Amphibian and Reptile Records from Ukraine via Facebook Monitoring, 2019-2022

Records of 19 amphibian and 12 reptile species in Ukraine were compiled by Nazar Smirnov of Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The materials were collected from 2019 to 2022 by monitoring specialized public groups on the Facebook social network. The dataset focuses on western and central regions but includes some records from other parts of Ukraine, including species listed in the 'Red Book of Ukraine' (2009).

Use Cases

• Mapping species distributions based on citizen-sourced observation records from social media.
• Analyzing the presence of threatened species based on mentions of the 'Red Book of Ukraine'.
• Studying regional biodiversity patterns based on the described focus on western and central Ukrainian regions.

Strengths

• Contains records for 31 distinct species (19 amphibians, 12 reptiles).
• Data collection spans a defined 4-year period from 2019 to 2022.
• Focuses on specific geographic regions of Ukraine, providing spatial context.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and source bias inherent to social media monitoring.

Provenance

Source

Nazar Smirnov, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University

Collection Method

Monitoring of three specified public Facebook groups.

Time Range

2019-2022

Geography

Primarily western and central regions of Ukraine (Transcarpathia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Ternopil, Khmel'nyts'kyi, Vinnytsia), with some records from other regions.