scholarly journals Major habitat types, community types, and plant communities in the Rocky Mountains /

Author(s):  
Robert R. Alexander ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Bezuidenhout

The aim of this study was to identify, characterize and interpret ecologically, by using habitat characteristics, the major vege­tation units and their variations of the Ba land type. Six plant communities were successfully distinguished through applying a numerical classification (TWINSPAN) and Braun-Blanquet procedures. The plant communities could easily be correlated with specific habitat types. A clear distinction could be made between plant communities of the upland and lowland areas. Vegetation gradients and associated gradients in habitat were identified by using an ordination technique (DECORANA). The studv emphasized the importance of topography and soil type for the delimitation of management units for farming or nature conservation practices.


1991 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-10
Author(s):  
H. Bezuidenhout

The aim of this study was to identify, characterize and interpret ecologically, by using habitat characteristics, the major vege­tation units and their variations of the A land type. Five plant communities were successfully distinguished by applying a numerical classification and Braun-Blanquet procedures. The plant communities could easily be correlated with specific habitat types. A clear distinction could be made between plant communities of the upland and lowland areas. Vegetation gradients and associated gradients in habitat were identified by using an ordination technique. The study emphasized the importance of topography and soil type for the delimitation of management units for farming or nature conservation practices.


Bothalia ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. B. Deall ◽  
G. K. Theron ◽  
R. H. Westfall

The indigenous vegetation of the Eastern Transvaal Escarpment in the Sabie area is classified with the aid of the PHYTOTAB program package. Four ecological-formation classes (efc) based on floristics. physiognomy and climate correspond to four data subsets. Plant communities in each efc are defined by means of 46 differential species-groups distributed amongst forest, thicket, woodland, shrubland and grassland structural types. Environmental correlation is facilitated by means of 21 habitat types.


Botany ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen S. Talbot ◽  
Wilfred B. Schofield ◽  
Sandra L. Talbot ◽  
Fred J.A. Daniëls

Plant communities of Unalaska Island in the eastern Aleutian Islands of western Alaska, and their relationship to environmental variables, were studied using a combined Braun-Blanquet and multivariate approach. Seventy relevés represented the range of structural and compositional variation in the matrix of vegetation and landform zonation. Eleven major community types were distinguished within six physiognomic–ecological groups: I. Dry coastal meadows: Honckenya peploides beach meadow, Leymus mollis dune meadow. II. Mesic meadows: Athyrium filix-femina – Aconitum maximum meadow, Athyrium filix-femina – Calamagrostis nutkaensis meadow, Erigeron peregrinus – Thelypteris quelpaertensis meadow. III. Wet snowbed meadow: Carex nigricans snowbed meadow. IV. Heath: Linnaea borealis – Empetrum nigrum heath, Phyllodoce aleutica heath, Vaccinium uliginosum – Thamnolia vermicularis fellfield. V. Mire: Carex pluriflora – Plantago macrocarpa mire. VI. Deciduous shrub thicket: Salix barclayi – Athyrium filix-femina thicket. These were interpreted as a complex gradient primarily influenced by soil moisture, elevation, and pH. Phytogeographical and syntaxonomical analysis of the plant communities indicated that the dry coastal meadows, most of the heaths, and the mire vegetation belonged, respectively, to the widespread classes Honckenyo–Elymetea, Loiseleurio–Vaccinietea, and Scheuchzerio–Caricetea, characterized by their circumpolar and widespread species. Amphi-Beringian species were likely diagnostic of amphi-Beringian syntaxa, many of these yet to be described.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Francesco Liccari ◽  
Maurizia Sigura ◽  
Enrico Tordoni ◽  
Francesco Boscutti ◽  
Giovanni Bacaro

