Database Report

Swiss Forest Vegetation Database

Thomas Wohlgemuth

GIVD Database ID: EU-CH-005	Last update: 2018-11-08
Swiss Forest Vegetation Database	Web address:
Database manager(s): Thomas Wohlgemuth (thomas.wohlgemuth@wsl.ch)
Owner: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research
Scope: The Swiss Forest Vegetation database contains roughly 14`800 relevés located in all parts of Switzerland and ranging from 200 to 2480 m a.s.l. Relevés were assessed between 1904 and 1998 from 320 different people. A majority of the relevés were published in papers, monographs or as regional mapping projects.
Abstract: The Swiss Forest Vegetation database contains roughly 14`800 relevés located in all parts of Switzerland, and ranging from 200 to 2480 m a.s.l. Relevés were assessed between 1904 and 1995 by 320 different activities with one or more persons involved. A majority of the relevés were published in papers, monographs or served for regional mapping projects. A first consistent classification into 71 Swiss forest communities (Ellenberg & Klötzli 1972) derived from 2533 of these relevés (17%) and equalled the starting point of this collection. During the 1980ies and 90ies, the database was largely extended in order to establish a basis for a revised classification (details in Keller et al. 1998). Meanwhile, many cantons of Switzerland commissioned local forest classifications, which also resulted in an evolution of local expertise on the one hand, and in the difficulty of synthesizing this expertise by means of formal analyses. Eventually, the revision of Ellenberg & Klötzli’s old classification failed. To date there is no new analysis-based classification of Swiss forests. In contrast, a pragmatic system was established that largely corresponds to the old Ellenberg & Klöztli numbers and may translate between the differing cantonal forest community systems.
Availability: free upon request	Online upload: no	Online search: no
Database format(s): Oracle	Export format(s): Excel
Plot type(s): normal plots	Plot-size range (m²): 20 to 1000
Non-overlapping plots: 14800	Estimate of existing plots: 14800	Completeness: 100%	Status: finished
Total no. of plot observations: 14800	Number of sources (biblioreferences, data collectors): 320	Valid taxa: 1785
Countries (%): CH: 99.5; FR: 0.1; AT: 0.1; IT: 0.1; DE: 0.1; LI: 0.1
Formations: Forest: 100% = Terrestrial: 100%
Guilds: only trees and shrubs: 100%
Plot size categories (%): < 1 m2: 0%; 1-10 m2: 1.2%; 10-100 m2: 5.6%; 100-1000 m2: 72.9%; 1000-10000 m2: 0.2%; >= 10000 m2: 0%; unknowmn: 19.5%;
Environmental data (%): altitude: 99.1; slope aspect: 92.6; slope inclination: 96.2; microrelief: 70; surface cover other than plants (open soil, litter, bare rock etc.): 0; other soil attributes: 0; soil pH: 0; land use categories: 0; soil depth: 0
Performance measure(s): presence/absence only: 2%; cover: 98%; number of individuals: 100%; measurements like diameter or height of trees: 67.2%; biomass: 0%; other: 0%
Geographic localisation: GPS coordinates (precision 25 m or less): 50%; point coordinates less precise than GPS, up to 1 km: 50%; small grid (not coarser than 10 km): 0%; political units or only on a coarser scale ( above 10 km): 0%
Sampling periods: before 1920: 0%; 1920-1929: 1.7%; 1930-1939: 3.2%; 1940-1949: 7.6%; 1950-1959: 9.3%; 1960-1969: 19.6%; 1970-1979: 17.6%; 1980-1989: 24.5%; 1990-1999: 16.3%; 2000-2009: 0%; 2010-2019: 0%; unknown: 0.2%
Information as of 2026-05-19; further details and future updates available from http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-CH-005

Thomas Wohlgemuth* (thomas.wohlgemuth@wsl.ch)
Forest Dynamics, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, Zuercherstr. 111, CH-8903 Birmensdorf, SWITZERLAND
* corresponding author