57 research outputs found
Australian vegetation classification and the International Vegetation Classification framework: an overview with case studies
Recent advances in conceptual frameworks in vegetation classifications, such as the EcoVeg approach that underpins the International Vegetation Classification (IVC) developed by NatureServe staff and colleagues, offer opportunities to enhance national classification initiatives. National level initiatives provide an important stepping-stone between international units and subnational units. Australia has a long history of developing various vegetation typologies at local to regional scales, but ecologists recognise the need for an Australia-wide, plot-based vegetation classification system that incorporates the principles of the EcoVeg approach, and thereby helps build an international classification system. Using two case studies, we provide a comparison of various structures and criteria for relevant Australian classifications in the context of the IVC, and exemplify how Australian classifications of forest, shrublands, grasslands, and deserts could potentially link into the IVC hierarchy to illustrate the capacity of the IVC to summarise the full range of Australian vegetation at a broad formation (biome) scale. We then discuss how the IVC might inform future work towards an Australian vegetation classification system and, vice versa, the implications of an Australian vegetation classification for IVC development
Ecological resilience indicators for salt marsh ecosystems
Salt marshes are coastal ecosystems within the intertidal zone, characterized by hypoxic, saline, soil conditions and low biodiversity. Low diversity arises from frequent disturbance and stressful conditions (i.e., high salinity and hypoxia), where vegetative reproduction and low competition result in mostly monotypic stands, with some differences in plant community influenced by flooding regime (described below). While there are several types of salt marshes in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGoM), ranging from low to high salt marshes and salt flats (Tiner, 2013), Spartina alternifloraâdominated salt marshes in the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) Low and Intermediate Salt Marsh Biotic Group (FGDC, 2012) are the most extensive and are the focus of this project. These salt marshes are classified as âGulf Coast Cordgrass Salt Marshâ (CEGL004190; USNVC, 2016). Within the NGoM region, some salt marsh areas are dominated by other species such as Spartina patens and Juncus roemerianus, which both occupy higher elevations in high-precipitation zones (e.g., Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida). In lower precipitation regions (southern Texas), hypersaline conditions often develop yielding communities of succulent salt marsh plants (Batis and Salicornia spp.). In climatic zones with warmer winter temperatures, temperate salt marshes naturally transition to mangrove (generally in the southern Gulf of Mexico range) or, in areas with lower precipitation, to salt flats (generally in western part of the study area)
Standards for associations and alliances of the U.S. National Vegetation Classification
This article provides guidelines for the description, documentation, and review of proposals for new or revised plant associations and alliances to be recognized as units of vegetation within the U.S. National Vegetation Classification (NVC). By setting forth standards for field records, analysis, description, peer review, and archiving, the Ecological Society of America's Vegetation Classification Panel, in collaboration with the U.S. Federal Geographic Data Committee, NatureServe, and others, seeks to advance our common understanding of vegetation and improve our capability to sustain and restore natural systems. We provide definitions for the two floristic levels of the NVC hierarchy: associations and alliances. This is followed by a description of standards for field plot records and the identification and classification of vegetation types. Procedures for review and evaluation of proposed additions and revisions of types are provided, as is a structure for data archiving and dissemination. These procedures provide a dynamic and practical way to publish new or revised descriptions of vegetation types while maintaining a current, authoritative list of types for multiple users to access and apply
EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification
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
A function-based typology for Earthâs ecosystems
As the United Nations develops a post-2020 global biodiversity framework for the Convention on Biological Diversity, attention is focusing on how new goals and targets for ecosystem conservation might serve its vision of âliving in harmony with natureâ(1,2). Advancing dual imperatives to conserve biodiversity and sustain ecosystem services requires reliable and resilient generalizations and predictions about ecosystem responses to environmental change and management(3). Ecosystems vary in their biota(4), service provision(5) and relative exposure to risks(6), yet there is no globally consistent classification of ecosystems that reflects functional responses to change and management. This hampers progress on developing conservation targets and sustainability goals. Here we present the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Global Ecosystem Typology, a conceptually robust, scalable, spatially explicit approach for generalizations and predictions about functions, biota, risks and management remedies across the entire biosphere. The outcome of a major cross-disciplinary collaboration, this novel framework places all of Earthâs ecosystems into a unifying theoretical context to guide the transformation of ecosystem policy and management from global to local scales. This new information infrastructure will support knowledge transfer for ecosystem-specific management and restoration, globally standardized ecosystem risk assessments, natural capital accounting and progress on the post-2020 global biodiversity framework
Braun-Blanquet meets EcoVeg: a formation and division level classification of European phytosociological units
