New database on the dwindling biodiversity of Europe’s plants
Published: Tuesday, May 14th 2024, 09:00
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A new database makes it possible for the first time to comprehensively evaluate the dwindling biodiversity of Europe's plant world. A team of over 250 scientists has compiled data from more than 283,000 observations of around 80,000 vegetation plots in various habitats. Data from Switzerland was also included.
Austrian vegetation researcher Franz Essl and his team present the "ReSurveyEurope" database in the "Journal of Vegetation Science".
"In order to have a really good understanding of how plant biodiversity has changed in Europe in recent decades, at what speed species have been lost or have declined particularly sharply and which habitats are particularly affected, we need the broadest possible database. This is now possible for the first time with this database," Franz Essl from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna told the Austrian news agency APA.
Oldest data from the Swiss Alps
Essl compiled the observations from the 79,190 study plots in various habitats that were surveyed at least twice. The oldest comparative data comes from the Swiss Alps from 1911, most of the plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020.
Most of the recorded observation areas (around 21,000) are located in grassland, such as meadows and pastures. These can be very species-rich and have therefore received a great deal of attention from botanists, explained Essl. "We have also placed a certain focus on this in the database because it is known from individual studies that these habitats in particular have changed significantly."
For the biodiversity researcher, this data allows "numerous important and exciting questions to be answered". According to Essl, several projects are already using the new database and results are expected in the coming years.
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