EUNIS grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens habitat types, predicted distribution of habitat suitability - version 1, Nov. 2021

This metadata corresponds to the EUNIS grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens habitat types, predicted distribution of habitat suitability dataset.

These habitat types correspond to non-coastal land which is dry or only seasonally wet (with the water table at or above ground level for less than half of the year) with greater than 30% vegetation cover. The vegetation is dominated by grasses and other non-woody plants, including mosses, macrolichens, ferns, sedges and herbs. Includes semiarid steppes with scattered Artemisia scrub. Includes successional weedy vegetation. Excludes regularly tilled habitats (V1) dominated by cultivated herbaceous vegetation such as arable fields and managed grasslands such as recreation fields and lawns.

The modelled suitability for the EUNIS grasslands and lands dominated by forbs, mosses or lichens habitat types is an indication of where conditions are favourable for the habitat type based on sample plot data (Braun-Blanquet database) and the Maxent software package. The modelled suitability map may be used as a proxy for the geographical distribution of the habitat type. Note however that it is not representing the actual distribution of the habitat type. As predictors for the suitabilty modelling not only Climate and Soil parameters have been taken into account, but also so-called RS-EVB's, Remote Sensing-enabled Essential Biodiversity Variables like Landuse, Vegetation height, Phenology, and LAI (Leave Area Index). Because the EBV's are restricted by the extent of the Remote Sensing data (EEA38 countries and the United Kingdom) the modelling result does also not go beyond this boundary. The dataset is provided both in Geodatabase and Geopackage formats.