Classification and description of world formation types

Abstract

An ecological vegetation classification approach has been developed in which a combination of vegetation attributes (physiognomy, structure, and floristics) and their response to ecological and biogeographic factors are used as the basis for classifying vegetation types. This approach can help support international, national, and subnational classification efforts. The classification structure was largely developed by the Hierarchy Revisions Working Group (HRWG), which contained members from across the Americas. The HRWG was authorized by the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) to develop a revised global vegetation classification to replace the earlier versions of the structure that guided the U.S. National Vegetation Classification and International Vegetation Classification, which formerly relied on the UNESCO (1973) global classification (see FGDC 1997 Grossman and others 1998). This document summarizes the development of the upper formation levels. We first describe the history of the Hierarchy

Australian vegetation classification and the International Vegetation Classification framework: an overview with case studies

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The economic value of grassland ecosystem services: A global meta‐analysis

“…Grasslands are classified into five types (Table 1). Following the International Vegetation Classification (Faber‐Langendoen et al, 2016) and Dixon et al (2014), four different grassland types were classified, namely, tropical grasslands, Mediterranean grasslands, temperate grasslands, and semidesert grasslands. In addition, grassland types that were unspecified in the primary studies were categorized as “grasslands unspecified” (Table 1).…”

Invigorating Prescribed Fire Science Through Improved Reporting Practices

“…Although many abiotic and biotic variables can influence or moderate fire effects, we recorded how the authors described four common variables of interest: plant species composition, climate, topography, and soils for each study. We reviewed whether the plant species composition was reported using quantitative metrics (e.g., cover, tree density, and basal area), a qualitative description (i.e., plant list, plant associations, and habitat type), a cover type (e.g., Society of American Foresters; Eyre, 1980), or a physiognomic description (e.g., Faber-Langendoen et al, 2016). For climate, we noted whether studies reported a long-term climate average or a climate zone for their burn units.…”