CLO-PLA: the database of clonal and bud bank traits of Central European flora

Clonal growth of plants is mainly a result of the vegetative growth of organs hidden beneath the soil surface and producing potentially independent vegetative offspring. Clonal traits are difficult to measure due to inaccessibility of the space they inhabit and their morphological diversity. This causes great difficulties with descriptions, standardization of measurements across plant growth forms and, probably, a lack of appropriate questions that should be answered using them. The freely available CLO-PLA database (http://clopla.butbn.cas.cz) can help to assess the roles of vegetative means of regeneration and spread in plant communities under the effect of various biotic and abiotic filters. It can serve as a source of reference on persistence traits of European temperate flora and, eventually, as a guide for trait sampling in other regions of the world.