Plant height is measured in meters and relates to fully developed mature generative plants growing in the wild. The data were taken preferably from Kleyer et al. (2008), Guarino et al. (2019), Kaplan et al. (2019), French Flora database (2020) and complemented by additional sources such as national and regional floras. Each species is characterized by a mean value calculated across available datasets.
Axmanová, I. (2022). Plant height. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
Guarino, R., La Rosa, M. & Pignatti, S. (Eds) (2019). Flora d'Italia, volume 4. Bologna: Edagricole.
French Flora database (baseflor), project of Flore et végétation de la France et du Monde: CATMINAT. Available at http://philippe.julve.pagesperso-orange.fr/catminat.htm [accessed June 2020]
Kaplan, Z., Danihelka, J., Chrtek, J. Jr., Kirschner, J., Kubát, K., Štěpánek, J. & Štech, M. (Eds) (2019). Klíč ke květeně České republiky [Key to the flora of the Czech Republic]. Ed. 2. Praha: Academia.
Kleyer, M., Bekker, R. M., Knevel, I. C., Bakker, J. P., Thompson, K., Sonnenschein, M., … Peco, B. (2008). The LEDA Traitbase: A database of life-history traits of the Northwest European flora. Journal of Ecology, 96(6), 1266–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01430.x
Specific leaf area (SLA) is the ratio of leaf area to leaf dry mass expressed in mm2 mg-1, reflecting the amount of energy plants invest in their leaf biomass. SLA is related to plant growth strategy with respect to water availability and temperature. The data were taken preferably from Kleyer et al. (2008), Tavşanoğlu & Pausas (2018), Ladouceur et al. (2019) and complemented by additional sources. Each species is characterized by a mean value calculated across available datasets.
Axmanová, I. (2022). Specific leaf area. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
Kleyer, M., Bekker, R. M., Knevel, I. C., Bakker, J. P., Thompson, K., Sonnenschein, M., … Peco, B. (2008). The LEDA Traitbase: A database of life-history traits of the Northwest European flora. Journal of Ecology, 96(6), 1266–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01430.x
Ladouceur, E., Bonomi, C., Bruelheide, H., Klimešová, J., Burrascano, S., Poschlod, P., … Jiménez-Alfaro, B. (2019). The functional trait spectrum of European temperate grasslands. Journal of Vegetation Science, 30(5), 777–788. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12784
Tavşanoğlu, Ç., & Pausas, J. (2018). A functional trait database for Mediterranean Basin plants. Scientific data, 5, 180135. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2018.135
The months of the beginning and end of flowering across Europe are given. The data were compiled from Kaplan et al. 2019, French Flora database and Guarino et al. 2019. For each species, we provide a maximal flowering range across available sources.
Axmanová, I. (2022). Flowering period. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
Guarino, R., La Rosa, M. & Pignatti, S. (Eds) (2019). Flora d'Italia, volume 4. Bologna: Edagricole.
GreekFlora.gr. Available at https://www.greekflora.gr/ [accessed June 2020]
French Flora database (baseflor), project of Flore et végétation de la France et du Monde: CATMINAT. Available at http://philippe.julve.pagesperso-orange.fr/catminat.htm [accessed June 2020]
Kaplan Z., Danihelka J., Chrtek J. Jr., Kirschner J., Kubát K., Štěpánek J. & Štech M. (eds) (2019) Klíč ke květeně České republiky [Key to the flora of the Czech Republic]. Ed. 2. – Academia, Praha.
Ladouceur, E., Bonomi, C., Bruelheide, H., Klimešová, J., Burrascano, S., Poschlod, P., … Jiménez-Alfaro, B. (2019). The functional trait spectrum of European temperate grasslands. Journal of Vegetation Science, 30(5), 777–788. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12784
Săvulescu, T. (Ed.) (1952–1976). Flora Republicii Populare Române – Flora Republicii Socialiste România. Vols 1–13. București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Române, Academia Republicii Socialiste România.
Seed mass represent the mean weight of 1000 seeds in a dry state, measured in grams. The data were taken preferably from Kleyer et al. (2008), Hintze et al. (2013), García-Gutiérrez et al. (2018) and Seed Information Database (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew 2021) and complemented by additional sources such as national and regional floras. Each species is characterized by a mean value calculated across available datasets. Upon request, minimum, maximum and median values are also available.
