European Vegetation Archive (EVA): An integrated database of European vegetation plots

© 2016 International Association for Vegetation Science. The European Vegetation Archive (EVA) is a centralized database of European vegetation plots developed by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey. It has been in development since 2012 and first made available for use in research projects in 2014. It stores copies of national and regional vegetation- plot databases on a single software platform. Data storage in EVA does not affect on-going independent development of the contributing databases, which remain the property of the data contributors. EVA uses a prototype of the database management software TURBOVEG 3 developed for joint management of multiple databases that use different species lists. This is facilitated by the SynBioSys Taxon Database, a system of taxon names and concepts used in the individual European databases and their corresponding names on a unified list of European flora. TURBOVEG 3 also includes procedures for handling data requests, selections and provisions according to the approved EVA Data Property and Governance Rules. By 30 June 2015, 61 databases from all European regions have joined EVA, contributing in total 1 027 376 vegetation plots, 82% of them with geographic coordinates, from 57 countries. EVA provides a unique data source for large-scale analyses of European vegetation diversity both for fundamental research and nature conservation applications. Updated information on EVA is available online at http://euroveg.org/eva-database

Selective Leaching as a Method of Metallic Nanoparticles Preparation

Selective leaching is process used mainly in analytical praxis–alloy matrix is dissolved and the residuum can be study by different methods. In this article, modification of selective leaching determined for production of metallic nanoparticles is described.Selective leaching technique lays in preparation of supersaturated solid solution of desired element in matrix metal –by convenient heat treatment or by rapid solidification of the binary alloy. Consequently, the matrix metal is selectively dissolved and metal nanoparticles from other metal are formed. The size, shape and agglomeration of forming metallic nanoparticles are dependent on many factors such as reaction temperature, concentration of leaching solution, additives present in leaching solution. The metal mainly used as matrix component is aluminium due to is amphoteric behaviour. It enables aluminium dissolution in sodium hydroxide without affecting the minor metal. Nobel metals like silver or copper form