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This is a dataset of Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species described in this article: Tichý L., Axmanová I., Dengler J., Guarino R., Jansen F., Midolo G., Nobis M.P., Van Meerbeek K., Aćić S., Attorre F., Bergmeier E., Biurrun I., Bonari G., Bruelheide H., Campos J.A., Čarni A., Chiarucci A., Ćuk M., Ćušterevska M., Didukh Y., Dítě D., Dítě Z., Dziuba T., Fanelli G., Fernández-Pascual E., Garbolino E., Gavilán R.G., Gégout J.-C., Graf U., Güler B., Hájek M., Hennekens S.M., Jandt U., Jašková A., Jiménez-Alfaro B., Julve P., Kambach S., Karger D.N., Karrer G., Kavgacı A., Knollová I., Kuzemko A., Küzmič F., Landucci F., Lengyel A., Lenoir J., Marcenò C., Moeslund J.E., Novák P., Pérez-Haase A., Peterka T., Pielech R., Pignatti A., Rašomavičius V., Rūsiņa S., Saatkamp A., Šilc U., Škvorc Ž., Theurillat J.-P., Wohlgemuth T. & Chytrý M. (2023) Ellenberg-type indicator values for European vascular plant species. Journal of Vegetation Science, 34, e13168. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.13168 The dataset contains: 1) Harmonized Ellenberg-type indicator values for light, temperature, moisture, reaction, nutrients, and salinity for European vascular plants. 2) Original indicator values from 13 datasets of Ellenberg-type indicator values: - Germany (Ellenberg & Leuschner 2010) - Austria (Karrer 1992) - Cantabrian Range (Jiménez-Alfaro et al. 2021) - Czech Republic (Chytrý et al. 2018) - European mires (Hájek et al. 2020) - France (Julve 2015) - Great Britain (Hill et al. 2000) - Greece (South Aegean) (Böhling et al. 2002) - Hungary (Borhidi 1995) - Italy (Guarino & La Rosa 2019, modified) - Saline habitats (Dítě et al. 2023) - Switzerland and the Alps (Landolt et al. 2010) - Ukraine (Didukh 2011) 3) Species nomenclature is standardized according to the Euro+Med PlantBase (http://europlusmed.org)., The final version of the paper (accepted 8th Dec 2022; published 22nd Dec 2022). Difference from version 1.0: Minor changes in newly added species values calculated from co-occurrence with other species in the EVA database. They were corrected using straight-line calibration.

Aim The first comprehensive checklist of European phytosociological alliances, orders and classes (EuroVegChecklist) was published by Mucina et al. (2016, Applied Vegetation Science, 19 (Suppl. 1), 3-264). However, this checklist did not contain detailed information on the distribution of individual vegetation types. Here we provide the first maps of all alliances in Europe. Location Europe, Greenland, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus and the Caucasus countries. Methods We collected data on the occurrence of phytosociological alliances in European countries and regions from literature and vegetation-plot databases. We interpreted and complemented these data using the expert knowledge of an international team of vegetation scientists and matched all the previously reported alliance names and concepts with those of the EuroVegChecklist. We then mapped the occurrence of the EuroVegChecklist alliances in 82 territorial units corresponding to countries, large islands, archipelagos and peninsulas. We subdivided the mainland parts of large or biogeographically heterogeneous countries based on the European biogeographical regions. Specialized alliances of coastal habitats were mapped only for the coastal section of each territorial unit. Results Distribution maps were prepared for 1,105 alliances of vascular-plant dominated vegetation reported in the EuroVegChecklist. For each territorial unit, three levels of occurrence probability were plotted on the maps: (a) verified occurrence; (b) uncertain occurrence; and (c) absence. The maps of individual alliances were complemented by summary maps of the number of alliances and the alliance-area relationship. Distribution data are also provided in a spreadsheet. Conclusions The new map series represents the first attempt to characterize the distribution of all vegetation types at the alliance level across Europe. There are still many knowledge gaps, partly due to a lack of data for some regions and partly due to uncertainties in the definition of some alliances. The maps presented here provide a basis for future research aimed at filling these gaps. This project was funded by the Czech Science Foundation (grant no. 19-28491X). LM was supported by Iluka Chair of Vegetation Science & Biogeography, Murdoch University, Perth; IB, JAC and JL by the Basque Government (IT936-16); TMH by the European Social Fund (POCH and NORTE 2020) and National Funds (MCTES) through Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia postdoctoral fellowship (SFRH/BPD/115057/2016) and project UIDB/04033/2020; AC and FK by the Slovenian Research Agency (P1-0236 to AC and program for Young Researchers to FK); SR by the University of Latvia (AAp2016/B041/Zd2016/AZ03); and KS by the Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences (RVO 67985939).

