Vegetation of Europe: hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities

Vegetation classification consistent with the Braun-Blanquet approach is widely used in Europe for applied vegetation science, conservation planning and land management. During the long history of syntaxonomy, many concepts and names of vegetation units have been proposed, but there has been no single classification system integrating these units. Here we (1) present a comprehensive, hierarchical, syntaxonomic system of alliances, orders and classes of Braun-Blanquet syntaxonomy for vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen, and algal communities of Europe; (2) briefly characterize in ecological and geographic terms accepted syntaxonomic concepts; (3) link available synonyms to these accepted concepts; and (4) provide a list of diagnostic species for all classes. Location: European mainland, Greenland, Arctic archipelagos (including Iceland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya), Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Caucasus, Cyprus. Methods: We evaluated approximately 10 000 bibliographic sources to create a comprehensive list of previously proposed syntaxonomic units. These units were evaluated by experts for their floristic and ecological distinctness, clarity of geographic distribution and compliance with the nomenclature code. Accepted units were compiled into three systems of classes, orders and alliances (EuroVegChecklist, EVC) for communities dominated by vascular plants (EVC1), bryophytes and lichens (EVC2) and algae (EVC3). Results: EVC1 includes 109 classes, 300 orders and 1108 alliances; EVC2 includes 27 classes, 53 orders and 137 alliances, and EVC3 includes 13 classes, 24 orders and 53 alliances. In total 13 448 taxa were assigned as indicator species to classes of EVC1, 2087 to classes of EVC2 and 368 to classes of EVC3. Accepted syntaxonomic concepts are summarized in a series of appendices, and detailed information on each is accessible through the software tool EuroVegBrowser. Conclusions: This paper features the first comprehensive and critical account of European syntaxa and synthesizes more than 100 yr of classification effort by European phytosociologists. It aims to document and stabilize the concepts and nomenclature of syntaxa for practical uses, such as calibration of habitat classification used by the European Union, standardization of terminology for environmental assessment, management and conservation of nature areas, landscape planning and education. The presented classification systems provide a baseline for future development and revision of European syntaxonomy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Classification of the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forest vegetation

Vegetation SurveyAim: Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad-scale classification of these pine forests based on a large data set of vegetation plots. Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, Levant, Anatolia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Methods: We prepared a data set of European and Mediterranean pine forest vegetation plots. We selected 7,277 plots dominated by the cold-sensitive Mediterranean pine species Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea. We classified these plots using TWINSPAN, interpreted the ecologically and biogeographically homogeneous TWINSPAN clusters as alliances, and developed an expert system for automatic vegetation classification at the class, order and alliance levels. Results: We described Pinetea halepensis as a new class for the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forests, included in the existing Pinetalia halepensis order, and distinguished 12 alliances of native thermophilous pine forests, including four newly described and three informal groups merging supposedly native stands and old-established plantations. The main gradients in species composition reflect elevational vegetation belts and the west–east, and partly north–south, biogeographical differences. Both temperature and precipitation seasonality co-vary with these gradients. Conclusions: We provide the first formal classification at the order and alliance levels for all the Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests based on vegetation-plot data. This classification includes traditional syntaxa, which have been critically revised, and a new class and four new alliances. We also outline a methodological workflow that might be useful for other vegetation classification syntheses. The expert system, which is jointly based on pine dominance and species composition, is a tool for applying this classification in research and nature conservation survey, monitoring and managementinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

CircumMed+Euro pine forest database: an electronic archive for Mediterranean and European forests

Large thematic databases of vegetation-plots are increasingly needed for vegetation studies and biodiversity research. In this paper, we present the CircumMed+Euro Pine Forest Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-026), which in September 2018 encompassed 5590 records from pine-dominated vegetation plots (relevés) and associated vegetation types from 23 countries of temperate Europe, Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. These vegetation plots were collected through a detailed literature search for plots not included in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA). The database includes plots from 192 bibliographic references and unpublished vegetation plots by different authors. All vegetation plots are georeferenced, and coordinates are available with different accuracy as reported by the authors. The database is managed by the Vegetation Science Group, Department of Botany and Zoology of the Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic). It is registered in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD) with the code EU-00-026 and is accessible through the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) or by asking the Custodian. The CircumMed+Euro Pine Forest Database is an important resource for conducting different types of broad-scale studies in the fields of vegetation classification, plant invasion ecology, macroecology and biological conservationN/

GrassPlot - a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands

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 (releves) 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 m(2)) 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 vegetationplot 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

Vegetation changes within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, Ukraine

