RWCVP: a companion R package for the World Checklist of Vascular Plants

The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is an extremely valuable resource that is being used to address many fundamental and applied questions in plant science, conservation, ecology and evolution. However, databases of this size require data manipulation skills that pose a barrier to many potential users. Here, we present RWCVP, an open-source R package that aims to facilitate the use of the WCVP by providing clear, intuitive functions to execute many common tasks. These functions include taxonomic name reconciliation, geospatial integration, mapping and generation of multiple different summaries of the WCVP in both data and report format. We have included extensive documentation and tutorials, providing step-by-step guides that are accessible even to users with minimal programming experience. RWCVP is available on CRAN and GITHUB.

Automated summary

The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is a valuable resource utilized in various fields such as plant science, conservation, ecology, and evolution. However, the size of these databases presents a challenge for many users without the necessary data manipulation skills. RWCVP is an open-source R package that aims to address this issue by providing user-friendly functions for common tasks, including taxonomic name reconciliation, geospatial integration, mapping, and generation of summaries. Extensive documentation and tutorials are provided, making it accessible even for users with minimal programming experience. RWCVP is available on CRAN and GITHUB.