Datos disponibles en https://github.com/fmsabatini/sPlotOpen_Code, EU H2020 project BACI, Grant No. 640176 (...), Sabatini, F.M., Lenoir, J., Hattab, T., Arnst, E.A., Chytrý, M., Dengler, J., De Ruffray, P., Hennekens, S.M., Jandt, U., Jansen, F., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Kattge, J., Levesley, A., Pillar, V.D., Purschke, O., Sandel, B., Sultana, F., Aavik, T., Aćić, S., Acosta, A.T.R., Agrillo, E., Alvarez, M., Apostolova, I., Arfin Khan, M.A.S., Arroyo, L., Attorre, F., Aubin, I., Banerjee, A., Bauters, M., Bergeron, Y., Bergmeier, E., Biurrun, I., Bjorkman, A.D., Bonari, G., Bondareva, V., Brunet, J., Čarni, A., Casella, L., Cayuela, L., Černý, T., Chepinoga, V., Csiky, J., Ćušterevska, R., De Bie, E., de Gasper, A.L., De Sanctis, M., Dimopoulos, P., Dolezal, J., Dziuba, T., El-Sheikh, M.A.E.-R.M., Enquist, B., Ewald, J., Fazayeli, F., Field, R., Finckh, M., Gachet, S., Galán-de-Mera, A., Garbolino, E., Gholizadeh, H., Giorgis, M., Golub, V., Alsos, I.G., Grytnes, J.-A., Guerin, G.R., Gutiérrez, A.G., Haider, S., Hatim, M.Z., Hérault, B., Hinojos Mendoza, G., Hölzel, N., Homeier, J., Hubau, W., Indreica, A., Janssen, J.A.M., Jedrzejek, B., Jentsch, A., Jürgens, N., Kącki, Z., Kapfer, J., Karger, D.N., Kavgacı, A., Kearsley, E., Kessler, M., Khanina, L., Killeen, T., Korolyuk, A., Kreft, H., Kühl, H.S., Kuzemko, A., Landucci, F., Lengyel, A., Lens, F., Lingner, D.V., Liu, H., Lysenko, T., Mahecha, M.D., Marcenò, C., Martynenko, V., Moeslund, J.E., Monteagudo Mendoza, A., Mucina, L., Müller, J.V., Munzinger, J., Naqinezhad, A., Noroozi, J., Nowak, A., Onyshchenko, V., Overbeck, G.E., Pärtel, M., Pauchard, A., Peet, R.K., Peñuelas, J., Pérez-Haase, A., Peterka, T., Petřík, P., Peyre, G., Phillips, O.L., Prokhorov, V., Rašomavičius, V., Revermann, R., Rivas-Torres, G., Rodwell, J.S., Ruprecht, E., Rūsiņa, S., Samimi, C., Schmidt, M., Schrodt, F., Shan, H., Shirokikh, P., Šibík, J., Šilc, U., Sklenář, P., Škvorc, Ž., Sparrow, B., Sperandii, M.G., Stančić, Z., Svenning, J.-C., Tang, Z., Tang, C.Q., Tsiripidis, I., Vanselow, K.A., Vásquez Martínez, R., Vassilev, K., Vélez-Martin, E., Venanzoni, R., Vibrans, A.C., Violle, C., Virtanen, R., von Wehrden, H., Wagner, V., Walker, D.A., Waller, D.M., Wang, H.-F., Wesche, K., Whitfeld, T.J.S., Willner, W., Wiser, S.K., Wohlgemuth, T., Yamalov, S., Zobel, M., Bruelheide, H.

We asked what are the behavioural and logistic preferences of professional and amateur botanists when exploring flora in the field. We extracted temporal and spatial data on vas- cular plant species occurrences from three datasets of Sicilian flora: a subset of iNaturalist, a dataset collected by a Facebook group focused on the flora of Sicily and a subset of the professional database European Vegetation Archive. We used the time span of individual contributor’s activity as a proxy of their commitment to collecting information about the flora of Sicily. Climate and landscape data were used to better characterize the spatial and temporal activity of data contributors. Finally, we assessed which habitat types were more frequently visited in each dataset. Our results suggest that amateur botanists can be divided into two categories, "experienced" and "occasional", playing different roles on digital plat- forms. While experienced amateur botanists are characterized by prolonged activity and many posts, occasional ones have short and erratic activity but collectively compile more data than the former category. The occasional botanists represent a new phenomenon in data collection, supported by the spread of digital platforms. While in the past, experienced botanists were primarily involved in biodiversity data collection, at present, they also play a fundamental role in validating the observations by occasional botanists and disseminat- ing floristic knowledge to them. Our study points out that the interaction through social media can catalyze the establishment of participatory monitoring networks, promote con- servation-oriented initiatives and influence policy-makers.

Aquatic habitats are vulnerable to the invasion of alien species, so early warning protocols are necessary for eradication. The presence in Italy of two alien duckweeds in freshwaters has been documented: Lemna minuta, that showed high invasivity, and L. valdiviana, still confined to south Lazio. These two species may be mistaken for each other and for the domestic L. minor and L. gibba due to morphological variation. Here, we assess the applicability of DNA barcoding as a complement to morphological analysis for monitoring the spread of alien Lemna. We chose two chloroplast genome sequences for their ability to discriminate all Lemna species: the 5’ intron of the trnK gene and the matK gene. Among 48 samples of Lemna collected at 20 sites in Central Italy, 20 were identified as L. minor, 19 as L. minuta, five as L. trisulca and four as L. gibba. L. minuta was present at most sampling sites; in particular, at six locations of Lake Trasimeno, eight L. minuta samples were found. We demonstrate that DNA sequence analyses with cost-effective barcoding techniques can effectively support expert efforts in species determination for an early alert system of invasive Lemna species.

