Vegetation classification

A tropical rainforest, which contains moisture-dependent vegetation

Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the Earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for biodiversity management. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using geographic information systems (GIS) software.

Classification schemes

Following, some important classification schemes.

Köppen (1884)

Although this scheme is in fact of a climate classification, it has a deep relationship with vegetation studies:

Wagner & von Sydow (1888)

Wagner & von Sydow (1888) scheme: Vegetationsgürtel (vegetation belts):

Warming (1895, 1909)

Warming (1895, 1909) oecological classes:

Warming's types of formations:

Schimper (1898, 1903)

Schimper (1898, 1903) climatic chief formation[clarification needed] types:

Schimper formation types across the zones and regions

Schimper & Faber (1935)

Formation-types:

Walter & Lieth (1960–1967)

The eponymously named Heinrich Walter classification scheme considers the seasonality of temperature and precipitation. The system, also assessing precipitation and temperature, finds nine major global vegetation types or biomes. The boundaries of each biome correlate to the conditions of moisture and cold stress that are strong determinants of plant form, and therefore the vegetation that defines the region. Extreme conditions, such as flooding in a swamp, can create different kinds of communities within the same biome.

Number Zonobiome Zonal soil type Zonal vegetation type
ZB I Equatorial, always moist, little temperature seasonality Equatorial brown clays Evergreen tropical rainforest
ZB II Tropical, summer rainy season and cooler "winter" dry season Red clays or red earths Tropical seasonal forest, seasonal dry forest, scrub, or savanna
ZB III Subtropical, highly seasonal, arid climate Serosemes, sierozemes Desert vegetation with considerable exposed surface
ZB IV Mediterranean, winter rainy season and summer drought Mediterranean brown earths Sclerophyllous (drought-adapted), frost-sensitive shrublands and woodlands
ZB V Warm temperate, occasional frost, often with summer rainfall maximum Yellow or red forest soils, slightly podsolic soils Temperate evergreen forest, somewhat frost-sensitive
ZB VI Nemoral, moderate climate with winter freezing Forest brown earths and grey forest soils Frost-resistant, deciduous, temperate forest
ZB VII Continental, arid, with warm or hot summers and cold winters Chernozems to serozems Grasslands and temperate deserts
ZB VIII Boreal, cold temperate with cool summers and long winters Podsols Evergreen, frost-hardy, needle-leaved forest (taiga)
ZB IX Polar, short, cool summers and long, cold winters Tundra humus soils with solifluction (permafrost soils) Low, evergreen vegetation, without trees, growing over permanently frozen soils

Ellenberg & Mueller-Dombois (1967)

Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) scheme:

Oliveira-Filho (2009, 2015)

A vegetation classification with six main criteria ("hierarchical attributes", with exemplified categories applicable mainly to Neotropical region):

Other

Other important schemes: Grisebach (1872), Tansley and Chipp (1926), Rübel (1930), Burtt Davy (1938), Beard (1944, 1955), André Aubréville (1956, 1957), Trochain (1955, 1957), Dansereau (1958), Küchler (1967), Webb and Tracey (1975).

In the sixties, A. W. Kuchler coordinated an extensive review of vegetation maps from all the continents, compiling the terminology used for the types of vegetation.

