Unifying and analyzing vegetation-plot databases in Europe: the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and the Braun-Blanquet project

Vegetation-plot databases have enormous potential for biodiversity research and for developing systems of vegetation and/or habitat classification. In Europe there are about 2 million vegetation-plot records stored electronically. However, this information is mainly used on national or sub-national scales. It is an urgent task for vegetation scientists and biodiversity managers to develop international synergies addressing supra-national and continental scales. Here we present two projects that are being pursued by the IAVS Working Group European Vegetation Survey (EVS ; www.euroveg.org). As a key infrastructure for unifying the vegetation-plot data, the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) has been launched, aiming at establishment of a centralized European vegetation database and stimulating international feedbacks between database managers and potential users. EVA is conceived as a dynamic system for sharing data among national databases while they would continue their normal, country-focused activities. The EVA consortium has developed Data Property and Governance Rules that guarantee the rights of the data contributors are respected. Individual data contributors can decide on the mode of data availability from restricted to open access. At the moment the TURBOVEG version 3 program and the SynBioSys Europe information system are being developed as the management software for EVA. Parallel to the EVA development, the European Vegetation Survey is developing projects to benefit from this infrastructure but also to involve other collaborators beyond the EVA consortium. An example is the ´Braun-Blanquet Project´, the main aim of which is the compilation and analysis of floristic and geographical information related to European phytosociological alliances as defined in the new European syntaxonomical overview (EuroVegChecklist, Mucina et al. in preparation). This information will be summarized in the form of constancy-based synoptic tables for all alliances and related outputs. At the moment 22 extensive datasets from 18 European countries are involved in this project. The information collated by the ´Braun-Blanquet Project´ will be essential for offering a parameterized overview of European vegetation types for researchers and conservation managers. Parallel with these scientific projects, the European Vegetation Survey team is working with the European Environment Agency to supply real data and scientific background to the EUNIS habitat classification which is used as a crucial tool of nature conservation survey, planning and reporting in Europe. Both EVA and the ´Braun-Blanquet Project´ are open to new partners.