Gravel Bar Vegetation Database

Abstract

For the purpose of an ongoing research project dealing with the classification of European river gravel bar vegetation, we collected and digitized vegetation plot data included in the Gravel Bar Vegetation Database (GIVD ID: EU-00-025, http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-00-025). The database consists of vegetation plots obtained from the literature and from our own field sampling in the countries where this vegetation has not previously been studied or is less explored, especially in southeastern and northern Europe and the Caucasus. The database currently contains 1,738 vegetation plots from 18 countries representing different types and successional stages in the range of gravel bar vegetation from the initial herbaceous stands to scrub, mainly of the order Epilobietalia fleischeri (class Thlaspietea rotundifolii) and the class Salicetea purpureae. Geographical coordinates are available for all plots; accuracy of those derived from the literature depends on the precision of the location descriptions. European montane and submontane gravel-bed rivers with their typical vegetation belong to most endangered habitats; thus the database should complete the information about their distribution and their typical vegetation types. It also serves as data source for studies of vegetation structure and dynamics. The database is managed by the Vegetation Science Group at the Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno. It has been integrated in the European Vegetation Archive (EVA).