DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3841728
title: EUNIS-ESy: Expert system for automatic classification of European vegetation plots to EUNIS habitats

description: EUNIS-ESy is an expert system for automatic classification of European vegetation plots to habitat types of the EUNIS Habitat Classification. The EUNIS classification and the principles of the expert system are described by Chytrý et al. (2020). The classification of a set of vegetation plots can be run using the JUICE program (Tichý 2002; https://www.sci.muni.cz/botany/juice/), TURBOVEG 3 program (Hennekens 2015) and an R script (Bruelheide et al. 2021).

This dataset contains two parts: (1) the expert system and related files necessary for running it; (2) characterization of EUNIS habitats based on the results of the expert system classification.

1. Expert system and related files necessary to run it

1.1. EUNIS-ESy-2025-10-03.txt – a file containing the script for the classification of vegetation plots by EUNIS-ESy. This version contains tested definitions for the revised EUNIS classification of vegetated Marine (MA), Coastal (N), Wetland (Q), Grassland (R), Shrubland (S), Forest (T), Inland sparsely vegetated (U) and Man-made (V). It also contains tested definitions of Aquatic plant communities (P3) and Springs (P2N). This file is different from the analogous file in the previous versions.

1.2. Nomenclature-translation-from-Turboveg-2-databases.zip – an archive containing the scripts for automatic translation of taxon concepts and names used in individual European Turboveg 2 databases (Hennekens & Schaminée 2001; https://www.synbiosys.alterra.nl/turboveg/) to the nomenclature that can be used as an input for EUNIS-ESy. This file is the same as in the previous versions.

1.3. EUNIS-ESy-User-Guide.pdf – a brief user guide to the classification of vegetation plots by EUNIS-ESy using the JUICE program. Please read this guide carefully before running the expert system to avoid misclassifications. This file is the same as in the previous versions.

2. Characterization of the EUNIS habitats based on the results of the EUNIS-ESy classification

2.1. EUNIS-habitats-2025-10-03.xlsx – the current list of EUNIS habitats. This file is different from the analogous file in the previous versions.

2.2. EUNIS-EuroVegChecklist-crosswalk-2025-10-03.xlsx – a crosswalk between the EUNIS habitat classification and phytosociological alliances of EuroVegChecklist (Mucina et al. 2016; https://floraveg.eu/vegetation/).

2.3. EUNIS-habitats-Characteristic-species-combintation-2025-10-03.xlsx – a database of habitats' characteristic species combinations in a spreadsheet format. These species combinations are based on the analysis of vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA; Chytrý et al. 2016; http://euroveg.org/eva-database) and other databases classified by EUNIS-ESy v2025-10-03. Analytical methods are described in Chytrý et al. (2020). This file is different from the analogous file in the previous versions.

2.4. EUNIS-habitats-Distribution-maps-2025-10-03.xlsx – a set of distribution maps in the TIFF format based on the analysis of vegetation plots from the European Vegetation Archive (EVA; Chytrý et al. 2016; http://euroveg.org/eva-database) and other databases classified by EUNIS-ESy v2025-10-03.

2.5. Data-sources-EUNIS-classification-2025-10-03.pdf – a list of data sources used to produce the distribution maps and characteristic species combinations.

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Differences from the previous version (2021-06-01)

Aquatic plant communities (P3), spring (P2N), some wetland (Q61-Q63) and some inland sparsely vegetated (U71-U72) habitats were added to the EUNIS-ESy expert system. Plant taxon concepts and nomenclature were extensively revised. Some previously included habitat definitions were slightly refined. New vegetation-plot records added to the EVA database by 8 August 2025 were used to characterize habitat types. Unlike in the previous version, this version does not provide Habitat factsheets because summarized information about each habitat is now available in the FloraVeg.EU database at https://floraveg.eu/habitat/.

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Recommended citation of this version of the EUNIS-ESy expert system

Chytrý et al. (2020), version 2025-10-03

Chytrý M., Tichý L., Hennekens S.M., Knollová I., Janssen J.A.M., Rodwell J.S., Peterka T., Marcenò C., Landucci F., Danihelka J., Hájek M., Dengler J., Novák P., Zukal D., Jiménez-Alfaro B., Mucina L., Abdulhak S., Aćić S., Agrillo E., Attorre F., Bergmeier E., Biurrun I., Boch S., Bölöni J., Bonari G., Braslavskaya T., Bruelheide H., Campos J.A., Čarni A., Casella L., Ćuk M., Ćušterevska R., De Bie E., Delbosc P., Demina O., Didukh Y., Dítě D., Dziuba T., Ewald J., Gavilán R.G., Gégout J.-C., Giusso del Galdo G.P., Golub V., Goncharova N., Goral F., Graf U., Indreica A., Isermann M., Jandt U., Jansen F., Jansen J., Jašková A., Jiroušek M., Kącki Z., Kalníková V., Kavgacı A., Khanina L., Korolyuk A.Yu., Kozhevnikova M., Kuzemko A., Küzmič F., Kuznetsov O.L., Laiviņš M., Lavrinenko I., Lavrinenko O., Lebedeva M., Lososová Z., Lysenko T., Maciejewski L., Mardari C., Marinšek A., Napreenko M.G., Onyshchenko V., Pérez-Haase A., Pielech R., Prokhorov V., Rašomavičius V., Rodríguez Rojo M.P., Rūsiņa S., Schrautzer J., Šibík J., Šilc U., Škvorc Ž., Smagin V.A., Stančić Z., Stanisci A., Tikhonova E., Tonteri T., Uogintas D., Valachovič M., Vassilev K., Vynokurov D., Willner W., Yamalov S., Evans D., Palitzsch Lund M., Spyropoulou R., Tryfon E., Schaminée J.H.J. (2020) EUNIS Habitat Classification: expert system, characteristic species combinations and distribution maps of European habitats. Applied Vegetation Science, 23, 648–675. https://doi.org/10.1111/avsc.12519