ATLAS FLORAE EUROPAEAE

Distribution of Vascular Plants in Europe

LINKS TO AFE WEB PAGES
Atlas Florae Europaeae Database, with free software for map viewing
Atlas Florae Europaeae New Grid System (grid system revised in 2000!)
Atlas Florae Europaeae Old Grid System (volumes 1 - 12)
Chorological Problems in the European Flora Meeting 1997
Mapping symbols used in Atlas Florae Europaeae
Mapping territories used in Atlas Florae Europaeae
Published volumes and their distribution
Sample account with maps. Genus Neslia from AFE vol. 11 (1996).
Secretariat of the Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe
Statistics from AFE volumes 1 - 11
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) and the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)
TOOLS FOR AFE COLLABORATORS
AFE Data Editor Software
AFE Data Editor Instructions
AFEGRID.XLS, Excel workbook for co-ordinate conversion
EXTERNAL LINKS

BIOCISE, Biological Collection Information Service in Europe
Biodiversity and Worldmap (Natural History Museum, London)
Euro+Med PlantBase Project (Reading University)
Flora Europaea Database (RBG Edinburgh)
Geographical Codes used in Flora Europaea (RBG Edinburgh)
   
Atlas Florae Europaeae (AFE) maps the European distribution of species and subspecies of vascular plants. The distribution data gathered by the national representatives of the Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe is edited by the Secretariat of the Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe in the Botanical Museum of the Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki. In 1972 - 1999 twelve volumes of the Atlas have been published by the Committee for Mapping the Flora of Europe and Societas Biologica Fennica Vanamo, with altogether 2039 pages and 3270 maps. These were edited by Jaakko Jalas (volumes 1 - 12) and Juha Suominen (vol. 1 - 12), Raino Lampinen (vol. 11 and 12), and Arto Kurtto (vol. 12). Since vol. 13 the Atlas is edited by Arto Kurtto (Editor-in-Chief of Atlas Florae Europaeae) and Leo Junikka (Secretary of the mapping committee).

The ranges have been mapped with the aid of a grid of c. 50 x 50 km squares, based on the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) projection and the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS). In volumes 1 - 12 there were somewhat above 4400 squares for the whole of Europe. After that the mapping grid has been changed and has now over 4700 grid cells across Europe. The notes on the maps give important synonyms, data on taxonomy and nomenclature, important additions and corrections (often complementing Flora Europaea) and references to maps of the total range. The most recent literature available has been consulted. The area mapped is that of Flora Europaea, but the mapping territories used in Atlas Florae Europaeae of somewhat different from those in Flora Europaea. The Azores and Spitsbergen appear as insets in the printed maps. The mapping symbols are different for native occurrences, introductions (established aliens), unknown or uncertain status, extinct, probably extinct and uncertain records. Within the same square, native occurrences are given preference over introductions, extant over extinct, certain over uncertain.

The distribution maps published in AFE volumes 1 - 11 were made manually. Later the maps have been scanned and the distribution data has been extracted from them with custom software into a digital database. The contents of the AFE database can be viewed with a free Windows program.

 


RL 24.10.2000