Image–based flower colour cover data from from restored grasslands and reference sites in Germany

DOI

This dataset provides standardised, image-based estimates of percentage flower cover derived from the Grassworks-vegetation plots surveyed four times per year in parallel with pollinator assessments. Within 50 m × 5 m transects, four 1 m × 1 m subplots were photographed vertically using RGB cameras. Approximately 12,000 images were geometrically corrected, cropped to a standardised frame, and merged into mosaics representing vegetation status per site and survey period. Mosaics were assigned artificial spatial references for processing in a GIS environment. Flower cover was quantified through supervised colour classification using a Maximum Likelihood algorithm in ArcGIS Pro. Three flower colour classes were defined: white, yellow, and a combined blue–violet–red spectrum ("red-blue"), including transitional hues. Training data were compiled from randomly selected pixels of images across all sites and months, covering a wide range of colour shades, species, and light conditions. Classification outputs were visually checked and iteratively refined. An attribute table was created to record, for each image, whether flowers of the respective color category were present. Incorrectly classified flower coverings for a flower color not present in the image were set to zero. Percentage cover was calculated as the proportion of classified pixels per colour class; total flower cover equals the sum of the three classes. Validation with flower-free control images indicated low false-positive rates (~0.4% mean total error), with comparable uncertainty expected for images containing flowers. The dataset includes image ID, sub-transect ID, UTC timestamp (ISO 8601), visually assessed light conditions, and percentage cover values per colour class and in total. Data were collected at multiple grassland sites across central, northern, and southern Germany in 2022 and 2023, with site coordinates reported at two-decimal precision (blurred for privacy).

Identifier
DOI https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993515
Related Identifier References https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.988202
Related Identifier References https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.982396
Related Identifier References https://doi.org/10.1111/rec.70109
Related Identifier References https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993401
Related Identifier References https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993406
Related Identifier References https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.993514
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.993515
Provenance
Creator Buchhart, Claudia; Sturm, Line ORCID logo; Schmidt, Annika ORCID logo; Twerski, Alina ORCID logo; Laschke, Christin Juno ORCID logo; Wiesmeier, Miriam ORCID logo; Tischew, Sabine ORCID logo; Kollmann, Johannes ORCID logo; Temperton, Vicky M ORCID logo; Kirmer, Anita (ORCID: 0000-0002-2396-713X)
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2026
Funding Reference Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 03LW0094K https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=03LW0094K BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Koordination, Sozialökologie und Modellregion Nord; Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 03LW0095 https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=03LW0095 BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Koordination und Modellregion Mitte; Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 03LW0096 https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=03LW0096 BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Modellregion Süd; Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 16LW0094K https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=16LW0094K BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Koordination, Sozialökologie und Modellregion Nord; Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 16LW0095 https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=16LW0095 BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Koordination und Modellregion Mitte; Federal Ministry of Education and Research https://doi.org/10.13039/501100002347 Crossref Funder ID 16LW0096 https://foerderportal.bund.de/foekat/jsp/SucheAction.do?actionMode=view&fkz=16LW0096 BiodiWert II: Konzepte zur Wiederherstellung von artenreichem Grünland in Deutschland (Grassworks-2) - Modellregion Süd
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International; Data access is restricted (moratorium, sensitive data, license constraints); https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
OpenAccess false
Representation
Resource Type Dataset
Format text/tab-separated-values
Size 177872 data points
Discipline Biospheric Sciences; Ecology; Environmental Research; Geosciences; History; Humanities; Land Use; Natural Sciences
Spatial Coverage (9.640W, 48.220S, 13.050E, 54.370N); Central Germany; Northern Germany; Southern Germany
Temporal Coverage Begin 2022-04-28T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2023-09-08T00:00:00Z