We thank Sonja Jähnig for help with land-use classification and Tsun Fung Yau for help with the data collection. We thank Jiefeng Yu, Jie Yang and Beatriz Prado Bastos Monteiro for help with the revision. We thank the Biodiversity Synthesis group at iDiv for feedback on the database. We thank researchers who collected the data and made it available in the papers, including A. E. Ogbeibu, A. E. Siegloch, A. Martínez, A. S. Niba, Abraham Addo-Bediako, Agnieszka Pociecha, Alan Herlihy, Albert Chakona, Alesandra Martins Dias, Alison Haynes, Allison H. Roy, Alonso Aguilar Ibarra, Ana Emilia Siegloch, András Weiperth, Ani Suryanti, Antonio Ruiz-García, Ariel Hernán Paracampo, Arunachalam Manimekalan, Barbara C. G. Gimenez, Benson Mwangi, Berit H. Bojsen, Carlos A. Cultid-Medina, Carolina Costa Pera, Christine Weber, Christopher M. Lorion, Claudia Eiko Yoshida, Cláudia Maris Ferreira, Cláudia P. D. Silva, Claus Haetinger, Craig Paukert, Cristina Natalia Horak, D. F. Baptista, David R. Lenat, Diego Córdoba Rojas, Fabiana Schneck, Francisco Gerson Araújo, Fred Van Dyke, Glenn R. Matlack, Gomez Daniela, Graciela Vázquez, Gregory J. Knothe, Haitao Wu, Híngara Leão, Hugo Marques, I. Jabłońska-Barna, Iain A. Fraser, Ihn-Sil Kwak, Izumi Katano, J. P. A. Pagotto, J. T. Betts, Jayakody A. Sumith, Jeffrey D. Muehlbauer, John M. Quinn, Jolanta Ejsmont-Karabin, Joshuah S. Perkin, Juan Martín Paredes del Puerto, Juan Victor Tomailla Tenazoa, Julián Chará, K. L. Smalling, Karen Shearer, Karina Dias-Silva, Kwang-Guk An, Laís L. Jacob, Leonardo Antunes Pessoa, Leticia M. Mesa, Lilian Casatti, Luis Vargas-Chacoff, Ma Yanwu, María Laura Miserendino, María Natalia Marrochi, Mariele P. Camargo, Mateus Marques Pires, Matt R. Whiles, Michael H. Paller, Michael K. Stone, Nicelly B. Araújo, Nitin Kamboj, Nyakeya Kobingi, Oliver Konopik, Omar Pérez-Reyes, P. D. Armitage, Pedro Jiménez Prado, Pedro Sartori Manoel, R. H. Norris, Raymond P. Morgan, Robert Czerniawski, S. C. Escarpinati, S. Karim Mousavi, S. N. Krishna, Samuel Leberg, Saúl Prada Pedreros, Sebastián Villada-Bedoya, Suhaila Ab Hamid, Talitha Zanini, Tau Bere, Tiago R. N. Bertaso, V. S. Uieda, Wakhid, William Aino Shivoga and Wojciech Jurasz. Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL.

This database includes data from 241 studies that contain abundance data on assemblages of several taxon groups from different land-use categories. Our compilation includes data from all major freshwater taxa (e.g., phytoplankton, macrophytes, macroinvertebrates, amphibians, fishes) and ecosystem types, and includes data from across the world. Description of the data and file structure Land-use-and-freshwater-database.xlsx: Datasource: Records of each study source, including study title and DOI, etc. Plotdata: Information of each site and plot (where the samples occurred). It includes location information, plot size land use information, etc. Observationdata: Records of observation data, including sample details and species abundance data. Scientificname: Species scientific name and classification. Description: The description of all variables. Metadata.csv: Metadata of each study, including Dataset_id, coordinates, taxa and basin type. Sample_rank.jpg: Describe the relationship between different sample ranks. Note: "NA" in the database indicates a missing value that could not be obtained from the original paper. Sharing/Access information The associated code is available: Zenodo https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13866691 Github https://github.com/Minghua-shen/FreshLanDiv

Motivation: Freshwater ecosystems have been heavily impacted by land-use changes, but data syntheses on these impacts are still limited. Here, we compiled a global database encompassing 241 studies with species abundance data (from multiple biological groups and geographic locations) across sites with different land-use categories. This compilation will be useful for addressing questions regarding land-use change and its impact on freshwater biodiversity. Main Types of Variables Contained: The database includes metadata of each study, sites location, sample methods, sample time, land-use category and abundance of each taxon. Spatial Location and Grain: The database contains data from across the globe, with 85% of the sites having well-defined geographical coordinates. Major Taxa and Level of Measurement: The database covers all major freshwater biological groups including algae, macrophytes, zooplankton, macroinvertebrates, fish and amphibians.

Peer reviewed