Axmanová, I. (2022). Seed mass. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
García-Gutiérrez, T., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Fernández-Pascual, E., & Müller, J. V. (2018). Functional diversity and ecological requirements of alpine vegetation types in a biogeographical transition zone. Phytocoenologia, 77–89. https://doi.org/10.1127/phyto/2017/0224
Hintze, C., Heydel, F., Hoppe, C., Cunze, S., König, A., & Tackenberg, O. (2013). D3: The Dispersal and Diaspore Database – Baseline data and statistics on seed dispersal. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 15(3), 180–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ppees.2013.02.001
Kleyer, M., Bekker, R. M., Knevel, I. C., Bakker, J. P., Thompson, K., Sonnenschein, M., … Peco, B. (2008). The LEDA Traitbase: A database of life-history traits of the Northwest European flora. Journal of Ecology, 96(6), 1266–1274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01430.x
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. (2021). Seed Information Database (SID). Version 7.1. Available at: http://data.kew.org/sid/ [accessed May 2021]
Dispersal mode (dispersal syndrome, dispersal type) characterizes plant dispersal ability. It is represented by following categories: (i) local non-specific dispersal, which combines self-dispersal (autochory) and dispersal initiated by wind, where diaspores do not have any efficient special dispersal features, including several dispersal modes (namely ballochory, blastochory, boleochory, barochory); (ii) myrmecochory (ant dispersal); (iii) wind dispersal (anemochory), diaspores have special dispersal features such as hem, pappus, trichomes, dusty seeds or the species are tumbleweeds; (iv) animal dispersal includes dyszoochory, i.e. diaspores foraged by animals, which sometimes hide them as stock; (v) endozoochory, i.e. dispersal in animal gastrointestinal tract, and (vi) epizoochory, i.e., dispersal of diaspores attached on animal fur; special case is the (vii) anthropochory, i.e. human dispersal and (viii) hydrochory (water dispersal). Please note that hydrochory is not considered in the dispersal distance classes classification.
The dispersal modes are mainly estimated from species' morphological characteristics.
Lososová Z., Axmanová I., Chytrý M., Midolo G., Abdulhak S., Karger D.N., Renaud J., Van Es J., Vittoz P. & Thuiller W. (2023). Seed dispersal distance classes and dispersal modes for the European flora. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32(9), 1485–1494.
Vittoz P. & Engler R. (2007). Seed dispersal distances: a typology based on dispersal modes and plant traits. Botanica Helvetica, 117, 109–124.
Dispersal distance classes are represented by ordered classes from 1 to 7, where classes 1 to 6 represent a gradient from short-distance dispersal to long-scale dispersal. The last class represents the dispersal mediated by humans. For species of the last class the assignment to the previous six classes and natural dispersal mode are given. The assignment of individual plants follows Lososová et al. (2023), a dataset prepared using the adjusted methodology of Vittoz & Engler (2007).
To assign plants into dispersal distance classes, several plant characteristics were obtained from various sources, namely plant height, life form, predominant dispersal mode, seed mass, typical habitat, plant geographical origin and information on dispersal by humans. In contrast to the original approach of Vittoz & Engler (2007), definitions of the dispersal distance classes were slightly modified.
Class 1 contains species shorter than 0.3 m. Their seeds do not have any specific dispersal features. Species are mostly self-dispersed, although seed dispersal can be initiated by wind, e.g., by shaking the fruit, which causes the diaspore to fall down. Class 2 is the most species-rich, including species with non-specific local dispersal strategy taller than 0.3 m. Class 3 includes ant-dispersed (myrmecochorous) species and wind-dispersed (anemochorous) forest herbs and dwarf shrubs. Class 4 is the least species-rich, including less efficient wind-dispersed woody plants and tumbleweeds. Class 5 includes wind-dispersed herbs and shrubs of open habitats and wind-dispersed trees with more efficient dispersal units (with trichomes). Class 6 includes species with different modes of animal dispersal. They can be dyszoochorous (i.e., foraged by animals, which sometimes hide them as stock), endozoochorous (i.e., dispersal in animal gastrointestinal tract), and epizoochorous (i.e., dispersal on animal fur). Finally, class 7 contains human-dispersed (antropochorous) species.
The species of the last class are also classified into one of the previous six classes based on their natural dispersal mode. Only classes 1-6 can be used in studies at the landscape scale where it is assumed that most species disperse naturally. All seven classes can be used in studies at a broader geographical scale where rare events of long-distance human dispersal are important.
Classes
Lososová Z., Axmanová I., Chytrý M., Midolo G., Abdulhak S., Karger D.N., Renaud J., Van Es J., Vittoz P. & Thuiller W. (2023). Seed dispersal distance classes and dispersal modes for the European flora. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32(9), 1485–1494.
