Flavia Landucci

Questions: How have species richness, functional composition and community structure of aquatic macrophytes in standing waters changed since the mid‐20th century? Do these changes differ between oligotrophic and mesoeutrophic waters, and to what extent do protected areas conserve macrophyte diversity? Location: Northwest Germany. Methods: We analysed temporal changes in 76 macrophyte species across 119 waters. Sites were originally surveyed in the mid‐20th century with resurveys in the early 21st century; 55 sites also had late 20th century records. Changes in species richness, growth forms, ecological indicator values and individual species occurrences were assessed using permutational paired t ‐tests and generalised linear mixed models. Shifts in community composition were evaluated with NMDS, permutational multivariate analysis of variance and temporal beta‐diversity partitioning. Results: Mean site‐level richness declined by 27% with losses mostly of threatened and oligotrophic‐water specialists. Generalists also declined in mesoeutrophic waters but slightly increased in historically oligotrophic waters. Within protected areas, richness was consistently higher while experiencing similar declines. Only larger systems showed any recovery and that since the late 20th century. Of the 60 species recorded in both main periods, occurrence probability across sites decreased for 24 species and increased for three. Community turnover within sites was high, predominantly driven by losses. Composition shifted towards indicators of eutrophic–hypertrophic conditions, that is, from submerged to floating‐leaved forms and towards higher proportions of free‐floating pleustophytes. Conclusions: Continued eutrophication, sediment accumulation and increased turbidity have reshaped macrophyte communities, reducing their diversity even within protected sites. Small and oligotrophic waters are especially vulnerable. Conservation strategies should address not only rarity but also functional diversity. Limiting diffuse nutrient inputs, restoring wide buffer strips and promoting extensive habitat management are essential to halt declines and support recovery.

We report the decisions of the GPN assembly in 2025 regarding previous recommendations of the Committee for Change and Conservation of Names (CCCN) and we discuss three Requests for a binding decision and four nomenclatural Proposals. Recommendations on acceptance or rejection of these Proposals are provided. Taxonomic reference : Euro+Med PlantBase (https://europlusmed.org/) [accessed 14 Nov 2025] Abbreviations : CCCN = Committee for Change and Conservation of Names; GPN = Working Group for Phytosociological Nomenclature; IAVS = International Association for Vegetation Science; ICPN = International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature, ed. 4; VCS = Vegetation Classification and Survey.

In the course of a comprehensive revision of the syntaxonomy and nomenclature of the class Phragmito-Magnocaricetea Klika in Klika et Novák 1941, it appeared necessary to resolve some nomenclatural issues in accordance with the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. In this article, we present five proposals and three requests for binding decisions. We also introduce the name Oenanthetalia aquaticae Hejný ex Landucci et al. ord. nov., the lectotypes of the names Phragmitetum australis Savich 1926 nom. corr., Typho-Scirpetum mucronati Tallon 1950, and Apion nodiflori Segal in Westhoff et Den Held 1969, and the neotypes of the names Oenantho aquaticae-Rorippetum amphibiae Lohmeyer 1950 and Scrophulario aquaticae-Apietum nodiflori Maas ex Segal in Westhoff et Den Held 1969. (40) Phragmitetum australis Savich 1926 nom. corr. et cons. propos. Typus: Savich 1926a: 57 (holotypus) (=) Scirpo-Phragmitetum australis W. Koch 1926 Typus: Koch 1926: 47 (holotypus). (41) Phragmition australis W. Koch 1926 nom. corr. et cons. propos. Typus: Phragmitetum australis Savich 1926 nom. corr. (typus cons. propos.) (42) Glycerio-Sparganietum neglecti W. Koch 1926 nom. dub. propos. Typus: Koch 1926: 52, tab. V, relevé 1 (lectotypus designated by Koska in Dengler et al. 2004: 371) (43) Glycerio-Sparganion Braun-Blanquet et Sissingh in Boer 1942 nom. dub. propos. Typus: Glycerio-Sparganietum neglecti W. Koch 1926 nom. dub. propos (Boer 1942: 240; holotypus) (44) Nasturtio-Glycerietalia Pignatti 1953 nom. dub. propos. Typus: Glycerio-Sparganion Braun-Blanquet et Sissingh in Boer 1942 nom. dub. propos. (Boer 1942: 240; holotypus) Taxonomic reference : POWO (2025). Abbreviations : CCCN = Committee for Change and Conservation of Names; ICPN = International Code of Phytosocio­logical Nomenclature (Theurillat et al. 2021).

