Database Report

AMS-VegBank - Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna -- Italian Vegetation Data

Alessandro Chiarucci, Fabrizio Buldrini, Vanessa Bruzzaniti & Juri Nascimbene

GIVD Database ID: EU-IT-021	Last update: 2026-02-18
AMS-VegBank - Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna	Web address: alessandro.chiarucci@unibo.it
Database manager(s): Alessandro Chiarucci (alessandro.chiarucci@unibo.it); Fabrizio Buldrini (fabrizio.buldrini@unibo.it); Vanessa Bruzzaniti (vanessa.bruzzaniti2@unibo.it); Juri Nascimbene (juri.nascimbene@unibo.it)
Owner: Alessandro Chiarucci
Scope: This database aims to archive vegetation plot data from published and unpublished sources, to support the ecological, biogeographical and conservation research on Italian plant communities with a focus on specific projects and with an open cooperation with the other national databases. The database started as an internal archive of the vegetation ecologists working at the Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, the oldest university of the Western World, and one of the largest in Italy, with one of the largest connection network in Europe. The specific aim of AMS-VegBank is to collect vegetation data from specific research projects, by archiving vegetation plot data with high quality spatial and temporal references.
Abstract: The Vegetation Plot Database AMS-VegBank (Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna) is a continuosly growing repository presently made up of more than 30.000 vegetation plots. The data are originated by specific research projects on plant communities performed by researchers connected with the institution, mostly in Italy but also elsewhere. The database is composed by collection of plot data containing accurate information on vegetation composition and structure as well as the physical environment collected within projects coordinated by leading vegetation scientists and performed in various parts of the globe, with a focus in Italy and the Mediterranean area. The university spinoff company Greenarco is contributing to the improvement and management of the database. Among these, the most relevant projects are: 1) Mediterranean Islands Project (ISL), which consists of more than 8.670 plots, many of which are original, on Mediterranean islands and the Canary Islands; 2) The Dolomiti (DOL) project contains almost 2.900 phytosociological plots, largely collected by Sandro and Erika Pignatti within a time frame of several decades and which have been accurately geo-referenced and properly archived plus a number of other studies from the Dolomiti area; 3) the complete collection of the plots sampled in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park (CNP), from the first phytosociological relevés done in Italy by Zangheri (years 1930-1964) to the actual studies aiming to vegetation mapping or collecting probabilistic data for monitoring purposes; 4) Vegetation database of the Nature Reserve Network of Emilia Romagna Region (RER), containing almost 2.200 plots collected on a dedicate project covering the entire region; 5) The Vegetation of serpentine outcrops of Italian peninsula (SER), with over 300 plots, recorded on this specific substrates; 6) The Segetal Vegetation project (SEV) that contains almost 800 plots in the agricultural fields of northern Italy; 7) The Monitoring project of the Maremma Natural Park (MNP), with almost 100 plots sampled with a probabilistic scheme and sub-metric spatial accuracy; 8) The Mangroves forests Project (MAF) with over 30 plots sampled in Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman, completely original; 9) The Caltha Project (CAL) that includes the result of the monitoring of Caltha palustris in the Foreste Casentinesi National Park; 10) LIV (Ligurian vegetation) Project, a complete collection of phytosociological investigations of the Ligurian woods includes more than 900 plots; 11) The Castanea (CST) Project that contains more than 280 plots collected in chestnut groves and other chestnut dominated woods across Italy; 12) The Monitoring project of the Natura2000 Network of the Siena Province (SIM), with more than 600 original plots sampled with a probabilistic scheme and sub-metric spatial accuracy; 13) The MBC (Museum Brescia Contributions) project, containing more of 1000 plots assembled by the researchers at the Brescia Civic Museum of Natural Sciences. Many other plot data are included within the Various Italian Plots (VIP) project, containing data collected in a number of smaller projects or data assembled from a variety of published and unpublished sources presently summing up more than 10.900 plots. Since 2021 AMS-VegBank has been participating with four resampling works on the Italian territory at ResurveyEurope Initiative, an EVA project that aims to include time series with repeated samples of the same graph in the European Vegetation Archive. To date, AMS-Vegbank participates in the ResurveyEU initiative with 8 projects for the resampling of the Italian territory. The database is presently developed using Turboveg. A project of interaction with the Vegetation Plot Database - Sapienza University of Rome (EU-IT-011) is scheduled in order to minimize plot overlap and optimize project coverage between the two databases.
Availability: according to a specific agreement	Online upload: no	Online search: no
Database format(s): TURBOVEG, Excel	Export format(s): TURBOVEG
Plot type(s): normal plots, nested plots, time series	Plot-size range (m²): 0.1 to 900
Non-overlapping plots: 30069	Estimate of existing plots: 30069	Completeness: 100%	Status: completed and continuing
Total no. of plot observations: 30069	Number of sources (biblioreferences, data collectors): 428	Valid taxa: 21623
Countries (%): IT: 99.9; MT: 0.03; SI: 0.01; TN: 0.01; FR: 0.01; ES: 0.01; GR: 0.01; IR: 0.01; HR: 0.01
Formations: Forest: 47% = Semi-aquatic: 10%; Terrestrial: 37% // Non Forest: 54% = Aquatic: 3% (Haline water: 1%; Fresh water: 1%); Semi-aquatic: 4% (Haline water: 2%; Fresh water: 2%); Terrestrial: 47% (Arctic-alpin: 15%; Non arctic-alpin: 32% [Natural: 27%; Semi-natural: 5%])
Guilds: all vascular plants: 60%
Plot size categories (%): < 1 m2: 0.2%; 1-10 m2: 10%; 10-100 m2: 40%; 100-1000 m2: 30%; unknowmn: 19.8%;
Environmental data (%): altitude: 72,91; slope aspect: 59,83; slope inclination: 59,80; microrelief: 0; 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: 1%; cover: 99%
Geographic localisation: GPS coordinates (precision 25 m or less): 20,13%; point coordinates less precise than GPS, up to 1 km: 50,57%; small grid (not coarser than 10 km): 15,66%; political units or only on a coarser scale ( above 10 km): 1,43%
Sampling periods: before 1920: 0%; 1920-1929: 0%; 1930-1939: 0,02%; 1940-1949: 0,34%; 1950-1959: 0,78%; 1960-1969: 2,78%; 1970-1979: 12,21%; 1980-1989: 12,62%; 1990-1999: 22,70%; 2000-2009: 22,13%; 2010-2019: 10%; after 2020: 1,39%
Information as of 2026-04-29; further details and future updates available from http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-IT-021

Alessandro Chiarucci* (alessandro.chiarucci@unibo.it)
Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, ITALY
Fabrizio Buldrini (fabrizio.buldrini@unibo.it)
Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, ITALY
Vanessa Bruzzaniti (vanessa.bruzzaniti2@unibo.it)
Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, ITALY
Juri Nascimbene (juri.nascimbene@unibo.it)
Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna, Via Irnerio 42, 40126 Bologna, ITALY
* corresponding author