Coastal ecosystems are biodiversity hotspots, hosting a highly specialized flora and fauna (van der Maarel 2003; Walker et al. 2003; Acosta et al. 2009; Sperandii et al. 2021; de Francesco et al. 2025; Rasino et al. 2026). In addition, they provide a wide range of ecosystem services (Drius et al. 2019), such as water purification and coastal defense (Drius et al. 2013; Rhymes et al. 2015), protection from wind and salt spray (Liquete et al. 2013), climate regulation at both local and global scales (Drius et al. 2016), and recreation and tourism opportunities (Palombo et al. 2013; Mastronardi et al. 2015). However, coastal dunes are recognized as one of the most threatened ecosystems worldwide (Defeo et al. 2009), with the Mediterranean region being particularly vulnerable (Malavasi et al. 2018). The main pressures are related to human activities, including urban expansion (Carranza et al. 2020), agricultural practices (Pontieri et al. 2025), habitat degradation, and pollution (Seitz et al. 2014; de Francesco et al. 2019; Di Febbraro et al. 2021; Marzialetti et al. 2021; Sperandii et al. 2021; Gennai et al. 2022). Furthermore, ongoing climate change is exacerbating these threats through both direct and indirect impacts, such as coastal erosion, sea-level rise, and the expansion of alien and ruderal species (Jones et al. 2013; Prisco et al. 2013; Tozzi et al. 2021; de Francesco et al. 2023).

Understanding vegetation dynamics and spatiotemporal patterns of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is fundamental for assessing ecosystem resilience under accelerating environmental change (Heberling et al. 2021). Georeferenced, standardized, and well-documented vegetation datasets, enhanced with consistent taxonomic resolution and detailed plant trait information, can contribute to a reliable evaluation of these processes. Such data infrastructures enable not only ecological interpretation but also reproducibility, comparability, and cross-scale integration (Feng et al. 2022).

In this context, vegetation plot databases represent core infrastructures for ecological research, as they allow the quantification of plant diversity patterns and the detection of spatiotemporal changes in community composition, ecology, and structure (Landucci et al. 2012; Knollová et al. 2024).

In Italy, some vegetation databases have been developed for coastal dune systems at regional and national scale (e.g., Acosta et al. 2025), contributing significantly to the documentation of floristic composition and vegetation patterns. However, no existing database integrates long-term vegetation resurveys in shifting, transitional, and fixed dunes, as well as salt marshes, with standardized trait data for the central Adriatic coastal region. In addition, such datasets may provide valuable multitemporal information on these highly dynamic coastal environments, enabling the assessment of global change impacts on their structure and functioning.

In this paper, we present the central ADRIAtic coastal VEGetation database (AdriaVeg), which contains 1,000 published and unpublished georeferenced vegetation plots collected between 1985 and 2025 in the Italian sandy coast of Abruzzo, Molise, and northern Apulia, including both single- and re-surveyed plots. By providing standardized and interoperable vegetation data, complemented by detailed taxonomic, chorological, ecological, and functional plant traits, AdriaVeg represents a robust data infrastructure for long-term ecological research. The dataset supports the ecological monitoring of coastal habitats in protected, unprotected, and restored sites, enabling the assessment of temporal trends, the evaluation of restoration effectiveness, and the analysis of changes in plant community composition, diversity, structure, and functioning over time (Prisco et al. 2021; Tozzi et al. 2022; de Francesco et al. 2023).

AdriaVeg includes vegetation plots sampled in Abruz­zo, Molise, and northern Apulia (Italy), across about 200 km of coastal dunes, encompassing 15 sites of high conservation value, including 9 Natura 2000 sites, 1 Regional Natural Reserve, and 5 non-protected sites.

The study area is characterized by a Mediterranean bioclimate with meso- and thermo-Mediterranean thermo-types and dry and humid ombrotypes (Pesaresi et al. 2014).

Climatic data obtained from two meteorological stations located within the study area, Pescara (42.436975°N, 14.186808°E) and Termoli (42.004294°N, 14.996316°E), for the period 1970–2020 indicate mean annual temperatures of 14.7 °C and 16.7 °C, and mean annual precipitation totals of 702 mm and 361 mm, respectively (de Francesco et al. 2023).

The AdriaVeg dataset contains published (Taffetani and Biondi 1989; Stanisci and Conti 1990; Adamoli et al. 1997; Pirone et al. 2001; Taffetani 2011) and unpublished data for a total of 1,000 vegetation plots surveyed in three Adriatic Italian regions (Abruzzo, Molise, and northern Apulia) over a forty-year period, from 1985 to 2025. The historical surveys were conducted using the phytosociological approach (Pignatti 1995); the more recent plots were sampled using a stratified random method based on EU habitat or vegetation maps, with random designs aimed at studying vegetation by habitat (Kapfer et al. 2017). Species cover and abundance values follow the Braun-Blanquet scale (Braun-Blanquet 1964). The phytosociological relevés, representing 17% of the total dataset, range in size from 2 to 200 m², whereas the plots sampled using the stratified random design, accounting for 83% of the dataset, have areas of 4 or 16 m². For plots revisited over time, at least one observer remained the same to minimize potential bias (Vittoz et al. 2007).

