Scientific communication
GrassPlot – a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands
Dengler, Jürgen; Wagner, Viktoria; Dembicz, Iwona; García-Mijangos, Itziar; Naqinezhad, Alireza; Boch, Steffen; Chiarucci, Alessandro; Conradi, Timo; Goffredo,Filibeck; Guraino,Riccardo;Janišová,Monika;Steinbauer,Manuel J.;Aćić,Svetlana;Acosta,Alicia T.R.;Akasaka,Munemitsu; Allers,Marc-Andre;Apostolova, Iva;Axmanová, Irena;Bakan,Branko;Baranova,Alina;Bardy-Durchhalter,Manfred;Bartha,Sándor;Baumann,Esther;Becker,Thomas;Becker,Ute;Belonovskaya,Elena;Bengtsson,Karin;Benito Alonso, José Luis;Berastegi,Asun;Bergamini,Ariel;Bonini,Ilaria;Bruun, Hans Henrik; Budzhak,Vasyl;Bueno,Alvaro;Campos,Juan Antonio
Phytocoenologia Band 48 Heft 3 (2018), p. 331 - 347
50 references
published: Aug 17, 2018
published online: May 24, 2018
manuscript accepted: Mar 23, 2018
manuscript revision received: Mar 19, 2017
manuscript revision requested: Mar 19, 2018
manuscript received: Jan 15, 2018
ArtNo. ESP024004803005, Price: 29.00 €
Abstract
GrassPlot is a collaborative vegetation-plot database organised by the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) and listed in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD ID EU-00-003). GrassPlot collects plot records (relevés) from grasslands and other open habitats of the Palaearctic biogeographic realm. It focuses on precisely delimited plots of eight standard grain sizes (0.0001; 0.001; ... 1,000 m²) and on nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes. The usage of GrassPlot is regulated through Bylaws that intend to balance the interests of data contributors and data users. The current version (v. 1.00) contains data for approximately 170,000 plots of different sizes and 2,800 nested-plot series. The key components are richness data and metadata. However, most included datasets also encompass compositional data. About 14,000 plots have near-complete records of terricolous bryophytes and lichens in addition to vascular plants. At present, GrassPlot contains data from 36 countries throughout the Palaearctic, spread across elevational gradients and major grassland types. GrassPlot with its multi-scale and multi-taxon focus complements the larger international vegetation-plot databases, such as the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the global database “sPlot”. Its main aim is to facilitate studies on the scale- and taxon-dependency of biodiversity patterns and drivers along macroecological gradients. GrassPlot is a dynamic database and will expand through new data collection coordinated by the elected Governing Board. We invite researchers with suitable data to join GrassPlot. Researchers with project ideas addressable with GrassPlot data are welcome to submit proposals to the Governing Board. Abbreviations: EDGG = Eurasian Dry Grassland Group; EVA = European Vegetation Archive; GrassPlot = Database of Scale-Dependent Phytodiversity Patterns in Palaearctic Grasslands; SAR = species-area relationship.
Keywords
biodiversity • European Vegetation Archive (EVA) • Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG) • grassland vegetation • GrassPlot • macroecology • multi-taxon • nested plot • scale-dependence • species-area relationship (SAR) • sPlot • vegetation-plot database