In intensively used and human-modified landscapes, biodiversity is often confined to remnants of natural habitats. Thus, identifying ecological networks (ENs) necessary to connect these patches and maintain high levels of biodiversity, not only for conservation but also for the effective management of the landscape, is required. However, ENs are often defined without a clear a-priori evaluation of their biodiversity and are seldom even monitored after their establishment. The objective of this study was to determine the adequate number of replicates to effectively characterize biodiversity content of natural habitats within the nodes of an EN in north-eastern Italy, based on vascular plant diversity. Plant communities within habitat types of the EN’s nodes were sampled through a hierarchical sampling design, evaluating both species richness and compositional dissimilarity. We developed an integrated method, consisting of multivariate measures of precision (MultSE), rarefaction curves and diversity partitioning approaches, which was applied to estimate the minimum number of replicates needed to characterize plant communities within the EN, evaluating also how the proposed optimization in sampling size affected the estimations of the characteristics of habitat types and nodes of the EN. We observed that reducing the total sampled replicates by 85.5% resulted to sufficiently characterize plant diversity of the whole EN, and by 72.5% to exhaustively distinguish plant communities among habitat types. This integrated method helped to fill the gap regarding the data collection to monitor biodiversity content within existing ENs, considering temporal and economic resources. We therefore suggest the use of this quantitative approach, based on probabilistic sampling, to conduct pilot studies in the context of ENs design and monitoring, and in general for habitat monitoring.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abyot Dibaba Hundie ◽  
Teshome Soromessa Urgessa ◽  
Bikila Warkineh Dullo

Abstract Background This study was carried out in Gerba Dima Forest, South-Western Ethiopia, to determine the floristic composition, species diversity and community types along environmental gradients. Ninety sample plots having a size of 25 × 25 m (625 m2) were laid by employing stratified random sampling. Nested plots were used to sample plants of different sizes and different environmental variables. All woody plant species with Diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 2.5 cm and height ≥ 1.5 m were recorded in 25 m X 25 m plots. Within the major plots, five 3 m x 3 m subplots (9 m2) was used to collect shrubs with dbh < 2.5 cm and > 1.5 m height. Within each 9 m2subplots, two 1 m2 subplots were used to collect data on the species and abundance of herbaceous plants. Hierarchical (agglomerative) cluster analysis was performed using the free statistical software R version 3.6.1 using package cluster to classify the vegetation into plant community types. Redundancy Analysis (RDA) ordination was used in describing the pattern of plant communities along an environmental gradient. Result One hundred and eighty plant species belonging to 145 genera, 69 families and comprising of 15 endemic species were recorded. Cluster analysis resulted in five different plant communities and this result was supported by the ordination result. RDA result showed altitude was the main environmental variable in determining the plant communities. The ANOVA test indicated that the five community types differ significantly from each other with regard to EC and K. Conclusions The studied forest can play a significant role in biodiversity conservation since it harbours high species diversity and richness. Thus, all Stakeholders including Oromia Forest and wildlife enterprise (OFWE) and the regional government should work to designate the forest as a biosphere reserve and being registered under UNESCO.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 4879
Author(s):  
Kaidi Zhang ◽  
Yuan Gong ◽  
Hao Fa ◽  
Min Zhao

