EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification

Abstract

A vegetation classification approach is needed that can 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. We summarize the scientific basis for EcoVeg, 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. For natural vegetation, the rationale for the upper levels (formation types) is based on the relation between global‐scale vegetation patterns and macroclimate, hydrology, and substrate. The rationale for the middle levels is based on scaling from regional formations (divisions) to regional floristic‐physiognomic types (macrogroup and group) that respond to meso‐scale biogeographic, climatic, disturbance, and site factors. Finally, the lower levels (alliance and association) are defined by detailed floristic composition that responds to local to regional topo‐edaphic and disturbance gradients. For cultural vegetation, the rationale is similar, but types are based on distinctive vegetation physiognomy and floristics that reflect human activities. 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. Formation types have been described for the globe; divisions and macrogroups for North America, Latin America and Africa; groups, alliances and associations for the United States, parts of Canada, Latin America and, in partnership with other classifications that share these levels, many other parts of the globe.

Expanding an existing classification of New Zealand vegetation to include non-forested vegetation

“…As such, classification provides an important tool for describing and understanding this component of biodiversity and for underpinning biodiversity reporting, and management (reviewed by Faber-Langendoen et al 2014). Although a quantitative national-scale classification of New Zealand's woody vegetation types based on vegetation plot data has been produced Wiser & De Cáceres 2013), there has been no parallel effort for the remaining non-forested vegetation types.…”

Classifying forest inventory data into species-based forest community types at broad extents: exploring tradeoffs among supervised and unsupervised approaches

“…Classifying this global plot data set into species-based forest community types set could illuminate the worldwide geographic patterns of forest communities and their environmental drivers, and could be useful for global change studies. Indeed, development of global species-based vegetation classification hierarchies based on the same principles and design as the USNVC are in progress (Faber-Langendoen et al 2014), and could be applied to global forest plot data. Comparison with one or more unsupervised classifications of forest community types would shed light on whether the differences among classification approaches seen in this paper apply globally, and better inform users about the most appropriate forest community type classifications for global analysis.…”

Seasonal Movements of Female Snowy Owls Breeding in the Western North American Arctic

“…For describing vegetation classes, plant communities/associations were compiled from the literature and simply grouped within the structural and environmental classification at the Formation Level 1 without attempting to do a comprehensive numerical analysis of plant communities. At our mapping scale, the classification of zonal vegetation is roughly equivalent to the alliance level of vegetation classification (Vegetation Subcommittee 2008, Faber-Langendoen et al 2014. For taxonomic nomenclature we use the Flora of North America and USDA Plants Database.…”