Post date: Jul 25, 2015 9:27:08 AM
A new article has been published in Ecological Monographs, presenting a vegetation classification approach that can be used to describe the diversity of terrestrial ecosystems and their transformations over large time frames, span the full range of spatial and geographic scales across the globe, and provide knowledge of reference conditions and current states of ecosystems required to make decisions about conservation and resource management. EcoVeg is a physiognomic-floristic-ecological classification approach that applies to existing vegetation, both cultural (planted and dominated by human processes) and natural (spontaneously formed and dominated by nonhuman ecological processes). The classification is based on a set of vegetation criteria, including physiognomy (growth forms, structure) and floristics (compositional similarity and characteristic species combinations), in conjunction with ecological characteristics, including site factors, disturbance, bioclimate, and biogeography. The hierarchy provides a structure that organizes regional/ continental vegetation patterns in the context of global patterns. A formal nomenclature is provided, along with a descriptive template that provides the differentiating criteria for each type at all levels of the hierarchy.
Faber-Langendoen, D., Keeler-Wolf, T., Meidinger, D., Tart, D., Hoagland, B., Josse, C., Ponomarenko, S., Saucier, J., Weakley, A., Comer, P., 2014. EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification. Ecol. Monogr. 84(4), 533–561.
DOI: 10.1890/13-2334.1