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 ?-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.