The Braun-Blanquet method focuses on the composition of plant species within a community. It examines which species grow together, looking at patterns and differences in species groups across different areas. This method uses data collected from specific plots to compare the plant communities and understand how these patterns are influenced by environmental factors.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wagner, H. & von Sydow, E. 1888. Sydow-Wagners methodischer Schulatlas. Gotha: Perthes, Archived 2016-09-11 at the Wayback Machine. 23th (last) ed., 1944, .
  2. ↑ Warming, E. (1895). Plantesamfund - Grundtræk af den økologiske Plantegeografi. P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Kjøbenhavn. 335 pp.
  3. ↑ Warming, E. (1909). Oecology of Plants. An introduction to the study of plant-communities, translated by P. Groom and I. B. Balfour. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 422 pp. BHL.
  4. ↑ Schimper, A. F. W. 1898. Pflanzen-Geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage. Fisher, Jena. 876 pp. English translation, 1903, .
  5. ↑ Beard J.S. (1978). The Physiognomic Approach. In: R. H. Whittaker (editor). Classification of Plant Communities, pp 33-64, .
  6. ↑ Schimper, A.F.W. & Faber, F.C. von. (1935). Pflanzengeographie auf physiologischer Grundlage. 3rd ed. Jena: Fischer.
  7. ↑ Walter, Heinrich; Lieth, Helmut (1960–1967). Klimadiagramm-Weltatlas [World Atlas of Climate Diagrams] (in German). Stuttgart.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  8. ↑ Walter, H. (1976). Die ökologischen Systeme der Kontinente (Biogeosphäre). Prinzipien ihrer Gliederung mit Beispielen [The ecological systems of the continents (biogeosphere). Principles of their outline with examples] (in German). Stuttgart.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ↑ Walter, H.; Breckle, S-W. (1991). Ökologie der Erde [Ecology of the Earth] (in German). Vol. 1, Grundlagen. Stuttgart.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ Ellenberg, H. & D. Mueller-Dombois. 1967. Tentative physiognomic-ecological classification of plant formations of the Earth [based on a discussion draft of the UNESCO working group on vegetation classification and mapping.] Berichte des Geobotanischen Institutes der Eidg. Techn. Hochschule, Stiftung Rübel, Zürich 37 (1965-1966): 21—55, Archived 2016-10-21 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Oliveira-Filho, A. T. 2009. Classificação das Fitofisionomias da América do Sul extra-Andina: Proposta de um novo sistema – prático e flexível – ou uma injeção a mais de caos?. Rodriguésia 60 (2): 237-258, .
  12. ↑ Oliveira-Filho, A.T. 2015. Um sistema de classificação fisionômico-ecológica da vegetação Neotropical: segunda aproximação. In: Felfili, J.M.; Eisenlohr, P.V.; Melo, M.M.R.F. Andrade, L.A.; Meira Neto J.A.A. (Eds.). Fitossociologia no Brasil: Métodos e estudos de casos, vol. 2, Editora UFV, Viçosa, cap. 19, p. 452, .
  13. ↑ Grisebach, A. (1872). Die Vegetation der Erde nach ihrer klimatischen Anordnung. Ein Abriß der Vergleichenden Geographie der Pflanzen. 1st ed. Leipzig: W. Engelmann., 2 vol. Band I: xii + 603 p., ; Band II: x + 635 p., . 2nd ed. 1884.
  14. ↑ Tansley, A. G. & Chipp, T. F. (1926). Aims and Methods in the Study of Vegetation. The British Empire Vegetation Committee, Whitefriars Press, London. 383 pp.
  15. ↑ Rübel, E. F. 1930. Pflanzengesellschaften der Erde. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber. 464 pp.
  16. ↑ Burtt-Davy, J. (1938). The classification of tropical woody vegetation types. Oxford: University of Oxford, Imperial Forestry Institute. 85 p. (Institute paper, n. 13).
  17. ↑ Beard, J. S. (1944). Climax vegetation in tropical America. Ecology 25: 127-158.
  18. ↑ Beard, J. S. (1955). The classification of tropical American vegetation-types. Ecology 36: 89-100.
  19. ↑ Aubréville, A. (1956). Essai de classification et de nomenclature des formations forestières africaines avec extension du système propose à toutes les formations du monde tropical. In: C.S.A. Specialist Meeting on Phyto-geography, Yangambi, Congo, 1956. Réunion de spécialistes du C.S.A. en matière de phytogéographie. London: Commission for Technical Co-operation in Africa South of the Sahara - CCTA, Scientific Council for Africa South of the Sahara - CSA. p. 247-288.
  20. ↑ Aubréville A. 1957. Accord à Yangambi sur la nomenclature des types africains de végétation. Bois et Forêts des Tropiques 51, 23-27, Archived 2021-03-06 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ Trochain, J.-L. (1955). Nomenclature et classification des milieux végétaux en Afrique noire française. In: Colloque international du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - CNRS, 59, sur les régions écologiques du globe, Paris, juillet 1954. Annales de biologie, t. XXXI, fasc. 5-6, pp. 73-93, .
  22. ↑ Trochain, J.-L. (1957). Accord interafricain sur la définition des types de végétation de l’Afrique tropicale. Bulletin de l’Institut d’Études Centraficanes. Nouvelle Série, Brazzavilie [Congo], v. 13/14, p. 55-93.
  23. ↑ Dansereau, P. A universal system for recording vegetation. Montreal, University of Canada, Institute of Botany, 1958. 57 p.
  24. ↑ Küchler, A. W. (1967). Vegetation Mapping. New York, NY. Ronald Press. 472 pp.
  25. ↑ Tracey, J. G. (John Geoffrey); Webb, L. J. (Leonard James) (1975), Vegetation of the Humid Tropical Region of North Queensland
  26. ↑ Küchler, A. W. (1965-1970). International bibliography of vegetation maps. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries. 5 vol. . [2nd ed., 1980, Archived 2018-11-12 at the Wayback Machine.]
  27. ↑ Dengler J, Chytrý M, Ewald J (2008) Phytosociology. In: Jorgensen SE, Fath BD (Eds) Encyclopedia of Ecology, vol. 4, General Ecology. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, 2767–2779. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008045405-4.00533-4