AdriaVeg database is harmonized and standardized in terms of species nomenclature and includes 301 vascular plant species and subspecies based on the scientific name according to Flora d’Italia (Portal to the Flora of Italy 2025), and for each taxon 21 attributes are reported. These attributes include information about: i) vernacular name in Italian (Portal to the Flora of Italy 2025) and in English (IPNI 2025; IUCN 2025); ii) taxonomic family (Bartolucci et al. 2024); iii) residence time (Galasso et al. 2024; EASIN 2025) and status (Galasso et al. 2024) of alien species in Italy; iv) chorology for native species (Pignatti 1982); v) origin area for alien species (WFO 2025); vi) plant habit (Chytrý et al. 2024); vii) plant life form (Pignatti et al. 2017); viii) plant growth form (Pignatti et al. 2017); ix) plant lifespan (Chytrý et al. 2024); x) ecological indicator values for Europe (EIVE 1.0) (Dengler et al. 2023); and xi) disturbance indicator values (Midolo et al. 2023).

Taxa are categorized in either native (including strict natives and archaeophytes—allochthonous taxa introduced before 1492) or alien (neophytes, i.e., taxa introduced after 1492) (Galasso et al. 2018, 2024).

The AdriaVeg database was compiled through extensive data collection, rigorous digitization, georeferencing, and structuring. The database is structured to incorporate additional vegetation surveys within the same areas (resurveys), as well as the inclusion of new surveys in other areas. Furthermore, the database is designed to accommodate supplementary information for each recorded taxon.

The sampled area encompasses eight EUNIS habitat types (Chytrý et al. 2020) and 13 Natura 2000 habitats (Perrino et al. 2013; Prisco et al. 2013; Pirone et al. 2014; Stanisci et al. 2014; Del Vecchio et al. 2015; Tozzi et al. 2022), including embryonic and shifting dunes (EU habitats 1210, 2110, 2120; EUNIS habitats N12, N14), transitional dunes with annual grasslands (EU habitats 2130*, 2230; EUNIS habitat N16), fixed dunes with Mediterranean maquis and pine forests (EU habitats 2250*, 2260, 2270*, 9340; EUNIS habitats N1B, N1G, T21), and salt meadows and marshes (EU habitats 1410, 1420, 1510*, 3170*; EUNIS habitats N1J, MA251) (Table 1).

The majority of plots in the AdriaVeg database are loca­ted in shifting dunes (423 plots; 42.3%), followed by fixed dunes (292 plots; 29.2%), and transitional dunes (209 plots; 20.9%). Salt marshes account for the remaining 76 plots (7.6%) and occur exclusively within the SAC IT7222216 Foce Biferno–Litorale di Campomarino (Fig. 1).

Sites 12, 14, and 15 (Fig. 1) are included in the European Long-Term Ecological Research network (eLTER), a research infrastructure that promotes repeated observations to document biodiversity trends and inform adaptive conservation and restoration strategies (Paolinelli Reis et al. 2024). The LTER Europe network contributes to metho­dological harmonization and data standardization, foste­ring interoperability and facilitating integrated analyses at different scales (Hughes et al. 2017; Haase et al. 2018).

Most plots (46.4%) were surveyed in the current decade (2020–2029), followed by 2010–2019 period (40.4%) (Fig. 2A). Nearly half of the plots (45.1%) were sampled only once, whereas the remainder were resurveyed two (31.2%) to nine (9.9%) times (Fig. 2B). Across decades, the most intensively monitored site was SAC IT7228221 Foce Trigno–Marina di Petacciato, accounting for 38.9% of the total plots, followed by SAC IT7222216 Foce Biferno–Litorale di Campomarino (12.8%), SAC IT7140109 Marina di Vasto (10.4%), and SAC IT7222217 Foce Saccione–Bonifica Ramitelli (10.1%) (Fig. 2C).

AdriaVeg contains 286 native or archeophyte taxa (95%) and 15 neophyte taxa (5%), of which 86.7% are invasive and 13.3% are naturalized non-invasive, belonging to 67 taxonomic families (65 for natives and 9 for aliens). Among native species, the most represented families are Poaceae (21%), Asteraceae (11%), and Fabaceae (11%). By contrast, among alien species, Asteraceae is the most represented family (1.8%), while all other families each contribute less than 1% (Fig. 3A). Overall, the most frequent species are Lotus creticus (58.2%), Thinopyrum junceum (45.8%), Silene colorata (39.9%), and Rostraria litorea (36.4%). The most frequent alien species are Xanthium orientale (18.9%), Oenothera stucchii (14.6%), Acacia saligna (12.3%), and Cenchrus longispinus (11.3%), all of which are classified as invasive (Suppl. material 1).

Among the native species, Euro-mediterranean (30.3%), Steno-mediterranean (21.6%), and Euroasiatic (12%) ones prevail. Among alien species, the prevalent origin areas are North America (1.4%) and South Africa (1%).

The AdriaVeg database is a key resource for studying long-term vegetation dynamics in central Adriatic coastal dune systems. It comprises a set of georeferenced vegetation plots designed for repeated surveys, enabling the analysis of temporal and spatial trends in plant community diversity and structural patterns.

The standardized structure guarantees interoperability with national and international vegetation databases, facilitating data sharing and large-scale ecological analyses across Mediterranean and European coastal systems. Furthermore, its structure allows the continuous integration of future data.

Moreover, in line with comparable datasets (Bagella et al. 2024; Knollová et al. 2024; Acosta et al. 2025; Denaro et al. 2025; Gholizadeh et al. 2025), this database provides a foundation for identifying conservation priority areas aligned with the objectives of the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and for assessing the impacts of anthropogenic pressures and climate change, as well as the effectiveness of management actions.