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Department of Biology
Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology
    Division BEE  >  Biodiversity & Ecology  >  Vol.4 >  Article 78

Biodiversity & Ecology

Short Database Report    Open Access 

Permanent.Plot.ch – a database for Swiss permanent vegetation plots


Pascal Vittoz*

Article first published online: 24 September 2012

DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00128

*Corresponding author contact: pascal.vittoz@unil.ch

Biodiversity & Ecology  (Biodivers. Ecol.)

Special Volume: Vegetation databases for the 21st century,
edited by Jürgen Dengler, Jens Oldeland, Florian Jansen, Milan Chytrý, Jörg Ewald, Manfred Finckh, Falko Glöckler, Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez, Robert K. Peet & Joop H.J. Schaminée
Volume 4, pages 337–337, Sep 12
  PDF  (245 kB)

Keywords: climate change; land use; permanent plot; Switzerland; vegetation monitoring.

English

Abstract: The aim of the Permanent.Plot.ch project is the conservation of historical data about permanent plots in Switzerland and the monitoring of vegetation in a context of environmental changes (mainly climate and land use). Permanent plots are currently being recognized as valuable tools to monitor long-term effects of environmental changes on vegetation. Often used in short studies (3 to 5 years), they are generally abandoned at the end of projects. However, their full potential might only be revealed after 10 or more years, once the location is lost. For instance, some of the oldest permanent plots in Switzerland (first half of the 20th century) were nearly lost, although they are now very valuable data. The Permanent.Plot.ch national database (GIVD ID EU-CH-001), by storing historical and recent data, will allow to ensuring future access to data from permanent vegetation plots. As the database contains some private data, it is not directly available on internet but an overview of the data can be downloaded from internet (http://www.unil.ch/ppch) and precise data are available on request.

Suggested citation:
Vittoz, P. (2012): Permanent.Plot.ch – a database for Swiss permanent vegetation plots. – In: Dengler, J., Oldeland, J., Jansen, F., Chytrý, M., Ewald, J., Finckh, M., Glöckler, F., Lopez-Gonzalez, G., Peet, R.K., Schaminée, J.H.J. [Eds.]: Vegetation databases for the 21st century. – Biodiversity & Ecology 4: 337–337. DOI: 10.7809/b-e.00128.