Aims: Expert systems are increasingly popular tools for supervised classification of large datasets of vegetation-plot records, but their classification accuracy depends on the selection of proper species and species groups that can effectively discriminate vegetation types. Here, we present a new semi-automatic machine-learning method called GRIMP (GRoup IMProvement) to optimize groups of species used for discriminating among vegetation types in expert systems. We test its performance using a large set of vegetation-plot records. - Methods: We defined discriminating species groups as the groups that are unique to each vegetation type and provide optimal discrimination of this type against other types. The group of discriminating species of each vegetation type considerably overlaps with the group of diagnostic species of this type, but these two groups are not identical because not all diagnostic species have sufficient discriminating power. We developed the GRIMP iterative algorithm, which optimizes the groups of discriminating species to provide the most accurate vegetation classification, using a training set of a priori classified plot records. We tested this method by comparing classification accuracy before and after the GRIMP optimization of species groups using vegetation-plot records from the Czech Republic a priori classified to 39 phytosociological classes, and three initial sets of candidate discriminating species from different sources. - Results: The GRIMP algorithm improved the classification accuracy at the class level from 65% correctly classified plots in the test dataset before group optimization to 88% thereafter. The other plots were misclassified or unclassified, but misclassifications were reduced by adding further expert-based criteria considering dominant growth forms. - Conclusions: GRIMP-optimized groups of discriminating species are very useful for semi-automatic construction of expert systems for vegetation classification. Such expert systems can be developed from an a priori unsupervised or expert-based classification of at least some vegetation plots.

Aims: Humans have deeply eroded biogeographic barriers, causing a rapid spread of alien species across biomes. The Mediterranean Basin is a biodiversity hotspot but is also known as a hub of alien plant invasions, particularly in its European part. Yet, a comprehensive inventory of alien species in the area is missing and understanding of the drivers of Mediterranean invasions is poor. Here, we aim to identify the main alien plant species in the European part of the Mediterranean Basin and quantify their invasion success in order to understand the plant species flows from other biomes of the world. Location: The Mediterranean region of Europe, Anatolia and Cyprus. Methods: We analyzed 130,000 georeferenced vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and identified 299 extra-European alien plant species. We identified their biomes of origin and quantified the mean geographic distance, trade exchange and climatic similarity from each biome to the study area. After estimating the invasion success of each species in the study area, we tested which biomes have donated more alien species than expected by chance and which drivers best explain these non-random patterns. Results: We found that other Mediterranean climatic regions, as well as temperate and xeric biomes of the world, are the main donors of successful alien species to Mediterranean Europe, beyond what would be expected by chance. Our results suggest that climatic matching, rather than geographic proximity or trade, has been the most important driver of invasion. However, climatic pre-adaptation alone also does not appear to predict the invasion success of established species in the study area. Conclusions: Our results highlight the need to pay special attention to alien plant species from the same or climatically similar biomes, but also suggest that further research is needed for early screening of the most problematic alien species.

I social network sono canali di comunicazione utilizzati per condividere enormi quantità di dati, che possono essere utilizzati per la ricerca scientifica, anche nel campo della biodiversità. Per sapere quanto i dati ricavati dai social network possono integrare quelli raccolti per scopi scientifici, è necessario individuarne i bias. Utilizzando i dati estratti da un gruppo Facebook specializzato nella flora vascolare siciliana, abbiamo analizzato quali sono i caratteri che aumentano la probabilità che una pianta spontanea venga fotografata e postata su un social network. A tal fine, abbiamo confrontato frequenze e attributi delle specie fotografate dai membri del gruppo Facebook con quelli delle specie registrate nel database EVA, relative a 6.366 rilevamenti vegetazionali della Sicilia. I nostri risultati suggeriscono che i dati provenienti dal gruppo Facebook analizzato sono affetti da bias diversi da quelli relativi a dati floristici raccolti per altri fini, ad esempio, per il rilevamento della vegetazione. I membri del gruppo Facebook hanno intercettato con maggior frequenza specie aliene e specie rare rispetto a quanto rilevato da chi studia la vegetazione, dimostrando che i dati contenuti nei social network offrono un importante complemento a quelli raccolti dagli scienziati per fini di ricerca. Sintesi e applicazioni. Malgrado Facebook non supporti la georeferenziazione dei dati, né una query per l'accesso e l'analisi degli stessi, esso rappresenta una potenziale fonte di dati sulla biodiversità, utili per integrare quelli raccolti da botanici professionisti. Il principale vantaggio dei dati provenienti dai social network è il loro elevato dinamismo, poiché registrano la presenza di una data specie quasi in tempo reale. Pertanto, i dati raccolti da gruppi Facebook moderati da esperti possono risultare utili (1) per monitorare le dinamiche di popolazione di specie minacciate ed esotiche; (2) come informazioni aggiuntive sulla presenza di specie rare, in particolare per quelle che maggiormente attraggono i botanici dilettanti, come le orchidee; (3) per individuare tempestivamente la presenza di nuove esotiche potenzialmente invasive; (4) per studi fenologici, in particolare per monitorare l’inizio della stagione di fioritura delle specie. Social networks offer communication channels through which people share huge amounts of primary data that can be used for scientific analyses, including biodiversity research. To understand to what extent data extracted from social networks could complement data collected for scientific purposes, it is necessary to quantify the bias of such data. We analysed which plant traits increased the probability of a wild‐growing plant species to be photographed and posted to a social network based on the data from an unstructured citizen science tool; a Facebook group focused on the vascular flora of Sicily (Italy). Then, we compared botanical data collected by this Facebook group members with data collected by scientists in 6,366 vegetation plots sampled across Sicily, stored in the EVA database. Our results suggested that data proceeding from the analysed Facebook group were affected by various sampling biases, which differed from the biases inherent to other types of biodiversity data such as those from vegetation plots. Facebook users recorded a higher proportion of red‐listed and alien species than vegetation scientists. Therefore, social networks can provide a valuable complement to the data collected by scientists for research purposes. Synthesis and applications. Despite Facebook does not support geotagging and interface for data access and analysis, it is an invaluable source of biodiversity data that could complement those collected by professional researchers. The main advantage of data from social networks is their high dynamism, as they report large amounts of species occurrences in almost real time. Therefore, citizen science data from a Facebook group where the records are curated by expert volunteers can be used (a) for monitoring population dynamics of threatened and alien species; (b) as a source of additional data on rare species occurrences, particularly for plants that are attractive for amateur botanists, such as orchids; (c) for early warning systems of potential new invasions; and (4) for phenological studies, especially at the beginning of the flowering season.

