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

Summary, in English

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 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.

• Author: Jürgen Dengler; Viktoria Wagner; Iwona Dembicz; Itziar García-Mijangos; Alireza Naqinezhad; Steffen Boch; Alessandro Chiarucci; Timo Conradi; Goffredo Filibeck; Riccardo Guarino; Monika Janišová; Manuel J. Steinbauer; Svetlana Acic; Alicia T.R. Acosta; Munemitsu Akasaka; Marc Andre Allers; Iva Apostolova; Irena Axmanová; Branko Bakan; Alina Baranova; Manfred Bardy-Durchhalter; Sándor Bartha; Esther Baumann; Thomas Becker; Ute Becker; Elena Belonovskaya; Karin Bengtsson; José Luis Benito Alonso; Asun Berastegi; Ariel Bergamini; Ilaria Bonini; Hans Henrik Bruun; Vasyl Budzhak; Alvaro Bueno; Juan Antonio Campos; Laura Cancellieri; Marta Carboni; Cristina Chocarro; Luisa Conti; Marta Czarniecka-Wiera; Pieter De Frenne; Balázs Deák; Yakiv P. Didukh; Martin Diekmann; Christian Dolnik; Cecilia Dupré; Klaus Ecker; Nikolai Ermakov; Brigitta Erschbamer; Adrián Escudero; Javier Etayo; Zuzana Fajmonová; Vivian A. Felde; Maria Rosa Fernández Calzado; Manfred Finckh; Georgios Fotiadis; Mariano Fracchiolla; Anna Ganeva; Daniel García-Magro; Rosario G. Gavilán; Markus Germany; Itamar Giladi; François Gillet; Gian Pietro Giusso del Galdo; Jose M. González; John Arvid Grytnes; Michal Hájek; Petra Hájková; Aveliina Helm; Mercedes Herrera; Eva Hettenbergerová; Carsten Hobohm; Elisabeth M. Hüllbusch; Nele Ingerpuu; Ute Jandt; Florian Jeltsch; Kai Jensen; Anke Jentsch; Michael Jeschke; Borja Jiménez-Alfaro; Zygmunt Kacki; Kaoru Kakinuma; Jutta Kapfer; Ali Kavgaci; András Kelemen; Kathrin Kiehl; Asuka Koyama; Tomoyo F. Koyanagi; Lukasz Kozub; Anna Kuzemko; Magni Olsen Kyrkjeeide; Sara Landi; Nancy Langer; Lorenzo Lastrucci; Lorenzo Lazzaro; Chiara Lelli; Jan Lepš; Swantje Löbel; Arantzazu L. Luzuriaga; Simona Maccherini; Martin Magnes; Marek Malicki; Corrado Marcenò; Constantin Mardari; Leslie Mauchamp; Felix May; Ottar Michelsen; Joaquín Molero Mesa; Zsolt Molnár; Ivan Y. Moysiyenko; Yuko K. Nakaga; Rayna Natcheva; Jalil Noroozi; Robin J. Pakeman; Salza Palpurina; Meelis Pärtel; Ricarda Pätsch; Harald Pauli; Hristo Pedashenko; Robert K. Peet; Remigiusz Pielech; Nataša Pipenbaher; Chrisoula Pirini; Zuzana Plesková; Mariya A. Polyakova; Honor C. Prentice; Jennifer Reinecke; Triin Reitalu; Maria Pilar Rodríguez-Rojo; Jan Rolecek; Vladimir Ronkin; Leonardo Rosati; Ejvind Rosén; Eszter Ruprecht; Solvita Rusina; Marko Sabovljevic; Ana María Sánchez; Galina Savchenko; Oliver Schuhmacher; Sonja Škornik; Marta Gaia Sperandii; Monika Staniaszek-Kik; Zora Stevanovic-Dajic; Marin Stock; Sigrid Suchrow; Laura M.E. Sutcliffe; Grzegorz Swacha; Martin Sykes; Anna Szabó; Amir Talebi; Catalin Tanase; Massimo Terzi; Csaba Tölgyesi; Marta Torca; Péter Török; Béla Tóthmérész; Nadezda Tsarevskaya; Ioannis Tsiripidis; Rossen Tzonev; Atushi Ushimaru; Orsolya Valkó; Eddy van der Maarel; Thomas Vanneste; Iuliia Vashenyak; Kiril Vassilev; Daniele Viciani; Luis Villar; Risto Virtanen; Ivana Vitasovic Kosic; Yun Wang; Frank Weiser; Julia Went; Karsten Wesche; Hannah White; Manuela Winkler; Piotr T. Zaniewski; Hui Zhang; Yaron Ziv; Sergey Znamenskiy; Idoia Biurrun
• Department/s: Biodiversity; BECC: Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in a Changing Climate; Dept of Physical Geography and Ecosystem Science
• Publishing year: 2018
• Language: English
• Pages: 331-347
• Publication/Series: Phytocoenologia
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 3
• Links: http://dx.doi.org/10.1127/phyto/2018/0267
• Document type: Journal article
• Publisher: E. Schweizerbart Science Publishers
• Topic: Physical Geography
• Keywords: Biodiversity; Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG); European Vegetation Archive (EVA); Grassland vegetation; GrassPlot; Macroecology; Multi-taxon; Nested plot, scale-dependence; Species-area relationship (SAR); SPlot; Vegetation-plot database
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Other: ISSN: 0340-269X