The Map of Natural Vegetation of Europe and possibilities of its application

BOHN U. and HETTWER C.

Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Konstantinstr. 110, 53179 Bonn, Germany.
E-mail: BohnU@bfn.de, HettwerC@bfn.de

The Map of Natural Vegetation of Europe was elaborated by an international team of geobotanists from 31 countries on the basis of a unified concept. The results of this cooperation are published vegetation maps, scale 1:2.5 million and 1:10 million, the entire legend, information on 700 mapping units (incl. distribution, species combination, site conditions and nature protection) together with a comprehensive explanatory text. Besides the printed edition a digital version provides different possibilities of application:

• features of natural biodiversity of Europe, its ecosystems and their distribution;
• ecological classification on a regional or European scale;
• linkages of the European vegetation map with other classification systems like the habitat directive, EUNIS or distribution of plants and plant communities;
• actual conservation state of natural vegetation and its representation in Protected Areas Network;
• gap analysis and systematic planning for nature conservation;
• the European vegetation map as a reference for monitoring and restoration of natual ecosystems;
• promotion of sustainable landuse, especially near-natural silviculture;
• assessment of potential impacts of climate change on the potential natural vegetation.<