Shanghai, China, is a city that is relatively representative of various cities in China due to its geographical location and socio-economic dynamics. The role of urban vegetation in the carbon cycle of urban developments in these types of cities is now being studied. We focus on identifying which urban plant community types have a greater influence on CO2 flux in cities, thus providing a scientific basis for low-carbon urban greening. Based on the eddy covariance (EC) observation system, ART Footprint Tool, plant inventory, and ecological community classification, we show that the CO2 flux characteristics of different plant communities vary temporally. The carbon sink duration during summer was the longest (up to 10 h) and the carbon sink duration was the shortest during winter (7.5 h). In addition, we discovered that the CO2 flux contribution rates of different plant community types are distinct. The annual average CO2 contribution rates of the Cinnamomum camphora-Trachycarpus fortunei community and the Metasequoia glyptostroboides+Sabina chinensis community are 11.88% and 0.93%, respectively. The CO2 flux contribution rate of the same plant community differs according to season. The CO2 contribution rate of the Cinnamomum camphora-Trachycarpus fortunei community exhibits local maxima during winter and summer, with a maximum difference of 11.16%. In contrast, the Metasequoia glyptostroboides+Sabina chinensis community has a CO2 contribution rate of 0.35% during the same period. In general, summer is the season with the lowest CO2 flux contribution rate of plant communities, and winter is the season with the highest CO2 flux contribution rate. However, the Cinnamomum camphora+Salix babylonica community and the Cinnamomum camphora+Sabina chinensis community present the opposite pattern. Finally, the diurnal variation characteristics of CO2 flux in different communities have the same trend, but the peak values differ significantly. Overall, daily CO2 flux peak value of the Metasequoia glyptostroboides community and the Cinnamomum camphora-Trachycarpus fortunei community indicate that these two plant communities exhibit a strong capacity for CO2 absorption in the study area. According to these research results, urban greening efforts in subtropical climates can increase the green space covered by the Cinnamomum camphora-Trachycarpus fortunei and the Metasequoia glyptostroboides community types when urban greening, so as to appropriately reduce the CO2 emitted into the atmosphere.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (13) ◽  
pp. 3807-3827
Author(s):  
Norbertas Noreika ◽  
Meelis Pärtel ◽  
Erik Öckinger

Abstract When restoring habitat for biodiversity, the most effective outcome will be achieved by restoration projects which target several organism groups or ecosystem types. Such integrated approaches require direct comparisons among different ecological communities while evaluating success of restoration. The Community Completeness Index (CCI) is a recently developed metric that allows such comparisons by accounting for both present and absent but otherwise suitable taxa. We empirically evaluated the applicability of CCI for assessing the outcome of ecological restoration. We analyzed how species richness and the completeness of ecological communities recover after restoration, for different ecological groups and ecosystem types, and how it develops over time after restoration. Analyses were performed on 18 datasets with per site presence-absence data from Northern Europe. Each dataset represented one of the three habitat types (mire, forest, grassland) and different ecological groups (plants, flying insects, epigeic invertebrates). Datasets contained pristine, degraded and restored sites. We calculated the dark diversity and subsequently CCI based on species co-occurrences. Our multiple-study analyses revealed that CCI of grassland plant communities increased faster after restoration than invertebrate communities or plant communities in forests and mires. In addition, flying insect communities demonstrated significantly highest CCI in pristine mires. Some results were significant only for richness but not for CCI indicating species pool effect. Finally, completeness and species richness of restored communities increased with time since restoration. As such, our study demonstrated that CCI is a useful tool in evaluating restoration success across different organism groups and ecosystem types.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0247966
Author(s):  
Liyew Birhanu ◽  
Tamrat Bekele ◽  
Binyam Tesfaw ◽  
Sebsebe Demissew

Plant community types are influenced by topographic factors, the physical and chemical properties of soil. Therefore, the study was carried out to investigate the relationships of soil and topographic factors on the distribution of species and plant community formation of the Dega Damot district in Northwestern Ethiopia. Vegetation and environmental data were collected from 86 plots (900 m2). Agglomerative hierarchical cluster analysis and redundancy analysis (RDA) with R software were used to identify plant communities and analyze the relationship between plant community types and environmental variables. Five plant community types were identified: Erica arborea-Osyris quadripartita, Discopodium penninervium-Echinops pappii, Olea europaea -Scolopia theifolia, Euphorbia abyssinica-Prunus africana, Dodonaea anguistifolia-Acokanthera schimperi. The RDA result showed that the variation of species distribution and plant community formation were significantly related to altitude, organic matter, moisture content, slope, sand, pH, EC, total nitrogen and phosphorus. Our results suggest that the variation of plant communities (Community 1, 2, 3, and 4) were closely related to environmental factors, including altitude, moisture content, OM, slope, sand, pH, EC, soil nitrogen, and phosphorus, among which altitude was the most important one. However, all the measured environmental variables are not correlated to Dodonaea anguistifolia-Acokanthera schimperi community type. Therefore, it can be concluded that some other environmental variables may influence the species composition, which is needed to be further investigated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document