- Source: Vegetation classification
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:
Class A
Tropical rainforest (Af)
Tropical monsoon (Am)
Tropical savanna (Aw, As)
Class B
Desert (BWh, BWk)
Semi-arid (BSh, BSk)
Class C
Humid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa)
Oceanic (Cfb, Cwb, Cfc, Cwc)
Mediterranean (Csa, Csb, Csc)
Class D
Humid continental (Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb, Dsa, Dsb)
Subarctic (Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd, Dsc, Dsd)
Class E
Tundra (ET)
Ice cap (EF)
Alpine (ET, EF)
= Wagner & von Sydow (1888)
=Wagner & von Sydow (1888) scheme: Vegetationsgürtel (vegetation belts):
Tundren (tundra)
Hochgebirgsflora (mountain flora)
Vegetationsarme Gebiete (Wüsten) (vegetation poor areas [deserts])
der gemässigten zone (the temperate zone)
Grasland (prairie)
Vorherrschend Nadelwald (mainly coniferous forest)
Wald (Laub und Nadelwald) und Kulturland (forest [deciduous and coniferous forest] and cultivated land)
in tropischen und subtropischen Gebieten (in tropical and subtropical areas)
Grasland (prairie)
Wald und Kulturland (forest and cultivated land)
Urwald (jungle)
= Warming (1895, 1909)
=Warming (1895, 1909) oecological classes:
A. The soil (in the widest sense) is very wet, and the abundant water is available to the plant (at least in Class 1), the formations are therefore more or less hydrophilous:
Class 1. Hydrophytes (of formations in water).
Class 2. Helophytes (of formations in marsh).
B. The soil is physiologically dry, i. e. contains water which is available to the plant only to a slight extent; the formations are therefore essentially composed of xerophilous species:
Class 3. Oxylophytes (of formations on sour (acid) soil).
Class 4. Psychrophytes (of formations on cold soil).
Class 5. Halophytes (of formations on saline soil).
C. The soil is physically dry, and its slight power of retaining water determines the vegetation, the climate being of secondary import; the formations are therefore likewise xerophilous:
Class 6. Lithophytes (of formations on rocks).
Class 7. Psammophytes (of formations on sand and gravel).
Class 8. Chersophytes (of formations on waste land).
D. The climate is very dry and decides the character of the vegetation; the properties of the soil are dominated by climate; the formations are also xerophilous:
Class 9. Eremophytes (of formations on desert and steppe).
Class 10. Psilophytes (of formations on savannah).
Class 11. Sclerophyllous formations (bush and forest).
E. The soil is physically or physically dry:
Class 12. Coniferous formations (forest).
F. Soil and climate favour the development of mesophilous formations:
Class 13. Mesophytes.
Warming's types of formations:
1. Microphyte-formation
2. Moss-formation
3. Herb-formation
4. Dwarf-shrub formations and undershrub-formations
5. Bush-wood or shrub-wood
6. Forest
High forest
Underwood
Forest-floor vegetation
Other
Simple formations
Compound formations
Mixed formations
Secondary formations
Sub-formations
= Schimper (1898, 1903)
=Schimper (1898, 1903) climatic chief formation types:
Woodland, forest, bushwood, shrubwood
Grassland, meadow (hygrophilous or tropophilous), steppe (xerophilous), savannah (xerophilous grassland containing isolated trees)
Desert (dry or cold)
Schimper formation types across the zones and regions
Tropical zone formations
Climatic formations
Tropical districts constantly moist
Rain-forest
Tropical districts with pronounced dry seasons
Woodland formations (monsoon-forest, savannah-forest, thorn-forest)
Grassland formations
Tropical deserts
Edaphic formations
In Tropical Inland Country
In Tropical Sea-shore
Temperate zone formations
Climatic formations
Warm temperate belts
Subtropical districts
Constantly moist districts (without a dry season)
Moist summer districts
Moist winter districts
Cold temperate belts
Temperate deserts
Edaphic formations
Littoral Formations
Heath
Moors
Arctic zone formations
Tundra, moss-tundra, lichen-tundra, moors, oases
Mountain climate formations (basal region, montane region, alpine region)
In the tropics
In the temperate zones
Aquatic vegetation
Marine vegetation
Freshwater vegetation
= Schimper & Faber (1935)
=Formation-types:
1. Tropical rainforest
2. Subtropical rainforest
3. Monsoon forest
4. Temperate rainforest
5. Summer-green deciduous forest
6. Needle-leaf forest
7. Evergreen hardwood forest
8. Savanna woodland
9. Thorn forest and scrub
10. Savanna
11. Steppe and semidesert
12. Heath
13. Dry desert
14. Tundra and cold woodland
15. Cold desert
= Ellenberg & Mueller-Dombois (1967)
=Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) scheme:
Formation-class I. Closed forests
Formation-class II. Woodlands
Formation-class III. Fourrés (shrublands or thickets)
Formation-class IV. Dwarf-scrub and related communities
Formation-class V. Terrestrial herbaceous communities
Formation-class VI. Deserts and other scarcely vegetated areas
Formation-class VII. Aquatic plant formations
= Oliveira-Filho (2009, 2015)
=A vegetation classification with six main criteria ("hierarchical attributes", with exemplified categories applicable mainly to Neotropical region):
A. Basic vegetation physiognomies
1. Forest physiognomies
2. Shrubland physiognomies
3. Savanna physiognomies
4. Grassland physiognomies
5. Man-made physiognomies
B. Climatic regime
Maritime
Semi-arid
Seasonal
Rain
Cloud
C. Leaf flush regime
Evergreen
Semideciduous
Deciduous
Alternate
Ephemeral
D. Thermal realm
Tropical
Subtropical, etc.
E. Elevation range
Coastal
Lower plains
Upper plains
Lower highlands
Upper highlands
Montane
F. Substrate
Shallow soils
Deep soils
Soily
Sandy
Gravelly
Rocky
Dystrophic
Mesotrophic
Eutrophic
Ridge
Slope
Thalweg
Riverine
Floodplain
Marshy
Swampy
= 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
Biogeography
Ecological classification
List of national vegetation classification systems
Phytogeography
Plant community
References
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Vegetasi
- Buntut-lembut
- Robert Whittaker
- Mangrove
- Owa kelempiau barat
- Louis Agassiz
- Keanekaragaman hayati
- Botani
- Owa kelempiau utara
- Advanced Baseline Imager
- Vegetation classification
- British National Vegetation Classification
- Vegetation
- National Vegetation Classification
- U.S. National Vegetation Classification
- List of constant species in the British National Vegetation Classification
- Ecological classification
- Vegetation Classification and Mapping Program
- List of national vegetation classification systems
- List of plant communities in the British National Vegetation Classification
