Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria, 14-18 July 2026
The 22nd EDGG Field Workshop will be conducted in the Pirin Mountains, SW Bulgaria, from 14–18 July 2026. It will take place immediately prior to the 21st Eurasian Grassland Conference, starting in Sofia on 19 July (https://edgg.org/egc2026). This timing allows participants to attend both events in combination. The Field Workshop will start and end in Sofia.
In the tradition of the EDGG Field Workshops, this event will be devoted to the sampling of high-quality multi-scale and multi-taxon data on vegetation diversity (Dengler et al. 2016). While the majority of previous EDGG Field Workshops - including the 3rd EDGG Field Workshop in Bulgaria (Pedashenko et al. 2013; Dembicz et al. 2021) - were aimed at dry grasslands (Festuco-Brometea, Koelerio-Corynephoretea, Sedo-Scleranthetea), we have now widened the scope to all natural and semi-natural treeless habitats in the Palaearctic.
In 2026, we will sample in Pirin National Park, covering a significant part of the mountain range. The park was established in 1962 and comprises 404 km². On its territory, there are two nature reserves (“Bayuvi Dupki – Dzhindzheritsa” and “Yulen”). Pirin National Park is characterized by high habitat diversity. Our sampling will focus on subalpine and alpine grassland habitats on both acidic and base-rich bedrock, but may extend to other open habitats, such as heathlands, screes, mires, or tall-forb communities, similar to the two Swiss alpine Field Workshops (Dengler et al. 2020). As usual, we will sample not only vascular plants, but also bryophytes, lichens, and soils using the EDGG multi-scale methods (Dengler et al. 2016).
The Field Workshop is open to vegetation ecologists at all levels (Bachelor students to professors), provided they have good species knowledge and are interested in collaborative, high-quality sampling. The generated data will be used for joint publications and contributed to EDGG’s GrassPlot database (Dengler et al. 2018; Biurrun et al. 2021). Travel grants will be available to students and other participants with financial constraints, and particularly for people with bryological and lichenological knowledge.
Details of the Field Workshop, including the maximum number of participants, itinerary, and prices, will be announced soon via EDGG media. If you are interested, we encourage you to register your interest already now using the following online questionnaire: https://forms.gle/meschScnrHwyHqhd6
Those who register will automatically receive all relevant news about the Field Workshop and will be prioritized in case there are more applicants than places.
References
Biurrun, I., Pielech, R., Dembicz, I., Gillet, F., Kozub, L., Marcenò, C., Reitalu, T., Van Meerbeek, K., Guarino, R., (…) & Dengler, J. 2021. Benchmarking plant diversity of Palaearctic grasslands and other open habitats. Journal of Vegetation Science 32: e13050.
Dembicz, I., Velev, N., Boch, S., Janišová, M., Palpurina, S., Pedashenko, H., Vassilev, K. & Dengler, J. 2021. Drivers of plant diversity in Bulgarian dry grasslands vary across spatial scales and functional-taxonomic groups. Journal of Vegetation Science 32: e12935.
Dengler, J., Boch, S., Filibeck, G., Chiarucci, A., Dembicz, I., Guarino, R., Henneberg, B., Janišová, M., Marcenò, C., (…) & Biurrun, I. 2016. Assessing plant diversity and composition in grasslands across spatial scales: the standardised EDGG sampling methodology. Bulletin of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group 32: 13–30.
Dengler, J., Wagner, V., Dembicz, I., García-Mijangos, I., Naqinezhad, A., Boch, S., Chiarucci, A., Conradi, T., Filibeck, G., (…) & Biurrun, I. 2018. GrassPlot – a database of multi-scale plant diversity in Palaearctic grasslands. Phytocoenologia 48: 331–347.
Dengler, J., Cykowska-Marzencka, B., Bruderer, T., Dolnik, C., Neumann, P., Riedel, S., Seiler, H., Zhang, J. & Dembicz, I. 2020. Sampling multi-scale and multi-taxon plant diversity data in the subalpine and alpine habitats of Switzerland: Report on the 14th EDGG Field Workshop. Palaearctic Grasslands 47: 14–42.
Pedashenko, H., Apostolova, I., Boch, S., Ganeva, A., Janišová, M., Sopotlieva, D., Todorova, S., Ünal, A., Vassilev, K., Velev, N. & Dengler, J. 2013. Dry grasslands of NW Bulgarian mountains: first insights into diversity, ecology and syntaxonomy. Tuexenia 33: 309–346.
EDGG Field Workshop Coordination
Denys Vynokurov, Halle (Saale), Germany
denys.vynokurov@gmail.com
Jürgen Dengler, Wädenswil, Switzerland
dr.juergen.dengler@gmail.com
Local Organizers
Kiril Vassilev, Sofia, Bulgaria
kiril5914@abv.bg
Nikolay Velev, Sofia, Bulgaria
nikolay.velev@abv.bg