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On the use of grammars in vegetation analysis

  • Chapter
Numerical syntaxonomy

Part of the book series: Advances in vegetation science ((AIVS,volume 10))

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Abstract

Grammars provide a means of generating large amounts of variability from relatively small resources, and seem especially relevant when the variation to be modelled is discontinuous since they describe the organisation symbols from some alphabet. In order to use grammars, it is desirable that they be inferred from observational data, and we present three examples of such inference. Two involve temporal successions, while the third is based on spatial transects of aquatic vegetation in wetlands in Victoria, Australia. The temporal successions were adequately represented by simpler regular grammars, suggesting that the processes involved may be modelled in a relatively simple manner. The spatial data requires a context-free grammar, reflecting the greater complexity of the spatial series, the uniqueness of each site, and the difficulties of modelling parallel systems with serial models. Examining the grammars further leads to some suggestions concerning the features of them which are important for ecological interpretation. It further leads to a novel view of the nature of groups in classification.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures, Cunningham Laboratory, C.S.I.R.O., Carmody Rd., St Lucia, 4067, Australia

    M. B. Dale

  2. Department of Primary Industries, Resources and Energy, Bureau of Rural Resources, P.O. Box 858, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    M. M. Barson

Authors
  1. M. B. Dale
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  2. M. M. Barson
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L. Mucina M. B. Dale

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© 1989 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Dale, M.B., Barson, M.M. (1989). On the use of grammars in vegetation analysis. In: Mucina, L., Dale, M.B. (eds) Numerical syntaxonomy. Advances in vegetation science, vol 10. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2432-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2432-1_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7597-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2432-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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