The article presents data from the study of vegetation dynamics in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone 30 years after the nuclear disaster and the resettlement of its local people. The 1993 prognostic data on the further development of grass and forest community groups in this area was only partially correct. The new prognosis for demutation successions reflects deviations from the linear development with a possible horizontal "shift", depending on climatic conditions, bio-ecological features of plants, as well as the impact of fires. Based on the analysis of recent data from geobotanical studies of the vegetation, the values of ecofactors that determine the course of demutation of communities were calculated. In particular, the classic course of succession is now inherent in the former settlements of the exclusion zone where the formation of forests takes place. In the old fallow lands, the previously prevailing Elytrigia repens has lost its dominant position, and has been replaced by Calamagrostis epigejos, which we associate with a certain deficiency of nitrogen compounds in the soil. The allelopathic properties of cereals inhibit the process of replacing grass communities with forest ones, which affects the course of succession. The issues of demutation of residential areas of the Exclusion Zone are considered and the sequence of changes in different habitats is described. Post-pyrogenic changes in the forest vegetation are noted and the capacity of invasive plant species to invade natural ecosystems are characterized. It is emphasized that frequent and large-scale fires cause a significant imbalance in forest ecosystems, and result in the appearance of a largenumber of alien species

Diversität und kleinräumliche Verbreitung von Kryophyten-Steppen im Minusinskaya-Gebirgsbecken in Südsibirien (Russland)

Cryophytic steppes in the Minusinskaya intermountain basin containing plant species that are predominantly distributed in the alpine zone such as Androsace dasyphylla, Dryas oxyodonta, Festuca sphagnicola, Kobresia myosuroides, K. filifolia, Minuartia verna, Oxytropis bracteata, Sagina saginoides, Papaver nudicaule, Patrinia sibirica, Pedicularis lasiostachys, Pulsatilla ambigua, Saussurea schanginiana, which are considered remnants of the Pleistocene vegetation. Based on 89 relevés, we classified cryophytic steppes using the Braun-Blanquet method within two phytosociological classes: Central Asian steppes of the Cleistogenetea squarrosae and West Palearctic steppes of the Festuco-Brometea. Three associations (Androsaco dasyphyllae-Caricetum pediformis, Pulsatillo patentis-Caricetum pediformis and Bupleuro multinervi-Helictotrichetum desertori) with three subassociations and three variants were described with respect to their phytosociological affinities and ecology. DCA ordination showed floristic differences between syntaxa, while correlations of DCA axes and floristic and environmental variables detected substrate type and temperature regime as presumably main drivers for vegetation differentiation. Another driver for vegetation differentiation seems to be continentality of the climate. Small scale distribution of cryophytic steppes were mapped using satellite images with resolution of 1.8 m. Cryophytic steppes always occupy only small areas in landscapes, on convex parts of undulated microrelief of mountain slopes and summits characterised by drought in summer and deep soil freezing in winter. These special micro-ecological conditions play an essential role for the existence of alpine flora in the Minusinskaya intermountain basin.Die kleinräumig verbreiteten Kryophyten-Steppen (= Steppen mit Pflanzenarten, die auf Frostböden wachsen) des Minusinskaya-Gebirgsbeckens in Südsibirien (Russland) enthalten eine bemerkenswerte Kombination alpiner Pflanzenarten, zu denen Androsace dasyphylla, Dryas oxyodonta, Festuca sphagnicola, Kobresia filifolia, K. myosuroides, Minuartia verna, Oxytropis bracteata, Papaver nudicaule, Patrinia sibirica, Pedicularis lasiostachys, Pulsatilla ambigua, Sagina saginoides und Saussurea schanginiana zählen. Als Eiszeitrelikte haben diese Arten in den im Gebiet großflächig entwickelten moderat-xerothermophilen Steppen mutmaßlich seit dem Pleistozän überdauert (Rever-Datto 1934, 1940, Sobolevskaya 1941, Kuminova et al. 1976). Das Hauptziel dieser Untersuchung ist die Präsentation aktueller Daten zur Diversität, Ökologie und Verbreitung der Kryophyten-Steppen des Minusinskaya-Beckens in Südsibirien

Classification of the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forest vegetation

