Special Russian Methods in Classification of Successions

Abstract

The dynamic approach to the study of vegetation is traditional in Russian Geobotany. This idea was already widely represented as early as in the end of the last and in the beginning of this century in works of Dokuchayev (1885, 1892, 1899) and a number of eminent Russian botanists (Krasnov 1888, 1894, Pachosky 1891, 1896, 1908, 1910, Tanfilyev 1894, Taliev 1897, 1901, 1904, Gordyagin 1901, Morozov 1912, Popov 1914, Vysotzky 1915, et al.). Very important for classification of successions were at that time works of Vysotzky who formulated several concepts associated with the effect of anthropogenic factors on vegetation and proposed a number of terms most of which are still used by Soviet geobotanists. Thus, he introduced the concepts of digression (degradation) of vegetation (including the pasqual digression, as result of grazing, the phenisectial digression as result of mowing, etc.) and demutation (re-establishment) of vegetation after cessation of the action of the destructive factor; the concept of catastrophic digression (corresponding to “katastrophale Sukzession” of Gams 1918 and “catastrophic change” of Tansley 1935) including the excisional digression (caused by felling), exarational digression (caused by ploughing) etc.