Vegetation database of Albania

Although Albania’s territory is small, its natural heritage is characterized by a high diversity of ecosystems and habitats and a considerable species richness. This diversity is attributable to the country’s geographic position (at the interface of three important regions: the Balkans, the Mediterranean region and southern continental Europe), as well as geological, hydrological, climatic, soil diversity, and a large altitudinal range. The study of the vegetation of Albania begun, apart from a few pioneer works, in the late 1980s. However, only recently Albanian authors adopted the Zurich-Montpellier method. In the frame of a IUCN project (2012–2014) the study of vegetation of two Albanian Protected Areas (PAs) has been carried out. These PAs were the Buna River Protected Landscape (BRPL) and the Shebenik-Jabllanicë National Park (SJNP). We conducted an intensive field campaign (532 phytosociological relevés) to investigate all the vegetation communities present in the PAs. Here the resulting Vegetation Database of Albania (GIVD ID: EU-AL-001) is presented. The BRPL (20.000 ha) comprises both the alluvial plain of the lower course of the Buna river which marks the boundary between Montenegro and Albania, a carbonatic range and a narrow dune system along the Adriatic sea. Between 1947 and 1980 about 36 km2 of agricultural lands were reclaimed, at the expense of wetlands. Despite these changes the vegetation is characterized by a high β-diversity (27 alliances and 46 associations), especially in wetlands and dry grasslands. The SJNP (33.928 ha) is located along the border with Macedonia. The biodiversity of the SJNP is a complex and dynamic result of several factors: the wide altitudinal range (roughly 300–2200 m a.s.l.), and the land use that, combined with large gradients of geological (conglomerate and sandstone- limestone-ultramaphic rocks) topographical and climatic diversity, have determined a high diversity of vegetation communities. In 2016 a new Italian development cooperation between IUCN and the Italian Botanical Society aimed at several objectives and activities among which the vegetation investigation of another five PAs in Albania, and the preparation of a preliminary list of Natura 2000 sites for the whole country, has started. A new field campaign has already been carried out, so that this database will soon host relevés from all over the country.