Ivano-Frankivsk oblast 219 (fungi 28, plants 59, animals 132), Chernivtsi oblast 105 (fungi 6, plants 49, animals 50), Zakarpattia oblast 190 (fungi 26, plants 70, animals 94). Most of the defined hotspots coincide with the territories of the nature reserve fund of Ukraine, and some hotspots are located in large cities (scientific centers) with vicinities. We have also identified hotspots outside of existing nature reserves, including the territories of large water reservoirs, river valleys, and historical biodiversity hotspots. Thus, Data сentre “Biodiversity of Ukraine” tools can be used to assess rare biodiversity and its restoration in the post-war period, as well as to identify hotspots and locations for creating new protected territories, identifying ecological corridors and developing ecological networks and monitor changes in biodiversity caused by climate change.
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