Phytosociologist
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Phytosociology, also known as phytocoenology or simply plant sociology, is the study of groups of species of plant that are usually found together. Phytosociology aims to
empirically In philosophy, empiricism is an Epistemology, epistemological view which holds that true knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from Sense, sensory experience and empirical evidence. It is one of several competing views within ...
describe the vegetative environment of a given territory. A specific community of plants is considered a social unit, the product of definite conditions, present and past, and can exist only when such conditions are met. In phyto-sociology, such a unit is known as a phytocoenosis (or phytocoenose). A phytocoenosis is more commonly known as a plant community, and consists of the sum of all plants in a given area. It is a subset of a
biocoenosis A biocenosis (UK English, biocoenosis, also biocenose, biocoenose, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, life assemblage), coined by Karl Möbius in 1877, describes the interacting organisms living together in a habit ...
, which consists of all organisms in a given area. More strictly speaking, a phytocoenosis is a set of plants in area that are interacting with each other through competition or other ecological processes. Coenoses are not equivalent to
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
s, which consist of organisms and the physical environment that they interact with. A phytocoensis has a
distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a varia ...
which can be mapped. Phytosociology has a system for describing and classifying these phytocoenoses in a hierarchy, known as syntaxonomy, and this system has a nomenclature. The science is most advanced in Europe, Africa and Asia. In the United States this concept was largely rejected in favour of studying environments in more individualistic terms regarding species, where specific associations of plants occur randomly because of individual preferences and responses to gradients, and there are no sharp boundaries between phytocoenoses. The terminology '
plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...
' is usually used in the US for a habitat consisting of a number of specific plant species. It has been a successful approach in the scope of contemporary vegetation science because of its highly descriptive and predictive powers, and its usefulness in nature management issues.


History

The term 'phytosociology' was coined in 1896 by
Józef Paczoski Józef Konrad Paczoski (; 8 December 186414 February 1942), was a distinguished Polish botanist whose significant contributions to the field have left a lasting impact on botanical studies. Born on 8th December 1864, he held the esteemed position ...
.Rabotnov TA. 1970-1979
Phytocoenology.
In: The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd ed.
The term 'phytocoenology' was coined by
Helmut Gams Helmut Gams (1893–1976) was a central European botanist. Born in Brno, he moved to Zürich as a child. He studied at the University of Zurich, being awarded a PhD in 1918. During his career, he worked at the University of Munich and the University ...
in 1918. While the terminology phytocoenosis grew to be most popular in France, Switzerland, Germany and the Soviet Union, the terminology phytosociology remained in use in some European countries. Phytosociology is a further refinement of the
phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...
introduced by
Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
at the very beginning of the 19th century.Decocq, G. (2016). Moving from Patterns to Processes: A Challenge for the Phytosociology of the Twenty-First Century? In: Box, E. O. (Ed.)
Structure and Function at Multiple Spatial, Temporal and Conceptual Scales''
Springer. pp. 407-424
Phytocoenology was initially considered to be a subdiscipline of 'geobotany'. In
Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...
the concept of plant associations was popular at an early date. Hampus von Post (1842, 1862),
Ragnar Hult Ragnar Hult (4 March 1857 – 25 September 1899) was a Finnish botanist and plant geographer. He was a forerunner in developing a methodology for vegetation survey. He emphasized the physiognomy of vegetation and paid less attention to its ecolog ...
(1881, 1898),
Thore Christian Elias Fries Thore Christian Elias Fries (3 November 1886 – 31 December 1930 son of Theodor Magnus Fries and brother of Robert Elias Fries) was Professor of Systematic Botany at Lund University. He specialised in lichenology and plant geography. This bot ...
(1913),
Gustaf Einar Du Rietz Gustaf Einar Du Rietz (25 April 1895 – 7 March 1967) was a Swedish botanist and lichenologist. His research interests included plant ecology, lichen taxonomy, and biogeography. He was a leading figure in the Uppsala school of phytosociology ...
(1921). * Rübel (1922, 1930), Pavillard (1927), * Schröter & Kirchner (1886–1902), Flahault &
Carl Joseph Schröter Carl Joseph Schröter (19 December 1855 – 7 February 1939) was a Swiss botanist born in Esslingen am Neckar, Germany. From 1874 he studied natural sciences at ''Eidgenössische Polytechnische Schule'' (ETH Zurich), where one of his early influe ...
(1910), In the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
an important botanist to apply and popularise the science was
Vladimir Sukachev Vladimir Nikolayevich Sukachev (also spelled Vladimir Nikolajevich Sukaczev) (; born 7 June 1880 in Aleksandrovka, Ukraine, Aleksandrovka, Russian Empire – died 9 February 1967 in Moscow) was a Russian geobotanist, engineer, geographer, and co ...
. The science of phytosociology has hardly penetrated into the English-speaking world, where the continuum concept of community prevailed, opposed to the concept of a 'society' of plants. Nonetheless it had some early adherents in the United States, notably
Frederic Clements Frederic Edward Clements (September 16, 1874 – July 26, 1945) was an American plant ecologist and pioneer in the study of both plant ecology and vegetation succession. Biography Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied botany at the University o ...
in particular, who used the concept to characterise the vegetation of California. Largely following European ideas, he devised his own system to classify habitat types using vegetation. Clements most important contribution was his study of
succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...
. His work has seen much local usage. In Britain
Arthur Tansley Sir Arthur George Tansley FLS, FRS (15 August 1871 – 25 November 1955) was an English botanist and a pioneer in the science of ecology. Educated at Highgate School, University College London and Trinity College, Cambridge, Tansley taught ...
was the first to apply phytosociological concepts to the vegetation of the kingdom in 1911 after learning of its application elsewhere in Europe. