EUNIS Habitat Classification: Expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats

2020
Authors
Chytry, Milan
Tichy, Lubomir

Hennekens, Stephan M.
Knollova, Ilona
Janssen, John
Rodwell, John S.
Peterka, Tomas
Marceno, Corrado

Landucci, Flavia

Danihelka, Jiri

Hajek, Michal
Dengler, Juergen

Novak, Pavel
Zukal, Dominik
Jimenez-Alfaro, Borja

Mucina, Ladislav
Abdulhak, Sylvain
Aćić, Svetlana

Agrillo, Emiliano
Attorre, Fabio
Bergmeier, Erwin
Biurrun, Idoia

Boch, Steffen
Boloni, Janos
Bonari, Gianmaria

Braslavskaya, Tatiana
Bruelheide, Helge
Campos, Juan Antonio
Carni, Andraz

Casella, Laura
Cuk, Mirjana
Custerevska, Renata
De Bie, Els
Delbosc, Pauline
Demina, Olga
Didukh, Yakiv
Dite, Daniel
Dziuba, Tetiana
Ewald, Joerg

Gavilan, Rosario G.

Gegout, Jean-Claude
del Galdo, Gian Pietro Giusso
Golub, Valentin
Goncharova, Nadezhda
Goral, Friedemann
Graf, Ulrich
Indreica, Adrian
Isermann, Maike

Jandt, Ute

Jansen, Florian

Jansen, Jan
Jaskova, Anni
Jirousek, Martin
Kacki, Zygmunt

Kalnikova, Veronika
Kavgaci, Ali
Khanina, Larisa

Korolyuk, Andrey Yu
Kozhevnikova, Mariya
Kuzemko, Anna

Kuzmić, Filip

Kuznetsov, Oleg L.
Laivins, Maris
Lavrinenko, Igor
Lavrinenko, Olga
Lebedeva, Maria
Lososova, Zdenka

Lysenko, Tatiana
Maciejewski, Lise
Mardari, Constantin
Marinsek, Aleksander
Napreenko, Maxim G.

Onyshchenko, Viktor

Perez-Haase, Aaron
Pielech, Remigiusz

Prokhorov, Vadim
Rasomavicius, Valerijus
Rodriguez Rojo, Maria Pilar
Rusina, Solvita
Schrautzer, Joachim
Sibik, Jozef

Silc, Urban

Skvorc, Željko
Smagin, Viktor A.
Stancić, Zvjezdana
Stanisci, Angela

Tikhonova, Elena

Tonteri, Tiina
Uogintas, Domas
Valachović, Milan
Vassilev, Kiril
Vynokurov, Denys

Willner, Wolfgang
Yamalov, Sergey
Evans, Douglas

Lund, Mette Palitzsch
Spyropoulou, Rania
Tryfon, Eleni
Schaminee, Joop H.J.
Article (Published version)

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Show full item recordAbstract
Aim The EUNIS Habitat Classification is a widely used reference framework for European habitat types (habitats), but it lacks formal definitions of individual habitats that would enable their unequivocal identification. Our goal was to develop a tool for assigning vegetation-plot records to the habitats of the EUNIS system, use it to classify a European vegetation-plot database, and compile statistically-derived characteristic species combinations and distribution maps for these habitats. Location Europe. Methods We developed the classification expert system EUNIS-ESy, which contains definitions of individual EUNIS habitats based on their species composition and geographic location. Each habitat was formally defined as a formula in a computer language combining algebraic and set-theoretic concepts with formal logical operators. We applied this expert system to classify 1,261,373 vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA) and other databases. Then we determined diagnost...ic, constant and dominant species for each habitat by calculating species-to-habitat fidelity and constancy (occurrence frequency) in the classified data set. Finally, we mapped the plot locations for each habitat. Results Formal definitions were developed for 199 habitats at Level 3 of the EUNIS hierarchy, including 25 coastal, 18 wetland, 55 grassland, 43 shrubland, 46 forest and 12 man-made habitats. The expert system classified 1,125,121 vegetation plots to these habitat groups and 73,188 to other habitats, while 63,064 plots remained unclassified or were classified to more than one habitat. Data on each habitat were summarized in factsheets containing habitat description, distribution map, corresponding syntaxa and characteristic species combination. Conclusions EUNIS habitats were characterized for the first time in terms of their species composition and distribution, based on a classification of a European database of vegetation plots using the newly developed electronic expert system EUNIS-ESy. The data provided and the expert system have considerable potential for future use in European nature conservation planning, monitoring and assessment.
Keywords:
coastal habitat / diagnostic species / distribution map / dune vegetation / European Nature Information System (EUNIS) / European Vegetation Archive (EVA) / expert system / forest / grassland / habitat classification / man-made habitat / shrubland / vegetation database / vegetation plot / wetlandSource:
Applied Vegetation Science, 2020, 23, 4, 648-675Publisher:
- Wiley, Hoboken
Funding / projects:
- Czech Science FoundationGrant Agency of the Czech Republic [19-28491X]
- Basque GovernmentBasque Government [T936-16]
- Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation [AAAA-A18-118052590019-7, AAAA-A19-119012490096-2]
DOI: 10.1111/avsc.12519
ISSN: 1402-2001
WoS: 000560187300001
Scopus: 2-s2.0-85089447474
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