Abstract
We propose a simple method to validate vegetation types in phytosociological tables obtained with the Braun-Blanquet approach. The method is based on fuzzy set theory and it measures the sharpness of a classification of relevés based on degrees of belonging calculated by similarity functions. The idea animating this work is that the validated vegetation types offer non-random species combinations that can be used to model environmental changes taking biodiversity into account. Phytosociological tables are widely available today and the information they contain can be very useful in studying environmental changes at different scales, from local to global.
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Feoli, E., Ferro, G. & Ganis, P. Validation of phytosociological classifications based on a fuzzy set approach. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY 7, 99–108 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.7.2006.1.10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/ComEc.7.2006.1.10