ReSurveyEurope: A database of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Collaborators - (Author)
  • Chair of Botany
  • Chair of Biodiversity and Nature Conservation
  • International Institute Zittau
  • Chair of Biodiversity of Higher Plants
  • Masaryk University
  • Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
  • German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle—Jena—Leipzig
  • University of Vienna
  • Friedrich Schiller University Jena
  • University of the Basque Country
  • University of South Bohemia
  • Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación (CIDE-CSIC)
  • Wageningen University & Research (WUR)
  • University of Rostock
  • University of Oviedo
  • Austrian Academy of Sciences
  • University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna
  • Ghent University
  • Ilia State University
  • University of Belgrade
  • Roma Tre University
  • Agrocampus Ouest
  • LTSER Zone Atelier Armorique
  • Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
  • University of Bern
  • University of Rome La Sapienza
  • Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW)
  • Ojców National Park
  • University of Turin
  • Jolube Consultor Botánico
  • Spanish National Research Council
  • University of Graz
  • Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
  • University of Sopron
  • Gesäuse National Park
  • Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
  • University of Siena
  • Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
  • The James Hutton Institute
  • Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  • University of Bologna
  • LifeWatch ERIC Research Infrastructure
  • Agroscope Research Institute
  • Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung

Abstract

Aims: We introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions. Results: ReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun-Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020. Conclusions: ReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine-scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well-established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere13235
Number of pages18
JournalJournal of Vegetation Science
Volume35
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 16 Apr 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Scopus 85188842681
ORCID /0000-0001-7408-425X/work/160478398

Keywords

Keywords

  • biodiversity, community ecology, database, macroecology, monitoring, relevé, species richness, temporal change, time series, vascular plants, vegetation dynamics

Library keywords