Summary
The use of association-analysis in the classification of plant communities is discussed.
With association-analysis, the hierarchy obtained is not necessarily a generally useful hierarchy of relationships; the groups are not sufficiently homogeneous to serve as a basis for characterizing communities, and results from different investigations can not be readily integrated into a meaningful and comprehensive classificatory reference system from which ecological inferences may be drawn.
In order to avoid these drawbacks, it is argued that automatic classification should meet the following requirements:
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1.
Similarities with respect to species exhibiting strong discontinuities in their distribution should be emphasized in the grouping of relevés, as they can contribute most to an ecologically meaningful classification.
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2.
Since a phytocoenosis is regarded as the result of the total response of all constituting species to the environment, polythetically defined communities are expected to be ecologically more meaningful than monothetically defined ones.
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3.
Agglomerative classifications, by reducing the number of ecological heterogeneities within classes at all levels of the hierarchy as much as possible, are regarded as more stable and as having higher extrapolative value than divisive classifications.
Zusammenfassung
Die Anwendung der Assoziationsanalyse in der Klassifikation von Pflanzengesellschaften wird besprochen.
Mit Assoziationsanalyse ist die resultierende Hierarchie nicht notwendig eine allgemein nützliche Hierarchie von Verwandtschaftsbeziehungen. Die Gruppen sind nicht genügend homogen um als Grundschlag für die Charakterisierung von Gesellschaften zu fungieren, und die Ergebnisse von verschiedenen Untersuchungen können nicht ohne weiteres integriert werden in einem aussagekräftigen und umfassenden Klassifikationssystem das für ökologische Interpretation benutzt werden kann.
Um diese Nachteile zu vermeiden schlagen wir vor, dass eine automatische Klassifikationstechnik an die folgenden Voraussetzungen beantworten soll:
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1.
Übereinstimmungen in Arten die starke Diskontinuitäten in ihrer Verbreitung haben, müssen beim Gruppieren von Aufnahmen bevorzugt werden, weil sie am meisten dazu beitragen dass die Klassifikation ökologisch relevant ist.
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2.
Weil eine Phytozönose betrachtet wird als ein Wirkungsgefüge aller anwesenden Arten mit der örtlichen Umwelt, sind polythetisch definierte Gesellschaften wahrscheinlich ökologisch bedeutsamer als monothetisch definierte.
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3.
Agglomerative Klassifikationen werden als stabieler betrachtet und haben einen höheren Extrapolationswert als verteilende Klassifikationen, weil erstere die ökologische Heterogenität der Klassen auf allen Stufen in der Hierarchie soviel wie möglich reduzieren.
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Nomenclature according to H. Heukels & S. J. van Ooststroom 1973. Flora van Nederland, 17e druk, Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, and D. Meredith (ed.) 1955. The grasses and pastures of South Africa, Central News Agency, Parow.
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Coetzee, B.J., Werger, M.J.A. On association-analysis and the classification of plant communities. Plant Ecol 30, 201–206 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02389709
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02389709