Aims: To link the Braun-Blanquet units of the EuroVegChecklist (EVC) with the upper levels of the International Vegetation Classification (IVC), and to propose a division level classification for Europe. Study area: Europe. Methods: We established a tabular linkage between EVC classes and IVC formations and identified mismatches between these two levels. We then proposed IVC division level units to organize EVC classes. Results: We organized the EVC classes into 21 formations and 30 divisions. We flagged classes that did not fit comfortably within an existing formation, either because its content corresponded to more than one formation or because it did not fit any formation description. In a few cases, we split EVC classes because they seemed too heterogenous to be assigned to a single formation. Conclusions: The IVC approach adds a set of physiognomic and ecological criteria that effectively organizes the EVC classes, which are already being increasingly informed by physiognomy. Therefore, the formation concepts are relatively natural extensions of concepts already embedded in the classes. However, physiognomic placement of Braun-Blanquet classes can be difficult when the sampling of the vegetation is at finer grain than usual in the respective formation (tall-scrub, annual pioneer communities). Some EVC classes seem too heterogenous to fit into the IVC formation system. Delimitation of these classes has often been a matter of debate for many decades, and the IVC perspective might help to solve these intricate issues. In other cases, mismatches between phytosociological classes and IVC formations might better be solved by emending the current formation concepts. Abbreviations: BB = Braun-Blanquet; EVC = EuroVegChecklist; IVC = International Vegetation Classification
Finding the Best Remaining Black Hills Montane Grasslands, the First Step in Conservation
Black Hills Montane Grassland is a rare and endangered plant community endemic to the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. It is restricted to higher elevations on the Limestone Plateau in the western part of the uplift. Early visitors to the Black Hills wrote glowing reports of flower-filled grasslands on the Limestone Plateau. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his soldiers reveled in lush grass, and decorated the headgear of their horses with flowers (Custer 1875). Expedition botanist A. B. Donaldson âestimated the number of flowers in bloom in Floral Valley at 50, while an equal number of varieties had bloomed, or were yet to bloomâ (Ludlow 1875). Donaldsonâs Black Hills plant collection was sent to J.M. Coulter, who compiled a species list for the expeditionâs final report (Ludlow 1875). However there is no indication which species were collected from the flower-filled grasslands. In 1892, botanist Per A. Rydberg found the grasslands of the âLimestone Districtâ reminiscent of Sweden, his homeland: âmeadows with the knee-deep grass, and the flowers were in greater profusion and greater variety of color than I have seen elsewhere in America.â He listed trees, shrubs, and notable forbs of the Limestone District, but no species specific to the meadows (Rydberg 1896). Thus, the original composition of these grasslands is unknown, though by the time of the first species lists, non-native plants were abundant
Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessment Metrics to Restore Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity for Shortleaf PineâOak Ecosystems
Open woodlands dominated by shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) and oak are historically an important component of the landscape across the southeastern United States. These ecosystems support numerous wildlife species, many of which have declined in recent years as the amount and condition of their habitat have declined. Land managers and private landowners need guidance on how to efficiently and accurately quantify the condition and wildlife habitat value of the pine stands that they manage. Here we provide a set of rapid assessment metrics, based on NatureServeâs ecological integrity assessment (EIA) method, to (a) identify exemplary tracts that provide the best habitat for key wildlife species, and (b) monitor restoration efforts to assess progress toward the improved quality of existing tracts. To ensure an ecologically appropriate scaling of metrics, we distinguished six types of shortleaf pineâoak woodland: A.âInterior Highlands shortleaf pineâoak (including A.1âshortleaf pineâoak forest and woodlands; A.2âshortleaf pineâbluestem woodlands); Bâmontane longleaf pineâshortleaf pine woodlands; Câsouthern Appalachian pineâoak woodlands; DâWest Gulf coastal plain shortleaf pineâoak woodlands; and Eâsoutheast coastal plain and Piedmont shortleaf pineâoak woodlands. We relied on a narrative conceptual model and peer review-based indicator selection to identify a core set of 15 stand-level metrics (two were optional). Individual assessment points (thresholds) and ratings (Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor) were developed that were sensitive to the distinct attributes of each of the five shortleaf pineâoak and Appalachian pineâoak types. Values for the metrics can all be collected using rapid field methods, such as using basal area prisms and ocular (visual) estimates of cover. Protocols for the consistent application of these EIA methods are provided. A case study is presented from the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. These methods provide improved and rapid EIA metrics for all shortleaf pineâoak ecosystems in the southeastern US to help guide conservation-minded landowners in assessing the biodiversity and priority wildlife values of shortleaf pineâoak and southern Appalachian pineâoak ecosystems
Finding the Best Remaining Black Hills Montane Grasslands, the First Step in Conservation
Black Hills Montane Grassland is a rare and endangered plant community endemic to the Black Hills of western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. It is restricted to higher elevations on the Limestone Plateau in the western part of the uplift. Early visitors to the Black Hills wrote glowing reports of flower-filled grasslands on the Limestone Plateau. Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer and his soldiers reveled in lush grass, and decorated the headgear of their horses with flowers (Custer 1875). Expedition botanist A. B. Donaldson âestimated the number of flowers in bloom in Floral Valley at 50, while an equal number of varieties had bloomed, or were yet to bloomâ (Ludlow 1875). Donaldsonâs Black Hills plant collection was sent to J.M. Coulter, who compiled a species list for the expeditionâs final report (Ludlow 1875). However there is no indication which species were collected from the flower-filled grasslands. In 1892, botanist Per A. Rydberg found the grasslands of the âLimestone Districtâ reminiscent of Sweden, his homeland: âmeadows with the knee-deep grass, and the flowers were in greater profusion and greater variety of color than I have seen elsewhere in America.â He listed trees, shrubs, and notable forbs of the Limestone District, but no species specific to the meadows (Rydberg 1896). Thus, the original composition of these grasslands is unknown, though by the time of the first species lists, non-native plants were abundant
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