Database Report

Database of Scale-Dependent Phytodiversity Patterns in Palaearctic Grasslands (GrassPlot )

Jürgen Dengler & Idoia Biurrun

GIVD Database ID: EU-00-003	Last update: 2026-03-17
Database of Scale-Dependent Phytodiversity Patterns in Palaearctic Grasslands (GrassPlot )	Web address: https://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/ecoinformatics/en/forschung/gru/html.php?id_obj=139267
Database manager(s): Jürgen Dengler (juergen.dengler@uni-bayreuth.de); Idoia Biurrun (idoia.biurrun@ehu.es)
Owner: GrassPlot Consortium
Scope: The database was formerly named "Database Species-Area Relationships in Palaearctic Grasslands" and started as a repository for the data collected at the EDGG Research Expeditions/Field Workshops and similar multi-scale sampling schemes. In 2017 it was re-launched as a collaborative database associated with the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group (EDGG). GrassPlot collects vegetation-plot data of grasslands in the widest sense (i.e. everything except forests, tall shrublands, aquatic and segetal communities) from the Palaearctic biogeographic realm (i.e. Europe, North Africa, West, Central, North and Northeast Asia). With respect to sampling methodology, GrassPlot is more restrictive than typical vegetation-plot databases. It only includes data of plots with one of our eight standard grain sizes: 0.0001, 0.001 (or 0.0009), 0.01, 0.1 (or 0.09), 1, 10 (or 9) 100, 1,000 (or 900 or 1,024) m². However, we also allow deviations up to 10% from these grain sizes, e.g. 9 m² instead of 10 m². Nested-plot series with at least four different grain sizes are also included; for the latter, any grain size is allowed. Plots must have been precisely delimited in the field (e.g. with a tape around the perimeter or with frames for smaller sizes) and thoroughly been sampled at least for vascular plants, but preferentially also for terricolous bryophytes and lichens. GrassPlot accepts (i) pure richness data (together with the required metadata) or (ii) complete vegetation plots (compositional data), i.e. species identities with presence-absence, cover, abundance or any other measure of dominance.
Abstract:
Availability: according to a specific agreement	Online upload: no	Online search: no
Database format(s): Excel, R long table format	Export format(s): Excel, CSV file
Plot type(s): normal plots, nested plots	Plot-size range (m²): 0.0001 to 1024
Non-overlapping plots: 18702	Estimate of existing plots: 50000	Completeness: 37%	Status: ongoing capture
Total no. of plot observations: 168997	Number of sources (biblioreferences, data collectors): 130	Valid taxa: 0
Countries (%): ES: 32.31; SE: 15.47; IT: 8.84; AT: 7.75; IR: 7.69; NO: 7.52; DE: 4.33; HU: 2.16; GB: 1.71; PL: 1.64; CH: 1.37; UA: 1.12; IL: 1.06; RU: 1.03; FR: 0.97; EE: 0.93; CZ: 0.66; CN: 0.61; RO: 0.61; BG: 0.34; RS: 0.29; MN: 0.28; JP: 0.25; SK: 0.24; NL: 0.21; LV: 0.15; GR: 0.11; HR: 0.06; DK: 0.05; SI: 0.02; MA: 0.02; TR: 0.02; AM: 0.01; BY: 0.01; FI: 0.01
Formations: Forest: 0% = Terrestrial: 0% // Non Forest: 100% = Aquatic: 0% (Fresh water: 0%); Semi-aquatic: 20% (Haline water: 17%; Fresh water: 2%); Terrestrial: 80% (Arctic-alpin: 14%; Non arctic-alpin: 66% [Natural: 7%; Semi-natural: 59%; Anthropogenic: 1%])
Guilds: all vascular plants: 100%; bryophytes (terricolous or aquatic): 8%; lichens (terricolous or aquatic): 8%; algae (terricolous or aquatic): 8%
Plot size categories (%): < 1 m2: 83.53%; 1-10 m2: 11.12%; 10-100 m2: 3.55%; 100-1000 m2: 0.15%; 1000-10000 m2: 0.08%; unknowmn: 0%;
Environmental data (%): altitude: 98.2; slope aspect: 52.4; slope inclination: 57.9; microrelief: 1.6; surface cover other than plants (open soil, litter, bare rock etc.): 4.6; other soil attributes: 2.4; soil pH: 1.4; land use categories: 89.1; soil depth: 2.4; other attributes: loss at ignition; C/R ratio; calcium carbonate content; texture class
Performance measure(s): presence/absence only: 79.9%; cover: 18.5%; number of individuals: 0.5%
Geographic localisation: GPS coordinates (precision 25 m or less): 23.6%; point coordinates less precise than GPS, up to 1 km: 59.6%; small grid (not coarser than 10 km): 0.6%; political units or only on a coarser scale ( above 10 km): 0.1%
Sampling periods: 1940-1949: 0.04%; 1960-1969: 0.02%; 1980-1989: 2.41%; 1990-1999: 1,2%; 2000-2009: 79.05%; 2010-2019: 15.74%; unknown: 0.64%
Information as of 2026-05-31; further details and future updates available from http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-00-003

Jürgen Dengler* (juergen.dengler@uni-bayreuth.de)
Vegetation Ecology Group, Institute of Natural Resource Management (IUNR), Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), Grüentalstr. 14, 8820 Wädenswil, SWITZERLAND
Idoia Biurrun (idoia.biurrun@ehu.es)
Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, P.O. Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, SPAIN
* corresponding author