Aims River gravel bars are endangered habitats in Europe. However, classification schemes of their vegetation and habitat types differ among European countries, and they are even ignored in some national schemes. This causes problems in conservation planning, monitoring and management. Hence we aimed at building the first unified vegetation classification for river gravel-bar habitats across European mountain systems. Location Europe. Methods In total 4,769 vegetation plot records of river gravel-bar plant communities were collected from national, regional or private databases, digitized from the literature and newly collected in the field. A hierarchical classification expert system with formal definitions of vegetation types was created. The definitions combined the criteria of presence or cover of groups of species with similar ecology or single species narrowly specialized to a particular gravel-bar habitat. The TWINSPAN classification was applied to early-successional vegetation types to check whether the classification based on formal definitions was supported by the results of unsupervised classification. Similarity patterns among vegetation types were visualized using the detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) ordination. Results Early-successional and scrub gravel-bar vegetation types were respectively classified into two classes: Thlaspietea rotundifolii and Salicetea purpureae. Eleven associations and four alliances (Calamagrostion pseudophragmitae, Epilobion fleischeri, Salicion cantabricae and Salicion eleagno-daphnoidis) were defined formally. Based on a critical revision, some associations or alliances defined in the previous literature were merged or discarded. The main gradient in variability within the gravel-bar vegetation is connected with the altitudinal gradient, biogeographical variation, local hydromorphological processes and various successional changes. Conclusions The first unified and formalized classification system of the European mountain river gravel-bar vegetation was created, and species composition, ecology and distribution of these types were characterized. The syntaxonomical nomenclature of these types was checked and revised. This study provides a base for conservation planning of these threatened and rapidly disappearing habitats.

Levels of plant invasions in different habitat types were assessed in several regional studies, but few of them were from the Mediterranean. Here we compare the levels of vascular plant invasion across habitats and plant communities of Sicily. We used a large dataset of plant species presences/absences in vegetation plots to analyze the invasion patterns across habitats considering biogeography, life form and phenology of alien plants. Vegetation plots were classified based on the EUNIS classification of European habitats. The invasiveness of each species was expressed in terms of its absolute and percentage frequency. Representation of different life forms and phenological patterns was compared between alien and native species. The fidelity of alien species to individual habitats was calculated using the phi coefficient. Our analysis shows that annual and woody species are the most represented life forms in the alien flora of Sicily and that alien species tend to have a longer flowering period than the native species. The investigated habitats differed strongly in their level of invasion by alien species, ranging from 0 to 15.6% of aliens of all species recorded. Most of the habitats were colonized by very few alien species or completely lacked them, except for sandy coasts, naturally-disturbed riverbeds, and synanthropic habitats. It must be noted, however, that the number of alien species occurring in a given habitat does not relate to the severity of the impact of invasion in that habitat. Some habitats are invaded by few (or single) species, which attain a high cover, transforming the whole ecosystem. The habitat-based approach proved to be suitable for evaluating the habitat specificity and frequency of alien species at a regional scale, improving the capacity for risk assessment in different ecological contexts.

