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Strasburger's Plant Sciences pp 1217–1262Cite as

Vegetation of the Earth

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Abstract

The potential natural plant cover of the Earth reflects the regional climatic conditions, modified by geological influences and natural disturbances (Fig. 14.1). Similar to climate, which does not exhibit clear geographical borders, there are no sharp boundaries between different vegetation zones, each of which is characterized by the dominance of certain life forms (so-called formations, Fig. 13.35, see Sect. 13.3.4). This chapter deals with the natural zonal vegetation, i.e., the land cover by plants resulting from the regional climatic conditions (soil conditions and other interfering factors are considered; for exceptions see Sect. 14.2.16) without major interference by humans. This is an idealistic approach, because humans have influenced vegetation since the beginning of mankind (mainly by hunting and by the use of fire) even if the lasting effect of such interferences is not always recognized. However, it would be beyond the scope of this chapter to incorporate the stepwise development of anthropogenic influences from forest nomadism up to agriculture. For similar reasons, this chapter will mainly present the mature stages of succession, i.e., the so-called climax communities (see Sect. 13.3.2).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    Christian Körner

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  1. Christian Körner
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Correspondence to Christian Körner .

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Körner, C. (2013). Vegetation of the Earth. In: Strasburger's Plant Sciences. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-15518-5_14

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