sPlot - A new tool for global vegetation analyses

Author(s)

Helge Bruelheide, Juergen Dengler, Borja Jimenez-Alfaro, Oliver Purschke, Stephan M. Hennekens, Milan Chytry, Valerio D. Pillar, Florian Jansen, Jens Kattge, Brody Sandel, Isabelle Aubin, Idoia Biurrun, Richard Field, Sylvia Haider, Ute Jandt, Jonathan Lenoir, Robert K. Peet, Gwendolyn Peyre, Francesco Maria Sabatini, Marco Schmidt, Franziska Schrodt, Marten Winter, Svetlana Acic, Emiliano Agrillo, Miguel Alvarez, Didem Ambarli, Pierangela Angelini, Iva Apostolova, Mohammed A. S. Arfin Khan, Elise Arnst, Fabio Attorre, Christopher Baraloto, Michael Beckmann, Christian Berg, Yves Bergeron, Erwin Bergmeier, Anne D. Bjorkman, Viktoria Bondareva, Peter Borchardt, Zoltan Botta-Dukat, Brad Boyle, Amy Breen, Henry Brisse, Chaeho Byun, Marcelo R. Cabido, Laura Casella, Luis Cayuela, Tomas Cerny, Victor Chepinoga, Janos Csiky, Michael Curran, Renata Custerevska, Zora Dajic Stevanovic, Els De Bie, Patrice de Ruffray, Michele De Sanctis, Panayotis Dimopoulos, Stefan Dressler, Rasmus Ejrnaes, Mohamed Abd El-Rouf Mousa El-Sheikh, Brian Enquist, Joerg Ewald, Jaime Fagundez, Manfred Finckh, Xavier Font, Estelle Forey, Georgios Fotiadis, Itziar Garcia-Mijangos, Andre Luis de Gasper, Valentin Golub, Alvaro G. Gutierrez, Mohamed Z. Hatim, Tianhua He, Pedro Higuchi, Dana Holubova, Norbert Hoelzel, Juergen Homeier, Adrian Indreica, Deniz Isik Gursoy, Steven Jansen, John Janssen, Birgit Jedrzejek, Martin Jirousek, Norbert Juergens, Zygmunt Kacki, Ali Kavgaci, Elizabeth Kearsley, Michael Kessler, Ilona Knollova, Vitaliy Kolomiychuk, Andrey Korolyuk, Maria Kozhevnikova, Lukasz Kozub, Daniel Krstonosic, Hjalmar Kuehl, Ingolf Kuehn, Anna Kuzemko, Filip Kuzmic, Flavia Landucci, Michael T. Lee, Aurora Levesley, Ching-Feng Li, Hongyan Liu, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Tatiana Lysenko, Armin Macanovic, Parastoo Mahdavi, Peter Manning, Corrado Marceno, Vassiliy Martynenko, Maurizio Mencuccini, Vanessa Minden, Jesper Erenskjold Moeslund, Marco Moretti, Jonas V. Mueller, Jerome Munzinger, Ulo Niinemets, Marcin Nobis, Jalil Noroozi, Arkadiusz Nowak, Viktor Onyshchenko, Gerhard E. Overbeck, Wim A. Ozinga, Anibal Pauchard, Hristo Pedashenko, Josep Penuelas, Aaron Perez-Haase, Tomas Peterka, Petr Petrik, Oliver L. Phillips, Vadim Prokhorov, Valerijus Rasomavicius, Rasmus Revermann, John Rodwell, Eszter Ruprecht, Solvita Rusina, Cyrus Samimi, Joop H. J. Schaminee, Ute Schmiedel, Jozef Sibik, Urban Silc, Zeljko Skvorc, Anita Smyth, Tenekwetche Sop, Desislava Sopotlieva, Ben Sparrow, Zvjezdana Stancic, Jens-Christian Svenning, Grzegorz Swacha, Zhiyao Tang, Ioannis Tsiripidis, Pavel Dan Turtureanu, Emin Ugurlu, Domas Uogintas, Milan Valachovic, Kim Andre Vanselow, Yulia Vashenyak, Kiril Vassilev, Eduardo Velez-Martin, Roberto Venanzoni, Alexander Christian Vibrans, Cyrille Violle, Risto Virtanen, Henrik von Wehrden, Viktoria Wagner, Donald A. Walker, Desalegn Wana, Evan Weiher, Karsten Wesche, Timothy Whitfeld, Wolfgang Willner, Susan Wiser, Thomas Wohlgemuth, Sergey Yamalov, Georg Zizka, Andrei Zverev