Aim The EUNIS Habitat Classification is a widely used reference framework for European habitat types (habitats), but it lacks formal definitions of individual habitats that would enable their unequivocal identification. Our goal was to develop a tool for assigning vegetation-plot records to the habitats of the EUNIS system, use it to classify a European vegetation-plot database, and compile statistically-derived characteristic species combinations and distribution maps for these habitats. Location Europe. Methods We developed the classification expert system EUNIS-ESy, which contains definitions of individual EUNIS habitats based on their species composition and geographic location. Each habitat was formally defined as a formula in a computer language combining algebraic and set-theoretic concepts with formal logical operators. We applied this expert system to classify 1,261,373 vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and other databases. Then we determined diagnostic, constant and dominant species for each habitat by calculating species-to-habitat fidelity and constancy (occurrence frequency) in the classified data set. Finally, we mapped the plot locations for each habitat. Results Formal definitions were developed for 199 habitats at Level 3 of the EUNIS hierarchy, including 25 coastal, 18 wetland, 55 grassland, 43 shrubland, 46 forest and 12 man-made habitats. The expert system classified 1,125,121 vegetation plots to these habitat groups and 73,188 to other habitats, while 63,064 plots remained unclassified or were classified to more than one habitat. Data on each habitat were summarized in factsheets containing habitat description, distribution map, corresponding syntaxa and characteristic species combination. Conclusions EUNIS habitats were characterized for the first time in terms of their species composition and distribution, based on a classification of a European database of vegetation plots using the newly developed electronic expert system EUNIS-ESy. The data provided and the expert system have considerable potential for future use in European nature conservation planning, monitoring and assessment. The previous versions of the expert system and related reports were produced within a contract from the European Environment Agency to Wageningen Environmental Research and Masaryk University. The opinions expressed are those of the contractor and do not represent the Agency's official position. EVA data management and preparation of this paper were supported by the Czech Science Foundation (project no. 19-28491X to MC, LT, IK, TP, CM, JDa, MH, PN, DZ, GB, AJ, AKu, ZL and DV). IB and JAC were supported by the Basque Government (project no. T936-16). TB, ET, and LK were supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (TB and ET project no. AAAA-A18-118052590019-7; LK project no. AAAA-A19-119012490096-2).

Aims: To create a comprehensive, consistent and unequivocal phytosociological classification of European marsh vegetation of the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea. Location: Europe. Methods: We applied the Cocktail method to a European data set of 249, 800 vegetation plots. We identified the main purposes and attributes on which to base the classification, defined assignment rules for vegetation plots, and prepared formal definitions for all the associations, alliances and orders of the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea using formal logic. Each formula consists of the combination of “functional species groups”, cover values of individual species, and in the case of high-rank syntaxa also of “discriminating species groups” created using the Group Improvement (GRIMP) method. Results: The European Phragmito-Magnocaricetea vegetation was classified into 92 associations grouped in 11 alliances and six orders. New syntaxa (previously invalidly published according to the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature) were introduced: Bolboschoeno maritimi-Schoenoplection tabernaemontani, Glycerio maximae-Sietum latifolii, Glycerio notatae-Veronicetum beccabungae, Schoenoplectetum corymbosi and Thelypterido palustris-Caricetum elongatae. Based on a critical revision, some other syntaxa were rejected or excluded from the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea. Conclusions: This work provides the first consistent classification of the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea at the European scale, which is an important tool for nature conservation. Our classification largely respects previously existing concepts of syntaxa, but it also proposes modifications to the recently published EuroVegChecklist. This work also provides a protocol that can be used for extending the current classification to new syntaxa and geographical regions.

While classification of vegetation can be conducted in many ways, international homogenization of procedures and typologies is desirable for human societies that are highly connected in terms of sharing biodiversity information. This Special Issue of Phytocoenologia includes 12 papers that document several of the plot-based classification approaches currently used throughout the world. The issue includes approaches from five continents, but noticeable gaps are South America, middle-eastern countries, northern Africa and southeastern Asia. We include in this editorial a brief synthesis of the papers included in the Special Issue, with respect to (1) the amount of vegetation-plot data and characteristics of the classification systems developed in different areas and (2) the concepts and procedures of classification approaches. One of the most important common attributes among the classification approaches is the need to define vegetation units at a low level of abstraction. ‘Association’ (and perhaps ‘alliance’ too) may be a classification level for which international homogenization of procedures would be most easy to achieve, perhaps establishing different consistent classification sections depending on ecological conditions. Several papers in this issue demonstrate that multiple approaches may coexist for higher levels, as long as they abstract vegetation from the same low level units by focusing on a specific set of concepts and defined from the perspective of applications.

Vegetation classification is a basic requirement of research and conservation. Numerous classifications have been established throughout the world during the 20th century, but steps toward international classification systems and standards are currently being sought. We introduce here a new working group of the International Association of Vegetation Science, the Vegetation Classification Working Group (VCWG), which will function as a scientific panel devoted to vegetation classification at any spatial or organizational scale, particularly the underlying methodologies and standards, ultimately allowing greater understanding and crosswalks among national classification systems. The VCWG currently has 166 members from 41 countries of six continents, a website for information, established subgroups for specific activities, and initiated a Special Issue on classification for Phytocoenologia. We summarize here the background of the VCWG, current and future activities, and contact information for those interested in becoming involved.

