BIOTA Southern Africa Biodiversity Observatories Vegetation Database

Abstract

The BIOTA Southern Africa Biodiversity Observatories Vegetation Database (AF-00-003) hosts the project-related data on spatial patterns and time series of biodiversity in southern Africa. Along a 2,000 km long transect, from the northern border of Namibia to the Cape of Good Hope, the plant diversity has been monitored on 37 Biodiversity Observatories for up to ten years (2001– 2010). The design of the Observatories enables the observation of vegetation in nested, permanent plots where standardized measurements can be repeated. Information on species occurrence, cover and abundance has been recorded annually and stored in a database. These vegetation observations form a part of the interdisciplinary approach of BIOTA Southern Africa which assesses and monitors different organisms. In this paper, we describe how the vegetation data of the biodiversity monitoring project BIOTA Southern Africa, are managed. More than 400,000 species observations were recorded and stored in a database, covering a time-series of up to ten years. The Biodiversity Observatories are situated in along a major rainfall gradient, cover six biomes and are subject to different land use. The vegetation monitoring is on-going. The empirical data are a valuable source of information for various research questions ranging from testing theories on patterns, drivers of biodiversity at different spatial scales to studies on changes in biodiversity in space and time. The BIOTA Southern Africa Biodiversity Observatories Vegetation Database is currently explored to answer the following research questions: How many plant species exist at different scale levels? How does plant species composition change over time in relation to seasonal fluctuations, long-term climate change, environmental changes and human influences?