Abstract

Aims Vegetation-plot records provide information on the presence and cover or abundance of plants co-occurring in the same community. Vegetation-plot data are spread across research groups, environmental agencies and biodiversity research centers and, thus, are rarely accessible at continental or global scales. Here we present the sPlot database, which collates vegetation plots worldwide to allow for the exploration of global patterns in taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity at the plant community level. Results sPlot version 2.1 contains records from 1,121,244 vegetation plots, which comprise 23,586,216 records of plant species and their relative cover or abundance in plots collected worldwide between 1885 and 2015. We complemented the information for each plot by retrieving climate and soil conditions and the biogeographic context (e.g., biomes) from external sources, and by calculating community-weighted means and variances of traits using gap-filled data from the global plant trait database TRY. Moreover, we created a phylogenetic tree for 50,167 out of the 54,519 species identified in the plots. We present the first maps of global patterns of community richness and community-weighted means of key traits. Conclusions The availability of vegetation plot data in sPlot offers new avenues for vegetation analysis at the global scale.

Organisation(s)

Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research

External organisation(s)

Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Zürcher Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften (ZHAW), Universität Bayreuth, Universidad de Oviedo, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Masaryk University, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, University Hospital Rostock, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Santa Clara University, Natural Resources Canada (NRCan), Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, University of the Basque Country, Nottingham Trent University, Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Picardie Jules Verne, University of North Carolina at Wilmington, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia), Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, University of Belgrade, Sapienza University of Rome, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Düzce University, ISPRA - Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale, Paisii Hilendarski University of Plovdiv, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Landcare Research New Zealand, The Kampong - National Tropical Botanical Garden, Florida International University, Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Umweltforschung, Technische Universität Graz, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Aarhus University Hospital, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Northern Arizona University, University of Alaska Southeast, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Aix-Marseille Université, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, University of Pécs, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Research Institute for Nature and Forest, Université Paris VI - Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, Université de Paris, Université de Strasbourg, University of Patras, King Saud University, Alexandria University, Damanhour University, Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences, Universidade da Coruña, League of European Research Universities - LERU, University of Barcelona, INRAe, rue Sully, Dijon 21000, France., Democritus University of Thrace, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Universidad Central de Chile, Tanta University, Curtin University, Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Universität Münster, Transilvania University of Brașov, Celal Bayar University, Universitätsklinikum Ulm, Mendel University in Brno , University of Wrocław, Turkish Republic Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Ghent University Hospital, Universität Zürich (UZH), Kherson State University, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU), Central Siberian Botanical Garden, Kazan Federal University, University of Economics and Human Sciences in Warsaw, University Hospital Centre Zagreb, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU), National Institute of Biology, Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, NatureServe, Leeds Trinity University, National Taiwan University Hospital, Peking University, International University of Sarajevo, Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, Centro de Investigacion Ecologica y Aplicaciones Forestales (CREAF), Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Wald, Schnee und Landschaft, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, CIRAD, Institut de recherche pour le développement, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Polish Academy of Sciences, Universidad de Concepción, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona , Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), Czech Academy of Sciences, Nature Research Centre, Babeș-Bolyai University, Latvia University of Agriculture, Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), University of Adelaide, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Bursa Technical University, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), Khmelnytskyi National University, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Museum national d'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), AgroParis Tech, Oulu University Hospital, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, University of Alberta, Addis Ababa University, University of Wisconsin System, Technische Universität Dresden, Brown University, Vienna Institute for Nature Conservation and Analyis (VINCA), Tomsk State University, Independent researcher, Independent researcher, Yonsei University

Journal

Journal of Vegetation Science

Volume

30

Pages

161-186

No. of pages

26

ISSN

1100-9233

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12710

Publication date

02-2019

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

106008 Botany

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Plant Science, Ecology

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/fea965e7-36ee-4447-88ba-ed706ca8f827