Aim: Formalized classifications synthesizing vegetation data at the continental scale are being attempted only now, although they are of key importance for nature conservation planning. Therefore, we aim to provide a vegetation classification and to describe the main biogeographical patterns of floodplain forests and alder carrs in Europe. Location: Europe. Methods: A database of more than 40 000 vegetation plots of floodplain forests and alder carrs across Europe was compiled. After geographic stratification, 16 392 plots were available for classification, which was performed using the supervised method Cocktail. We also searched for new associations using semi-supervised K-means classification. The main biogeographic patterns and climate-related gradients in species composition were determined using detrended correspondence analysis and cluster analysis. Results: Thirty associations of floodplain forests and alder carrs were distinguished, which belong to five alliances. The Alnion incanae includes riparian, seepage and hardwood floodplain forests in the nemoral and hemiboreal zones (dominated by Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus excelsior) and in the boreal zone (dominated by A. incana). The Osmundo-Alnion represents oceanic vegetation dominated by Alnus glutinosa, Fraxinus angustifolia and F. excelsior distributed mostly on the Iberian Peninsula and composed of species with Atlantic distribution and Iberian endemics. The Populion albae comprises floodplain forests frequently dominated by Fraxinus angustifolia, Populus alba and P. nigra that are widespread in floodplains of large rivers under summer-dry climates in the Mediterranean region. The Platanion orientalis represents eastern Mediterranean floodplain forests dominated by Platanus orientalis. The Alnion glutinosae includes forest swamps dominated by Alnus glutinosa distributed mostly in the nemoral and hemiboreal zones. The main biogeographic patterns within European floodplain forests and alder carrs reflect the climatic contrasts between the Mediterranean, nemoral, boreal and mountain regions. Oceanic floodplain forests differ from those in the rest of Europe. The hydrological regime appears to be the most important factor influencing species composition within regions. Conclusions: This study is the first applying a formalized classification at the association level for a broad vegetation type at the continental scale. The proposed classification provides the scientific basis for the necessary improvement of the habitat classification systems used in European nature conservation.

Aims: Most vegetation classification systems developed for large areas include various inconsistencies. Therefore, we (1) propose a new consistent Cocktail-based approach to redefine the traditional phytosociological classification of species-poor vegetation; (2) apply it to create a classification protocol for aquatic vegetation; (3) implement this protocol in a computer expert system; and (4) test it with a data set previously classified using an older version of the Cocktail method. Methods: The new approach uses formal logic to provide formal definitions of vegetation units. In the classification protocol for aquatic vegetation we defined consistent criteria for delimitation of associations according to the concepts that are predominantly used in phytosociology, based on species cover, dominance patterns and functional species groups. We applied these criteria in a computer expert system running in the JUICE 7.0 program, and applied them to a test data set of 12171 vegetation plots from the Czech Republic containing at least one aquatic species. The new classification was compared with (1) the previous national Cocktail classification based on species cover values and in few cases on sociological species groups, and (2) a non-formalized expert-based classification. Results: Thirteen functional species groups were created to build logical formulas of 64 aquatic associations and 5297 (44% of the total data set) vegetation plots were assigned to these associations, i.e. by 4% and 12% more than in the previous Cocktail and expert-based classifications, respectively. There was 94% and 83% classification agreement with the previous Cocktail and expert-based classification. Conclusions: The new approach produces a formal, consistent and unequivocal classification of species-poor vegetation with several advantages over similar approaches. It provides not only a set of formal definitions of vegetation units, but also a set of rules for building such definitions. All associations with common characteristics are defined by structurally identical formulas, ensuring consistency of the classification. While similar approaches for species-rich vegetation use sociological species groups, which are not applicable to species-poor vegetation, the new approach introduces the use of functional species groups, which reflect vegetation physiognomy and spatial structure and, in combination with species dominance, enable the classification of species-poor vegetation in a similar manner as in traditional phytosociology.

The aim of this study was to construct a solid basis for developing a crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested plants (WHP) conservation strategy at the European and national levels. To this end we (i) worked out an annotated and synonymized Working Database of the Italian Vascular Plants, (ii) worked out a full CWR-WHP checklist for Italy, (iii) worked out a prioritized CWR and WHP inventory, (iv) identified native taxa with an ascertained utility for breeding, and (v) on the basis of a gap analysis case study on two Brassica taxa, outlined the first steps to be taken immediately to develop their in situ and ex situ conservation strategy. The Working Database of the Italian Vascular Plants includes a total of 11,710 taxa. Of those, 92.0% form the CWR-WHP checklist. On the basis of the importance of the related crops, their status, and their need of protection and/or monitoring, 1118 taxa were prioritized. Of these, 129 taxa deserve the highest priority in planning a conservation strategy, including 16 that currently have a practical use in breeding. The case study showed that little is still known about relic CWR populations and that not all of them are adequately protected in situ and ex situ. Since information on their abundance, location, distribution, ecological conditions, census, and current conservation is lacking, initiatives should be put into action immediately for developing a national and European conservation strategy.

A survey and a formalized phytosociological classification of the marsh vegetation of the class Phragmito-Magno-Caricetea in central Italy is presented. Formal definitions of the majority of wetland associations recorded from the Italian territory were defined using the Cocktail method and applied to a large data set of vegetation plots extracted from the database VegItaly (hosted by the web database system "anArchive"). A total of 43 associations belonging to seven alliances and four orders were recognized. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), species indicator values and altitude were used to visualize ecological differences between the associations. Altitude, nutrient status and soil reaction were identified as the main environmental gradients responsible for diversification and distribution of the Phragmito-Magno-Caricetea communities in central Italy.