Aim: Vegetation types of Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests dominated by Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea were studied in various areas. However, a comprehensive formal vegetation classification of these forests based on a detailed data analysis has never been developed. Our aim is to provide the first broad-scale classification of these pine forests based on a large data set of vegetation plots. Location: Southern Europe, North Africa, Levant, Anatolia, Crimea and the Caucasus. Methods: We prepared a data set of European and Mediterranean pine forest vegetation plots. We selected 7,277 plots dominated by the cold-sensitive Mediterranean pine species Pinus brutia, Pinus halepensis, Pinus pinaster and Pinus pinea. We classified these plots using TWINSPAN, interpreted the ecologically and biogeographically homogeneous TWINSPAN clusters as alliances, and developed an expert system for automatic vegetation classification at the class, order and alliance levels. Results: We described Pinetea halepensis as a new class for the Mediterranean lowland to submontane pine forests, included in the existing Pinetalia halepensis order, and distinguished 12 alliances of native thermophilous pine forests, including four newly described and three informal groups merging supposedly native stands and old-established plantations. The main gradients in species composition reflect elevational vegetation belts and the west-east, and partly north-south, biogeographical differences. Both temperature and precipitation seasonality co-vary with these gradients. Conclusions: We provide the first formal classification at the order and alliance levels for all the Mediterranean thermophilous pine forests based on vegetation-plot data. This classification includes traditional syntaxa, which have been critically revised, and a new class and four new alliances. We also outline a methodological workflow that might be useful for other vegetation classification syntheses. The expert system, which is jointly based on pine dominance and species composition, is a tool for applying this classification in research and nature conservation survey, monitoring and management.Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University; Free University of Bozen-Bolzano [TN201H]; Czech Science Foundation [19-28491X]; Plan Propio of the UCLM [2020-GRIN-29214]; European Social Fund (POCH); National Funds (MCTES) through a Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship [SFRH/BPD/115057/2016, UIDB/04033/2020]; Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia [SFRH/BPD/115057/2016, UIDB/04033/2020] Funding Source: FCTGB was funded by the post-doc programme of the Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University and by the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano through the CONplant project (TN201H), JD, IK, LT and MC by the Czech Science Foundation (19-28491X), FFG by the Plan Propio of the UCLM (2020-GRIN-29214), TMH by the European Social Fund (POCH), by National Funds (MCTES) through a Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/115057/2016) and project no. UIDB/04033/2020

Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal in Ukraine: current distribution and ecological and coenotic peculiarities

Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal. (Asteraceae) is a species with high invasiveness capacity in Ukraine, especially in the Steppe zone. The first data on the finding of escaped plants in Europe were recorded in the 40's of the last century. There were three naturalization centres in Ukraine, from where the species began to spread. In the secondary range in Ukraine, G. squarrosa is characterized by high levels of seed productivity and germination, variable modes of dispersal, wide ecological and coenotic amplitudes and CSR-strategy. The trend continues with the spread of the species in western, north-western and northern directions, and today more than 300 localities confirming this trend are already known. In the past 20 years, 92 new localities have been recorded. G. squarrosa is a transformer, widespread in the southern regions of the Steppe zone. As a result, new plant communities are formed, reaching the syntaxonomic level of associations. In general, this species is recorded in communities of five vegetation classes. G. squarrosa has been identified within the territory of many protected areas of Ukraine. In terms of ecological indicators, the optimum of the species is in the Steppe zone. A distinctive feature of all the scales is that the amplitude towards the minimum is wider than the mean values of the maximum. It can be predicted that, due to the potential ability of the species to adapt and under the influence of climatic change, there is a higher probability that the species will spread in the future in northern and western directions. The condition for such an expansion is disturbance of meadow-steppe fringe xeromesic communities, with decreased coenotic competition

<i>Grindelia squarrosa</i> in Ukraine: current distribution and ecological and coenotic peculiarities

Abstract Grindelia squarrosa (Pursh) Dunal. (Asteraceae) is a species with high invasiveness capacity in Ukraine, especially in the Steppe zone. The first data on the finding of escaped plants in Europe were recorded in the 40’s of the last century. There were three naturalization centres in Ukraine, from where the species began to spread. In the secondary range in Ukraine, G. squarrosa is characterized by high levels of seed productivity and germination, variable modes of dispersal, wide ecological and coenotic amplitudes and CSR-strategy. The trend continues with the spread of the species in western, north-western and northern directions, and today more than 300 localities confirming this trend are already known. In the past 20 years, 92 new localities have been recorded. G. squarrosa is a transformer, widespread in the southern regions of the Steppe zone. As a result, new plant communities are formed. In general, this species is recorded in communities of five vegetation classes. In terms of ecological indicators, the optimum of the species is in the Steppe zone. It can be predicted that, due to the potential ability of the species to adapt and under the influence of climatic change, there is a higher probability that the species will spread in the future in northern and western directions. The condition for such an expansion is disturbance of meadow-steppe fringe xeromesic communities, with decreased coenotic competition.</jats:p