Vittoz P. & Engler R. (2007). Seed dispersal distances: a typology based on dispersal modes and plant traits. Botanica Helvetica, 117, 109–124.
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for disturbance frequency is expressed as the log10 mean inverse of return time (in centuries) of disturbance, which is the mean interval between successive disturbance events. Disturbance frequency refers to all possible types of disturbance that may occur in a given habitat, including anthropogenic and natural disturbance as well as grazing and mowing. Because one habitat can be affected by more than one disturbance type, disturbance frequency values were estimated for the most important disturbance types characterizing each habitat. Data are reported as separate values for disturbance affecting the whole plant community (including all vegetation layers) and values considering the herb layer only. This separation accounts for the fact that disturbance regimes in the tree and shrub layers differ in severity and frequency from the disturbance regimes in the herb layer of the same community. For habitats with herbaceous vegetation only, the whole-community values are equal to the herb-layer values.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for disturbance frequency is expressed as the log10 mean inverse of return time (in centuries) of disturbance, which is the mean interval between successive disturbance events. Disturbance frequency refers to all possible types of disturbance that may occur in a given habitat, including anthropogenic and natural disturbance as well as grazing and mowing. Because one habitat can be affected by more than one disturbance type, disturbance frequency values were estimated for the most important disturbance types characterizing each habitat. Data are reported as separate values for disturbance affecting the whole plant community (including all vegetation layers) and values considering the herb layer only. This separation accounts for the fact that disturbance regimes in the tree and shrub layers differ in severity and frequency from the disturbance regimes in the herb layer of the same community. For habitats with herbaceous vegetation only, the whole-community values are equal to the herb-layer values.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for disturbance severity is expressed as a continuous value ranging from 0 (no change in biomass) to 1 (complete loss of plant cover). Disturbance severity refers to all possible types of disturbance that may occur in a given habitat, including anthropogenic and natural disturbance as well as grazing and mowing. Because one habitat can be affected by more than one disturbance type, disturbance severity values were estimated for the most important disturbance types characterizing each habitat. Data are reported as separate values for disturbance affecting the whole plant community (including all vegetation layers) and values considering the herb layer only. This separation accounts for the fact that disturbance regimes in the tree and shrub layers differ in severity and frequency from the disturbance regimes in the herb layer of the same community. For habitats with herbaceous vegetation only, the whole-community values are equal to the herb-layer values.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for disturbance severity is expressed as a continuous value ranging from 0 (no change in biomass) to 1 (complete loss of plant cover). Disturbance severity refers to all possible types of disturbance that may occur in a given habitat, including anthropogenic and natural disturbance as well as grazing and mowing. Because one habitat can be affected by more than one disturbance type, disturbance severity values were estimated for the most important disturbance types characterizing each habitat. Data are reported as separate values for disturbance affecting the whole plant community (including all vegetation layers) and values considering the herb layer only. This separation accounts for the fact that disturbance regimes in the tree and shrub layers differ in severity and frequency from the disturbance regimes in the herb layer of the same community. For habitats with herbaceous vegetation only, the whole-community values are equal to the herb-layer values.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for mowing frequency is expressed as the log10 mean inverse of return time (in centuries) of disturbance, which is the mean interval between successive mowing events.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for grazing pressure is expressed as a continuous value ranging from 0 (no change in biomass) to 1 (complete loss of plant cover) caused by grazing.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Following Midolo et al. (2023), the indicator value for soil distuance is expressed as a continuous value ranging from 0 (no change in biomass) to 1 (complete loss of plant cover) caused by factor causing plant biomass death/removal from soil turning and furrowing.
Midolo G., Herben T., Axmanová I., Marcenò C., Pätsch R., Bruelheide H., ... & Chytrý M. (2023). Disturbance indicator values for European plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 32, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1111/GEB.13603
Herben, T., Chytrý, M., & Klimešová, J. (2016). A quest for species‐level indicator values for disturbance. Journal of Vegetation Science, 27(3), 628-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12384>
Herben, T., Klimešová, J., & Chytrý, M. (2018). Effects of disturbance frequency and severity on plant traits: an assessment across a temperate flora. Functional Ecology, 32(3), 799-808. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13011>
Diagnostic species are characterized by a concentration of their occurrence in the stands belonging to the target vegetation unit while being rare or absent in other vegetation units. For the European vegetation classes of the EuroVegChecklist (Mucina et al. 2016), the list of these species was compiled from various European literature sources, especially syntaxonomic monographs and revisions containing extensive synthetic phytosociological tables. Expert opinion from EuroVegChecklist authors was used to judge problematic cases. Some species were assigned to more than one class. Unlike for the EUNIS habitat types, no statistical approach was used to determine diagnostic species for European vegetation classes.
