Vegetation-plot data from a 2020 survey of halophytic vegetation in southern Moravia and northern Lower Austria

This dataset contains records from 67 vegetation plots that we sampled at all the sites with preserved halophytic vegetation in southern Moravia (Czech Republic) and nearby Lower Austria on 9-13 August 2020. At each site, we sampled at least one vegetation plot in a relatively homogeneous area of each visually distinct type of halophytic vegetation found.

All the plots were of standard size of 10 m². Most of them were squares of 3.16 m x 3.16 m, but if a square area contained non-homogeneous vegetation, we used a rectangular plot of 10 m² instead. We measured geographic coordinates of all the four corners of each plot using a GPS (Topcon HiPer SR with Getac PS336 Data Collector) with a positioning accuracy of ~5 cm.

In each plot, we recorded all the species of vascular plants and bryophytes and estimated their cover using the nine-grade Braun-Blanquet scale (Westhoff & van der Maarel 1978). We also collected a soil sample from a depth of 2-10 cm in 3-4 places within each plot. We mixed these samples for each plot and measured the pH and electrical conductivity of the mixed sample in a suspension with distilled water (soil:water ratio ~ 2:5) using the Hach HQ40D multimeter (Hach, Loveland, CO, US).

The data on species composition, plot location, soil pH and conductivity and other variables are provided in two formats:

• TXT file with columns separated by tabs - file Plot-data-halophytes-southern-Moravia-Lower-Austria-2020.txt
• Turboveg 2 database (see https://www.synbiosys.alterra.nl/turboveg/) - file TurbovegDbBackup_Plot-data-halophytes-southern-Moravia-Lower-Austria-2020.zip; to use this dataset in Turboveg, the database dictionary (TurbovegDdBackup_Default dictionary.zip) and species list (TurbovegSlBackup_Czechia_slovakia_2015.zip) have to be installed.

These data are also stored in the Czech National Phytosociological Database (Chytrý & Rafajová 2003; https://botzool.cz/vegsci/phytosociologicalDb).

In addition, photographs of each plot are provided as JPG files (Photos-of-plots-halophytes-southern-Moravia-Lower-Austria-2020.zip). The name of each of these files starts with the plot code (e.g. HAK12) which refers to the code indicated in the FIELD_NR field of the vegetation-plot database.