Biurrun, Idoia/0000-0002-1454-0433; Rojo, Maria Pilar Rodriguez/0000-0001-5449-9386; Ermakov, Nikolai/0000-0001-7550-990X; De Sanctis, Michele/0000-0002-7280-6199; Svenning, Jens-Christian/0000-0002-3415-0862; Virtanen, Risto/0000-0002-8295-8217; Agrillo, Emiliano/0000-0003-2346-8346; Onyshchenko, Viktor/0000-0001-9079-7241; Marceno, Corrado/0000-0003-4361-5200; Willner, Wolfgang/0000-0003-1591-8386; Fernandez-Gonzalez, Federico/0000-0003-1234-4065; Jansen, Florian/0000-0002-0331-5185; Swacha, Grzegorz/0000-0002-6380-2954; Dengler, Jurgen/0000-0003-3221-660X; Guarino, Riccardo/0000-0003-0106-9416; Sopotlieva, Desislava/0000-0002-9281-7039; Venanzoni, Roberto/0000-0002-7768-0468; Chytry, Milan/0000-0002-8122-3075; Kuzemko, Anna/0000-0002-9425-2756; Danihelka, Jiri/0000-0002-2640-7867; Kuzemko, Anna/0000-0002-9425-2756; Venanzoni, Roberto/0000-0002-7768-0468; Gavilan, Rosario G./0000-0002-1022-445X; Jansen, Florian/0000-0002-0331-5185; Wohlgemuth, Thomas/0000-0002-4623-0894; Svenning, Jens-Christian/0000-0002-3415-0862; Sibik, Jozef/0000-0002-5949-862X; Casella, Laura/0000-0003-2550-3010; Lenoir, Jonathan/0000-0003-0638-9582; Attorre, Fabio/0000-0002-7744-2195; Kacki, Zygmunt/0000-0002-2241-1631; Jandt, Ute/0000-0002-3177-3669; Carni, Andraz/0000-0002-8909-4298; Jirousek, Martin/0000-0002-4293-478X; GARCIA-MIJANGOS, ITZIAR/0000-0002-6642-7782; Campos, Juan Antonio/0000-0001-5992-2753; Fanelli, Giuliano/0000-0002-3143-1212; Haveman, Rense/0000-0001-9127-4549; Acic, Svetlana/0000-0001-6553-3797; De Bie, Els/0000-0001-7679-743X; Font, Xavier/0000-0002-7253-8905; Moeslund, Jesper Erenskjold/0000-0001-8591-7149; Martynenko, Vasiliy/0000-0002-9071-3789; Jimenez-Alfaro, Borja/0000-0001-6601-9597; Ejrnaes, Rasmus/0000-0003-2538-8606; Carlon Ruiz, Luis/0000-0003-3442-8710; Angelini, Pierangela/0000-0002-5321-9757; Silc, Urban/0000-0002-3052-699X; Landucci, Flavia/0000-0002-6848-0384; Ewald, Jorg/0000-0002-2758-9324; Dziuba, Tetiana/0000-0001-8621-0890 WOS: 000368074600018 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. Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS) [14-36079G] Our major thanks go to thousands of European vegetation scientists of several generations who collected the original vegetation-plot data in the field, published them or made their unpublished data available to others, and to those who spent myriad hours digitizing data and managing the contributing databases. EVA data management has been partly funded by the Czech Science Foundation (Centre of Excellence PLADIAS, 14-36079G).

The decline of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Steud., a well-known phenomenon in Central and Western Europe, was detected recently also in the Mediterranean Basin. A range of parameters were quantified in healthy and affected stands as a screening for indicators of die-back. These were: stem dimension, density and pattern, starch storage, presence of occlusions in the vessel cells, abnormal lignification and calli in the root parenchyma. First, high stem density, occlusions, lignification and calli did not always coincide with die-back. Second, starch content appeared a reliable indicator. The higher starch amount detected in the healthy stands can be related to the greater ability to perform photosynthesis and accumulate reserves. Furthermore, the starch lack detected in the declining stands might result from the increased starch demand, due to the shoot regeneration connected to the clumped habit.

Biodiversity informatics has experienced tremendous developments in the last 15 years. There are now comprehensive online checklists for plant taxa as well as many large plant-taxon related databases, including the vegetation-plot databases registered in the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD; http://www.givd.info). However, efficient maintenance, analysis, and integration of these databases are still much impeded by the failure of presently available electronic taxonomic reference lists of plants to fully meet the requirements of such applications. Here we outline the principal specifications of an electronic taxonomic reference list for Europe (“EuroSL” = European standard list of plant taxa) and identify features not met in current practice. EuroSL should cover all macroscopic taxa of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and algae that occur in European vegetation in a uniform database, irrespective of their floristic status (e.g. native, archaeophyte, neophyte, casual). The adoption of informal aggregates is essential to cover deviating species concepts and to capture legacy data. EuroSL should not only assign names but also match taxonomic concepts. This task cannot be fully automated, as the same correctly applied taxon name can have different meanings depending on the taxonomic concept applied. In order to be a useful tool, EuroSL would need to be better documented than most existing electronic checklists and be released in fixed versions. Every subsequent version should contain an unambiguous connection linking each taxon to the corresponding unit in the previous version. We identify possible components of EuroSL, of which Euro+Med PlantBase, the recent European checklists of bryophytes, and the taxonomic crosswalks between various national Turboveg checklists collected for SynBioSys Europe, are the major ones. Concepts developed for GermanSL might be adopted for EuroSL, but implemented in a software framework that is yet to be developed from existing tools. Such a framework would allow documented editing of the content by specialists distributed across Europe. To become successful, EuroSL would require intensive collaboration between taxonomists, ecologists and biodiversity informaticians, as well as appropriate funding. Establishing EuroSL would dramatically enhance the usability and reliability of plant-taxon related databases in Europe for the purposes of pure and applied research and conservation legislation. Its development should therefore be of highest priority. peerReviewed

