Structural, ecological and biogeographical attributes of European vegetation alliances
- Authors: Zdenka Preislerová, Corrado Marcenò, Javier Loidi, Gianmaria Bonari, Dariia Borovyk, Rosario G. Gavilán, Valentin Golub, Massimo Terzi, Jean-Paul Theurillat, Olivier Argagnon, Frederic Bioret, Idoia Biurrun, Juan Antonio Campos, Jorge Capelo, Andraž Čarni, Süleyman Çoban, János Csiky, Mirjana Ćuk, Renata Ćušterevska, Jürgen Dengler, Yakiv Didukh, Daniel Dítě, Giuliano Fanelli, Federico Fernández-González, Riccardo Guarino, Ondřej Hájek, Dmytro Iakushenko, Svitlana Iemelianova, Florian Jansen, Anni Jašková, Martin Jiroušek, Veronika Kalníková, Ali Kavgacı, Anna Kuzemko, Flavia Landucci, Zdeňka Lososová, Đorđije Milanović, José Antonio Molina, Tiago Monteiro-Henriques, Ladislav Mucina, Pavel Novák, Arkadiusz Nowak, Ricarda Pätsch, Gwenhael Perrin, Tomáš Peterka, Valerijus Rašomavičius, Kamila Reczyńska, Solvita Rūsiņa, Daniel Sánchez Mata, Arnoldo Santos Guerra, Jozef Šibík, Željko Škvorc, Danijela Stešević, Vladimir Stupar, Krzysztof Świerkosz, Rossen Tzonev, Kiril Vassilev, Denys Vynokurov, Wolfgang Willner, Milan Chytrý
- Publication year: 2024
- Type: Articolo in rivista
- OA Link: http://hdl.handle.net/10447/623293
Abstract
The first comprehensive phytosociological classification of all vegetation types in Europe (EuroVegChecklist; Applied Vegetation Science, 2016, 19, 3–264) contained brief descriptions of each type. However, these descriptions were not standardized and mentioned only the most distinct features of each vegetation type. The practical application of the vegetation classification system could be enhanced if users had the option to select sets of vegetation types based on various combinations of structural, ecological, and biogeographical attributes. Based on a literature review and expert knowledge, we created a new database that assigns standardized categorical attributes of 12 variables to each of the 1106 alliances dominated by vascular plants defined in EuroVegChecklist. These variables include dominant life form, phenological optimum, substrate moisture, substrate reaction, salinity, nutrient status, soil organic matter, vegetation region, elevational vegetation belt, azonality, successional status and naturalness. The new database has the potential to enhance the usefulness of phytosociological classification for researchers and practitioners and to help understand this classification to non-specialists.