Original research data have been collected by OU academics, PhD students, and collaborators in British floodplain meadows for over 30 years. The data are stored in the UK Meadows Database, which is the largest depository of botanical relevés from floodplain meadows in Europe. The database also includes modelled hydrological data, chemical composition of soils and hay samples from several key sites. All sampled points are georeferenced with high accuracy differential GPS. Locations of sites with botanical data stored in the database are shown on the Meadow Map (Link).

If you wish to see any of the data we hold, please make your request through this form or you can contact the Meadow Database curator Irina Tatarenko (Irina.tatarenko@open.ac.uk).

Vegetation data from our Meadows Database are also available via International Vegetation Archives, along with data from other geographical areas.

European Vegetation Archive (EVA)

A time series of data can be obtained from ReSurvey Europe.
Make an enquiry to the EVA database administrator Ilona Knollová

Global Vegetation Database (sPlot)

Data request for sPlot can be done via Gabriella Damasceno.
 

Meaningful interpretation of values obtained from any database is only possible with an understanding of plant species’ ecological requirements, their morphology, phenology, and functional role in plant communities. The Resource Hub contains several reference tables from widely recognised publications on plant species ecological characteristics that can be used to help with understanding plant responses to environmental factors:

• Ellenberg, H. (1974) Zeigerwerte der Gefäßpflanzen Mitteleuropas (Indicator values of vascular plants in Central Europe). Scripta Geobotanica, 9, 1–97.
• Grime, J.P. (1974) Vegetation classification by reference to strategies. Nature, 250, 26–31.
• Rodwell, J.S. ed. (1992). British Plant Communities, Volume 2. Grasslands and montane communities. Cambridge University Press.
• Prosser, M., Wallace, H., Gowing, D. (2023) Phytosociology informs the conservation of species-rich meadows in hydrologically dynamic habitats: an example from British floodplains in a wider European context. British & Irish Botany 5(1), pp. 1-29.
• Wallace, H. L., and Prosser, M. (2016). A review of the National Vegetation Classification for the Calthion group of plant communities in England and Wales.

Additionally, you can find a compilation of information from a range of Biological Floras and other detailed research on individual species, which includes data on species seasonal growth, longevity of perennial parts (rhizomes, bulbs), seed production, and many other species characteristics in the resource ‘Meadows species information’ and the associated ‘References to Meadow Species’ list.