Database Report

SALVIAS -- The SALVIAS vegetation inventory database

Bradley Boyle & Brian Enquist

GIVD Database ID: 00-00-003	Last update: 2016-01-04
SALVIAS	Web address: http://www.salvias.net/
Database manager(s): Bradley Boyle (bboyle@email.arizona.edu); Brian Enquist (benquist@email.arizona.edu)
Owner: Brian J. Enquist (University of Arizona), University of Arizona - Dept of EEB, PO Box 210088
Scope: SALVIAS is a global repository of vegetation inventories, with emphasis on North and South America. We accept vegetation plots of any methodology, including both aggregate observations (relevees, vegetation cover plots), individual-based sample (tree plots) and dimensionless samples such as line-intercept.
Abstract: The SALVIAS vegetation inventory database (www.salvias.net) is a compilation of 13,661 vegetation inventories from around the world, with emphasis on the Americas. 12,962 inventories from the USA are shared with VegBank (www.vegbank.org); the remaining 699 inventories are mostly tropical forest plots from Mexico and Central and South America, and are available only via SALVIAS. The majority of the plots unique to SALVIAS contain individual measurements of trees, shrubs, lianas and hemiepiphytes, rather than aggregate observations (counts or percent cover). The two most common methods represented are 0.1 ha transects with a minimum stem diameter of 2.5 cm (523 plots) and 1 ha tree plots with a minimum stem diameter of 10 cm dbh (63 plots). The SALVIAS database also contains a taxonomically-standardized version of the Alwyn Gentry Forest Transects, also available in its original form for the Missouri Botanical Gardens website (http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/gentry/transect.shtml)
Availability: free online	Online upload: no	Online search: yes
Database format(s): MySQL	Export format(s): CSV file
Plot type(s): normal plots	Plot-size range (m²): 100 to 10000
Non-overlapping plots: 13661	Estimate of existing plots: 13661	Completeness: 100%	Status: completed and continuing
Total no. of plot observations: 13661	Number of sources (biblioreferences, data collectors): 21	Valid taxa: 9946
Countries (%): AR: 0.42; AU: 0.14; BO: 33.61; BR: 1.43; CM: 0.43; CA: 0.72; CF: 0.29; CL: 0.43; CO: 5.01; CR: 8.15; CU: 0.14; DO: 0.14; EC: 4.72; FI: 0.29; GF: 0.14; GA: 0.43; GY: 0.14; IN: 0.54; ID: 4.01; JM: 0.29; JP: 0.14; MG: 0.86; MY: 0.72; MU: 0.14; MX: 4.43; NC: 0.14; NI: 0.29; NG: 0.14; PA: 0.43; PG: 0.43; PY: 0.14; PE: 23.32; PR: 0.29; UY: 0.57; US: 4.43; VE: 0.72
Formations: Forest: 5% = Terrestrial: 5%
Guilds: all vascular plants: 10%; only trees and shrubs: 90%; non-terricolous taxa (epiphytic, saxicolous, lignicolous): 1%
Plot size categories (%): < 1 m2: 0%; 1-10 m2: 0%; 10-100 m2: 0%; 100-1000 m2: 0.953%; 1000-10000 m2: 0.037%; >= 10000 m2: 0.005%; unknowmn: 0.6%;
Environmental data (%): altitude: 99; slope aspect: 20; slope inclination: 25; other soil attributes: 15; soil pH: 15; other attributes: I do not have time to enter every country using your pick list above. Your interface is cumbersome and slow, and furthermore I am in the field with a slow internet connections. Please allow for file upload. Here are the percentages by country: Argentina 0.43 Australia 0.14 Bolivia 33.62 Brazil 1.43 Cameroon 0.29 Cameroun 0.14 Canada 0.72 Central African Republic 0.29 Chile 0.43 Colombia 5.01 Costa Rica 8.15 Cuba 0.14 Dominican Republic 0.14 Ecuador 4.72 Finland 0.29 French Guiana 0.14 Gabon 0.43 Germany 0.29 Guyana 0.14 India 0.57 Indonesia 4.01 Jamaica 0.29 Japan 0.14 Madagascar 0.86 Malaysia 0.72 Mauritius 0.14 Mexico 4.43 New Caledonia 0.14 Nicaragua 0.29 Nigeria 0.14 Panama 0.43 Papua New Guinea 0.43 Paraguay 0.14 Peru 23.32 Philippines 0.14 Puerto Rico 0.29 Sweden 0.14 Taiwan 0.29 Tanzania 0.29 Thailand 0.43 Uruguay 0.57 USA 4.43 Venezuela 0.72
Performance measure(s): cover: 1%; measurements like diameter or height of trees: 99%
Geographic localisation: GPS coordinates (precision 25 m or less): 95%; point coordinates less precise than GPS, up to 1 km: 5%
Sampling periods:
Information as of 2026-06-14; further details and future updates available from http://www.givd.info/ID/00-00-003

Bradley Boyle* (bboyle@email.arizona.edu)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, PO Box 210088, 85721 Tucson, UNITED STATES
Brian Enquist (benquist@email.arizona.edu)
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, PO Box 210088, 85721 Tucson, UNITED STATES
* corresponding author