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Use of ecological groups in analysis and classification of plant communities in a section of western Quebec

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Abstract

A plant community analysis and classification were done for an integrated ecological study, in the lake Abitibi region, Quebec. Two levels of vegetation analysis were used: the ecological group level and the community level. Species were first grouped according to their sociological affinities. The ecological significance of those groupings was studied by principal component analysis, with the inclusion of abiotic variables, and by the study of ecological profiles. Secondly, the concurrent use of ecological groups permitted the definition and characterization of noda. The relationships between the noda, in the space defined by the ecological groups, were analyzed by principal coordinate analysis on which is superimposed the shortest spanning tree.

Those combined analyses permitted the identification of 35 community types which vary mainly according to surficial deposits (organic or mineral), drainage, relative richness of soils in bases, flooding, presence of bedrock outcrops. fire perturbations and microclimate. Those variations are discussed according to the exlusive or non-exclusive character of the ecological groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de recherches écologiques de Montréal, 5858, Côte-des-Neiges, Suite 400, C.P. 6128 Succ. ‘A’, H3C 3J7, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    Yves Bergeron

  2. Départment de Sciences biologiques, Université de Montréal, Jardin botanique de Montréal, 4101 est, rue Sherbrooke, H1X 2B2, Montréal, Québec, Canada

    André Bouchard

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  1. Yves Bergeron
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Additional information

The taxonomic nomenclature generally follows Marie-Victorin (1964) for vascular plants, Ireland et al. (1980) for mosses, and Hale (1970) for lichens.

This research was undertaken and completed due to subventions from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Quebec Department of Education and the Canadian Department of Northern and Indian Affairs. Field work was facilitated by Mr Benoît Allen, Mrs Liette Aubin, Mr Jean-Luc Bourdages, Mrs Marie-Hélène Domon, Mr Jean Gagnon, Mrs Claire Gauvin, Mr Stuart Hay, Mr Claude Lefrançois, Mrs Louise Livernoche, Mr Jean-Roch Marcotte and Mrs Anne Ste-Marie. We want to acknowledge especially Dr Claude Camiré, of l'Université Laval, and Dr Pierre Gangloff, of l'Université de Montréal, for their constant assistance for the pedological and geomorphological studies. Dr Pierre Legendre, of l'Université de Montréal, provided useful advices on numerical approaches. Dr J. M. Gillett and Dr G. W. Argus, of the National Museums of Canada, Dr A. A. Reznicek, of the University of Michigan, and Mr Stephen Clayden, of the Université de Montréal, kindly verified or identified several of our vouchers specimens. Mr Pierre Mondoux and Mrs Marie-France Rochon, of the Computer Center, provided assistance for data treatment. Dr Pierre Richard, of l'Université de Montréal, commented a draft manuscript. Finally, Mrs Eva Lemaire and Mrs Claudette Blanchard carefully typed the manuscript.

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Bergeron, Y., Bouchard, A. Use of ecological groups in analysis and classification of plant communities in a section of western Quebec. Vegetatio 56, 45–63 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00036136

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