SynBioSys Europe — an European biological information system
Information systems give new perspectives for vegetation science as well as for management and evaluation of biodiversity on species, community and landscape levels. Information system SynBioSys Europe was initiated by the working group «European Vegetation Survey» of the International Association for Vegetation Science. This project is coordinated by Alterra research institute in Wageningen, the Netherlands. SynBioSys Europe is aimed to integrate information on plant species, plant communities and landscapes of Europe. Different environmental institutions, nature conservation agencies and organizations can exchange information and to share an interpretation of research results both in national and European scale. The system will function as a network of databases operated through a web-server. Researchers will have access to common databases; they can verify their data and solve some scientific problems. The application of GIS-technologies will provide visualization of data on plant species, vegetation and landscapes.