The first comprehensive phytosociological classification of all vegetation types in Europe (EuroVegChecklist; Applied Vegetation Science, 2016, 19, 3–264) contained brief descriptions of each type. However, these descriptions were not standardized and mentioned only the most distinct features of each vegetation type. The practical application of the vegetation classification system could be enhanced if users had the option to select sets of vegetation types based on various combinations of structural, ecological, and biogeographical attributes. Based on a literature review and expert knowledge, we created a new database that assigns standardized categorical attributes of 12 variables to each of the 1106 alliances dominated by vascular plants defined in EuroVegChecklist. These variables include dominant life form, phenological optimum, substrate moisture, substrate reaction, salinity, nutrient status, soil organic matter, vegetation region, elevational vegetation belt, azonality, successional status and naturalness. The new database has the potential to enhance the usefulness of phytosociological classification for researchers and practitioners and to help understand this classification to non‐specialists.

Aims: Ellenberg‐type indicator values are expert‐based rankings of plant species according to their ecological optima on main environmental gradients. Here we extend the indicator‐value system proposed by Heinz Ellenberg and co‐authors for Central Europe by incorporating other systems of Ellenberg‐type indicator values (i.e., those using scales compatible with Ellenberg values) developed for other European regions. Our aim is to create a harmonized data set of Ellenberg‐type indicator values applicable at the European scale.Methods: We collected European data sets of indicator values for vascular plants and selected 13 data sets that used the nine‐, ten‐ or twelve‐degree scales defined by Ellenberg for light, temperature, moisture, reaction, nutrients and salinity. We compared these values with the original Ellenberg values and used those that showed consistent trends in regression slope and coefficient of determination. We calculated the average value for each combination of species and indicator values from these data sets. Based on species’ co‐occurrences in European vegetation plots, we also calculated new values for species that were not assigned an indicator value.Results: We provide a new data set of Ellenberg‐type indicator values for 8908 European vascular plant species (8168 for light, 7400 for temperature, 8030 for moisture, 7282 for reaction, 7193 for nutrients, and 7507 for salinity), of which 398 species have been newly assigned to at least one indicator value.Conclusions: The newly introduced indicator values are compatible with the original Ellenberg values. They can be used for large‐scale studies of the European flora and vegetation or for gap‐filling in regional data sets. The European indicator values and the original and taxonomically harmonized regional data sets of Ellenberg‐type indicator values are available in the Supporting Information and the Zenodo repository.

Aim: The first comprehensive checklist of European phytosociological alliances, orders and classes (EuroVegChecklist) was published by Mucina et al. (2016, Applied Vegetation Science, 19 (Suppl. 1), 3–264). However, this checklist did not contain detailed information on the distribution of individual vegetation types. Here we provide the first maps of all alliances in Europe.Location: Europe, Greenland, Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Cyprus and the Caucasus countries.Methods: We collected data on the occurrence of phytosociological alliances in European countries and regions from literature and vegetation‐plot databases. We interpreted and complemented these data using the expert knowledge of an international team of vegetation scientists and matched all the previously reported alliance names and concepts with those of the EuroVegChecklist. We then mapped the occurrence of the EuroVegChecklist alliances in 82 territorial units corresponding to countries, large islands, archipelagos and peninsulas. We subdivided the mainland parts of large or biogeographically heterogeneous countries based on the European biogeographical regions. Specialized alliances of coastal habitats were mapped only for the coastal section of each territorial unit.Results: Distribution maps were prepared for 1,105 alliances of vascular‐plant dominated vegetation reported in the EuroVegChecklist. For each territorial unit, three levels of occurrence probability were plotted on the maps: (a) verified occurrence; (b) uncertain occurrence; and (c) absence. The maps of individual alliances were complemented by summary maps of the number of alliances and the alliance–area relationship. Distribution data are also provided in a spreadsheet.Conclusions: The new map series represents the first attempt to characterize the distribution of all vegetation types at the alliance level across Europe. There are still many knowledge gaps, partly due to a lack of data for some regions and partly due to uncertainties in the definition of some alliances. The maps presented here provide a basis for future research aimed at filling these gaps.

