scholarly journals The concept of vegetation class and order in phytosociological syntaxonomy

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 163-167
Author(s):  
Javier Loidi

In order to stabilize the defining concepts of the higher rank syntaxonomic units such as class or order, the criteria of floristic content and unity of origin are enunciated. This is done with the aim of preventing the fragmentation of the large classes and the subsequent typological inflation. For orders, the criterion of specific floristic content is discussed, with orders that have been described to encompass seral secondary forests or the separation of forest vegetation from that which is dominated by shrubs rejected, due to their weak floristic characterization. These criteria have been applied to two forest vegetation classes: the European temperate (Querco-Fagetea) and the Mediterranean (Quercetea ilicis). For the first, it is argued in favor of maintaining a single class for all temperate deciduous forests in Europe instead of dividing them into four. Within this single class five orders are distinguished: Fagetalia, Quercetalia roboris, Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae, Alno-Fraxinetalia and Populetalia albae, rejecting the orders that have been proposed for secondary forests because they have few characteristic taxa. For the sclerophyllous and macchia forests of Mediterranean Europe, the Quercetea ilicis class can be split into two or three geographical orders, rejecting the Pistacio-Rhamnetalia alaterni as a shrubby physiognomic unit. Taxonomic reference: Castroviejo S (coord. gen.) (1986–2012) Flora iberica 1–8, 10–15, 17–18, 21. Real Jardín Botánico, CSIC, Madrid, ES. Syntaxonomic reference: Mucina et al. (2016).

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeong Ho Lee ◽  
Hayato Hashizume ◽  
Atsushi Watanabe ◽  
Toshitake Fukata ◽  
Susumu Shiraishi ◽  
...  

2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Plue ◽  
Ken Thompson ◽  
Kris Verheyen ◽  
Martin Hermy

AbstractThis study investigates how methodological aspects of seed-bank sampling affect seed-bank records in temperate deciduous forests. We focused explicitly on seed-bank records of ancient forest species, which are assumed to lack a persistent seed bank; a hypothesis suspected to be partly due to methodological shortcomings. Through a quantitative review of 31 seed-bank studies in temperate deciduous forests of central and north-west Europe, we quantified the role of sampling methodology in constraining total seed-bank records and seed-bank records of ancient forest species (γ-diversity, average species' retrieval frequency and average seed density). A major methodological trade-off was established between sampled plot area and the number of plots: at an increased number of plots, the area sampled per plot decreased significantly. The total surface area sampled in a study was the primary determinant of γ-diversity, both for overall species richness and for ancient forest species richness. A high retrieval frequency of ancient forest species indicated that few plots were intensively sampled. The parallel increase in total species richness and ancient forest species richness and the non-significance of their ratio in relation to methodological variables suggests that ancient forest species are not particularly rare in the seed bank compared to other species. These results imply that sampling methodology has a far-reaching impact on seed-bank records such as γ-diversity, the detection of ancient forest species and ultimately seed-bank composition. We formulate a set of guidelines to improve the quality of seed-bank studies in temperate deciduous forests.


2005 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pieter Roovers ◽  
Beatrijs Bossuyt ◽  
Hubert Gulinck ◽  
Martin Hermy

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