We present a flora and fauna dataset for the Mira-Mataje binational basins. This is an area shared between southwestern Colombia and northwestern Ecuador, where both the Chocó and Tropical Andes biodiversity hotspots converge. Information from 120 sources was systematized in the Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A) standard and geospatial vector data format for geographic information systems (GIS) (shapefiles). Sources included natural history museums, published literature, and citizen science repositories across 18 countries. The resulting database has 33,460 records from 5,281 species, of which 1,083 are endemic and 680 threatened. The diversity represented in the dataset is equivalent to 10\% of the total plant species and 26\% of the total terrestrial vertebrate species in the hotspots. It corresponds to 0.07\% of their total area. The dataset can be used to estimate and compare biodiversity patterns with environmental parameters and provide value to ecosystems, ecoregions, and protected areas. The dataset is a baseline for future assessments of biodiversity in the face of environmental degradation, climate change, and accelerated extinction processes. The data has been formally presented in the manuscript entitled "The Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot: A Comprehensive Dataset for the Mira-Mataje Binational Basins" in the journal "Scientific Data". To maintain DOI integrity, this version will not change after publication of the manuscript and therefore we cannot provide further references on volume, issue, and DOI of manuscript publication. - Data format 1: The .rds file extension saves a single object to be read in R and provides better compression, serialization, and integration within the R environment, than simple .csv files. The description of file names is in the original manuscript. -- m_m_flora_2021_voucher_ecuador.rds -- m_m_flora_2021_observation_ecuador.rds -- m_m_flora_2021_total_ecuador.rds -- m_m_fauna_2021_ecuador.rds - Data format 2: The .csv file has been encoded in UTF-8, and is an ASCII file with text separated by commas. The description of file names is in the original manuscript. -- m_m_flora_fauna_2021_all.zip. This file includes all biodiversity datasets. -- m_m_flora_2021_voucher_ecuador.csv -- m_m_flora_2021_observation_ecuador.csv -- m_m_flora_2021_total_ecuador.csv -- m_m_fauna_2021_ecuador.csv - Data format 3: We consolidated a shapefile for the basin containing layers for vegetation ecosystems and the total number of occurrences, species, and endemic and threatened species for each ecosystem. -- biodiversity_measures_mira_mataje.zip. This file includes the .shp file and accessory geomatic files. - A set of 3D shaded-relief map representations of the data in the shapefile can be found at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.23499180.v4 Three taxonomic data tables were used in our technical validation of the presented dataset. These three files are: 1) the_catalog_of_life.tsv (Source: Bánki, O. et al. Catalogue of life checklist (version 2024-03-26). https://doi.org/10.48580/dfz8d (2024)) 2) world_checklist_of_vascular_plants_names.csv (we are also including ancillary tables "world_checklist_of_vascular_plants_distribution.csv", and "README_world_checklist_of_vascular_plants_.xlsx") (Source: Govaerts, R., Lughadha, E. N., Black, N., Turner, R. & Paton, A. The World Checklist of Vascular Plants is a continuously updated resource for exploring global plant diversity. Sci. Data 8, 215, 10.1038/s41597-021-00997-6 (2021).) 3) world_flora_online.csv (Source: The World Flora Online Consortium et al. World flora online plant list December 2023, 10.5281/zenodo.10425161 (2023).)

There are currently 36 recognized biodiversity hotspots. These are Earth’s most biologically rich—yet threatened—terrestrial regions.

To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, an area must meet two strict criteria:

• Contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants found nowhere else on Earth (known as "endemic" species).
• Have lost at least 70 percent of its primary native vegetation.

Many of the biodiversity hotspots exceed the two criteria. For example, both the Sundaland Hotspot in Southeast Asia and the Tropical Andes Hotspot in South America have about 15,000 endemic plant species. The loss of vegetation in some hotspots has reached a startling 95 percent.