New Italian data on the distribution of the Annex I Habitats 1510*, 2130*, 2250*, 3180*, 3260, 5230*, 6410, 7140, 7220*, 9320 are reported in this contribution. Specifically, 14 new occurrences in Natura 2000 sites are presented and 20 new cells are added in the EEA 10 km × 10 km reference grid. The new data refer to the Italian administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Liguria, Marche, Molise, Sardinia, Sicily, Tuscany and Umbria.

Motivation: Assessing biodiversity status and trends in plant communities is critical for understanding, quantifying and predicting the effects of global change on ecosystems. Vegetation plots record the occurrence or abundance of all plant species co‐occurring within delimited local areas. This allows species absences to be inferred, information seldom provided by existing global plant datasets. Although many vegetation plots have been recorded, most are not available to the global research community. A recent initiative, called ‘sPlot’, compiled the first global vegetation plot database, and continues to grow and curate it. The sPlot database, however, is extremely unbalanced spatially and environmentally, and is not open‐access. Here, we address both these issues by (a) resampling the vegetation plots using several environmental variables as sampling strata and (b) securing permission from data holders of 105 local‐to‐regional datasets to openly release data. We thus present sPlotOpen, the largest open‐access dataset of vegetation plots ever released. sPlotOpen can be used to explore global diversity at the plant community level, as ground truth data in remote sensing applications, or as a baseline for biodiversity monitoring.Main types of variable contained: Vegetation plots (n = 95,104) recording cover or abundance of naturally co‐occurring vascular plant species within delimited areas. sPlotOpen contains three partially overlapping resampled datasets (c. 50,000 plots each), to be used as replicates in global analyses. Besides geographical location, date, plot size, biome, elevation, slope, aspect, vegetation type, naturalness, coverage of various vegetation layers, and source dataset, plot‐level data also include community‐weighted means and variances of 18 plant functional traits from the TRY Plant Trait Database.Spatial location and grain: Global, 0.01–40,000 m².Time period and grain: 1888–2015, recording dates.Major taxa and level of measurement: 42,677 vascular plant taxa, plot‐level records.Software format: Three main matrices (.csv), relationally linked.

Levels of plant invasions in different habitat types were assessed in several regional studies, but few of them were from the Mediterranean. Here we compare the levels of vascular plant invasion across habitats and plant communities of Sicily. We used a large dataset of plant species presences/absences in vegetation plots to analyze the invasion patterns across habitats considering biogeography, life form and phenology of alien plants. Vegetation plots were classified based on the EUNIS classification of European habitats. The invasiveness of each species was expressed in terms of its absolute and percentage frequency. Representation of different life forms and phenological patterns was compared between alien and native species. The fidelity of alien species to individual habitats was calculated using thephicoefficient. Our analysis shows that annual and woody species are the most represented life forms in the alien flora of Sicily and that alien species tend to have a longer flowering period than the native species. The investigated habitats differed strongly in their level of invasion by alien species, ranging from 0 to 15.6% of aliens of all species recorded. Most of the habitats were colonized by very few alien species or completely lacked them, except for sandy coasts, naturally-disturbed riverbeds, and synanthropic habitats. It must be noted, however, that the number of alien species occurring in a given habitat does not relate to the severity of the impact of invasion in that habitat. Some habitats are invaded by few (or single) species, which attain a high cover, transforming the whole ecosystem. The habitat-based approach proved to be suitable for evaluating the habitat specificity and frequency of alien species at a regional scale, improving the capacity for risk assessment in different ecological contexts.