Mucina L., Bültmann H., Dierßen K., Theurillat J.-P., Raus T., Čarni A., … Tichý L. (2016). Vegetation of Europe: Hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(Suppl. 1), 3–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12257 (Mucina et al. 2016, version 3, 2024-01-01)
Diagnostic species are characterized by a concentration of their occurrence in the stands belonging to the target habitat type while being rare or absent in other habitat types. For the habitat types of the EUNIS classification (Chytrý et al. 2020), these species were determined based on the calculation of fidelity of each species to a group of vegetation plots representing the target habitat type in a geographically and ecologically stratified selection of plots from the European Vegetation Archive (Chytrý et al. 2016). Fidelity was calculated using the phi coefficient of association (Sokal & Rohlf, 1995; Chytrý et al., 2002) standardized as if each habitat was represented by the same number of plots (Tichý & Chytrý, 2006). The species with a value of phi greater than 0.15 for a particular habitat were considered as diagnostic for this habitat. The statistical significance of the species–habitat association was tested using Fisher's exact test (Sokal & Rohlf, 1995), and if not significant at p < 0.05, the species was excluded from the list of diagnostic species (Tichý & Chytrý, 2006).
Chytrý, M., Tichý, L., Hennekens, S. M., Knollová, I., Janssen, J. A. M., Rodwell, J. S., … Schaminée, J. H. J. (2020). EUNIS Habitat Classification: expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats. Applied Vegetation Science, 23(4), 648–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12519 – Version 2021-06-01: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4812736
Chytrý, M., Tichý, L., Holt, J., & Botta-Dukát, Z. (2002). Determination of diagnostic species with statistical fidelity measures. Journal of Vegetation Science, 13(1), 79–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2002.tb02025.x
Chytrý, M., Hennekens, S. M., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Knollová, I., Dengler, J., Jansen, F., … Yamalov, S. (2016). European Vegetation Archive (EVA): an integrated database of European vegetation plots. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(1), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12191
Sokal, R. R., & Rohlf, F. J. (1995). Biometry, 3rd edition. New York, NY: Freeman.
Tichý, L., & Chytrý, M. (2006). Statistical determination of diagnostic species for site groups of unequal size. Journal of Vegetation Science, 17(6), 809–818. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1654-1103.2006.tb02504.x
Constant species are characterized by frequent occurrences in stands belonging to the target vegetation unit, but unlike diagnostic species, they can also commonly occur in other vegetation units. They were determined for the habitat types of the EUNIS classification (Chytrý et al. 2020) based on the calculation of the percentage frequency (constancy) of each species in a group of vegetation plots representing the target habitat type in a geographically and ecologically stratified selection of plots of all habitat types extracted from the European Vegetation Archive (Chytrý et al. 2016). The species with an occurrence frequency in the habitat type higher than 10% were considered as constant taxa.
Chytrý, M., Tichý, L., Hennekens, S. M., Knollová, I., Janssen, J. A. M., Rodwell, J. S., … Schaminée, J. H. J. (2020). EUNIS Habitat Classification: expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats. Applied Vegetation Science, 23(4), 648–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12519 – Version 2021-06-01: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4812736
Chytrý M., Hennekens S.M., Jiménez-Alfaro B., Knollová I., Dengler J., Jansen F., … Yamalov S. (2016). European Vegetation Archive (EVA): an integrated database of European vegetation plots. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(1), 173–180. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12191
Species association to broadly defined habitats is based on species occurrences reported for finer units, either vegetation types or habitats. We compiled available data from several sources, Sádlo et al. (2007), Mucina et al. (2016), Guarino et al. (2019). Final list of habitats include 18 broad habitats.
Axmanová, I. (2022). Broad habitat. – www.FloraVeg.EU.
Guarino, R., La Rosa, M. & Pignatti, S. (Eds) (2019). Flora d'Italia, volume 4. Bologna: Edagricole.
Mucina, L., Bültmann, H., Dierßen, K., Theurillat, J.-P., Raus, T., Čarni, A., … Tichý L. (2016). Vegetation of Europe: Hierarchical floristic classification system of vascular plant, bryophyte, lichen, and algal communities. Applied Vegetation Science, 19(Suppl. 1), 3–264. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12257
Sádlo, J., Chytrý, M. & Pyšek, P. (2007). Regional species pools of vascular plants in habitats of the Czech Republic. Preslia, 79, 303–321.
No subordinate taxa were found for this item.