A classification of woody communities based on biological dissimilarity

Abstract

Aims: Traditional quantitative approaches to forest classification are based on differences in species abundance or incidence among communities. In these approaches, all species are regarded as biologically equidistant regardless of the biological heterogeneity. The objective of the study is to evaluate the potential of the "Discriminating Avalanche" approach, which integrates species abundance and biological heterogeneity, as a new basis for forest classification.

Discriminating woody species assemblages from National Forest Inventory data based on phylogeny in Georgia

“…Vegetation classification has proven to provide adequate means for descriptive reporting, communication, and mapping of forest communities, and related concepts have responded to changing information needs over time. Consequently, forest‐type classifications exist for a wide range of targets, that is, habitat quality (qualitative assessments for biodiversity management), development over time (i.e., stand classification according to age classes for forest management) or along biogeographic gradients, and remote sensing‐based mapping of ecological communities (de Cáceres et al., 2013 ; de Cáceres, Martín‐Alcón, et al., 2019 ; Fassnacht et al., 2016 ; Hao et al., 2021 ).…”

“…In line with the increasing recognition that genetic diversity comprises an integral part of biodiversity, for example, as stated in the definition of biodiversity by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, Díaz et al., 2015 ), literature on how to incorporate phylogenetics as aspect of diversity is growing rapidly (Chao et al., 2023 ). Accordingly, several authors have approached forest community classification by accounting for both compositional data and interspecies phylogenetic variability (i.e., Capelo, 2020 ; Hao et al., 2021 ; Ricotta et al., 2020 ; Webb et al., 2002 ). As phylogenetically closely related species often share beneficial traits for specific environments, discriminating assemblages based on phylogenetic distances can serve as a proxy for classifying forest communities according to functional roles, environmental diversity, and conservation value (Faith, 2013 ; Gilbert & Parker, 2022 ; Hawkins et al., 2014 ; Padullés Cubino et al., 2021 ; Pavoine, 2016 ; Pavoine & Ricotta, 2014 ; Tucker et al., 2017 ).…”