Along with cadmium, lead, mercury and other heavy metals, chromium is an important environmental pollutant, mainly concentrated in areas of intense anthropogenic pressure. The effect of potassium dichromate on Lemna minor populations was tested using the growth inhibition test. Cyto-histological and physiological analyses were also conducted to aid in understanding the strategies used by plants during exposure to chromium. Treatment with potassium dichromate caused a reduction in growth rate and frond size in all treated plants and especially at the highest concentrations. At these concentrations the photosynthetic pathway was also altered as shown by the decrease of maximum quantum yield of photosystem II and the chlorophyll b content and by the chloroplast ultrastructural modifications. Starch storage was also investigated by microscopic observations. It was the highest at the high concentrations of the pollutant. The data suggested a correlation between starch storage and reduced growth; there was greater inhibition of plant growth than inhibition of photosynthesis, resulting in a surplus of carbohydrates that may be stored as starch. The investigation helps to understand the mechanism related to heavy metal tolerance of Lemna minor and supplies information about the behavior of this species widely used as a biomarker.

In recent years, research in botany was increasingly related with the use of large data-sets and data banks, in order to address emerging issues such as the severe risk of species, habitats and biodiversity loss. In this frame, the anArchive taxonomic Checklist, an online synonymized list of botanical species names, developed to support the botanical data banking and vegetation analysis, is presented and discussed here. The benefits deriving from such a supervised and referenced tool are emphasized. They include the possibility to keep track of old and new species names, pointing out the latest reviewed accepted scientific name and its synonyms, and harmonizing different taxonomic points of view. Furthermore, the list is open access and expert qualified customers can collaborate to its improvement. The basic unit of the taxonomic Checklist is an object including the taxon name at specific or, when present, infraspecific level; the taxonomic frame stops at the level of family and ranks higher than genus ar...

VegItaly (http://www.vegitaly.it; GIVD ID EU-IT-001) is a web database designed to store, retrieve and analyse the vegetation data of Italy. Designed for both floristic and phytosociological data, it can handle any field plot according to the definition of “vegetation database” suggested by the Global Index of Vegetation-Plot Databases (GIVD) and the IAVS Ecoinformatics Working Group. VegItaly, supported by Societa Italiana di Scienza della Vegetazione (formerly Societa Italiana di Fitosociologia), is hosted by AnArchive (http://www.anarchive.it), a collaborative project aimed at archiving botanical data that involves several Italian universities coordinated by the University of Perugia. VegItaly’s main aim is to contribute to data archiving and sharing in order to offer the possibility to manage large data sets for statistical analysis on a wide geographic scale.

Two years after its official start, the national vegetation database VegItaly, a collaborative project supported by the Italian scientific community and developed by a large group of scientists, is presented. This article offers a concise overview of the content of the database, currently consisting of 31,100 vegetation plot, including published and unpublished data. Some basic statistics are analysed; for example, data distribution in space and time, represented vegetation types expressed as physiognomic categories. Although rather young and still in progress, VegItaly already contains data from all the Italian regions and stands as an optimal candidate for the development of an Italian national vegetation database. Its main goals,theoretical basis, technical features, functionalities and recent progresses are outlined, showing glimpses of future prospects.

WetVegEurope is a research project (http://www.sci.muni.cz/botany/vegsci/wetveg) whose goal is to provide a synthesized formalized classification of the aquatic and marsh vegetation across Europe at the level of phytosociological associations. In order to achieve the project objective, a WetVegEurope database has been created (GIVD ID: EU-00-020, http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-00-020), which currently contains 375,212 vegetation plots of aquatic, marsh and wet vegetation types from 33 European countries. The WetVegEurope database includes datasets from pre-existing national and thematic databases and also 10,616 plots previously not digitalized or even unpublished. This database offers an extensive source of data for future studies on aquatic and marsh plant species and vegetation types at the European scale.

VegItaly is at present the largest Italian vegetation database. It is the result of a collaborative project aspiring to represent a major reference for the Italian vegetation scientists. The paper emphasizes its benefits for phytosociological data management and describes the solutions adopted to solve several technical problems, like the treatment of different vegetation stratification systems, the conversion of vegetation cover values, taxonomic and syntaxonomic issues, data import and access. The structure of the taxonomic list produced to support the storing of data is described. It allows an easy management of synonymic relationships and is constantly updated according to new publications and revisions. Issues related to data import from different formats have been solved by developing assistant software VegImport and TabImport, which are based on the most used formats in vegetation plot archiving. Bibliographic sources are managed according to the LISY standard and include descriptive geographic information, bibliographic and syntaxonomic reference. Distinct data access regimes can be selected by VegItaly's users: visible, partly visible, invisible. Compared with the original project outline, many fundamental parts of the database structure have been fully built up, although several utilities still have to be developed or improved. © Italian Society for Vegetation Science.