Balkan Vegetation Database: historical background, current status and future perspectives

The Balkan Vegetation Database (BVD; GIVD ID: EU-00-019; http://www.givd.info/ID/EU-00- 019) is a regional database that consists of phytosociological releves from different vegetation types from six countries on the Balkan Peninsula (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia). Currently, it contains 9,580 releves, and most of them (78%) are geo-referenced. The database includes digitized releves from the literature (79%) and unpublished data (21%). Herein we present descriptive statistics about attributive releve information. We developed rules that regulate governance of the database, data provision, types of data availability regimes, data requests and terms of use, authorships and relationships with other databases. The database offers an extensive overview about studies on the local, regional and SE European levels including information about flora, vegetation and habitats.