Abstract
The Pladias (Plant Diversity Analysis and Synthesis) Database of the Czech Flora and Vegetation was developed in 2014-2018. The flora section of the database contains critically revised information on the Czech vascular flora, including information on 13.6 million plant occurrence records, which are dynamically displayed in maps, and information on 118 biological traits, morphological characters and ecological attributes of plants, divided into the sections Habitus and growth type, Leaf, Flower, Fruit, seed and dispersal, Belowground organs and clonality, Trophic mode, Karyology, Taxon origin, Ecological indicator values, Habitat and sociology, Distribution and frequency, and Threats and protection.
The vegetation section of the database contains information on Czech vegetation types extracted from the monograph Vegetation of the Czech Republic. The data are supplemented by national botanical bibliographies, electronic versions of the standard national flora and vegetation monographs, and an extensive database of pictures of plant taxa and vegetation types.
Data from the database are available online on a public portal www.pladias.cz, which also provides download options for various datasets and an online identification key to the Czech flora. This talk introduces the general structure and content of the database and gives examples of its application in macroecological research by combining detailed data on plant occurrence and plant characteristics.
Maps of geographical patterns across the country were prepared for individual plant characteristics in a grid of approximately 6 km x 5.5 km, summarized using the principal coordinate analysis, and interpreted in relation to the main macro-scale environmental gradients.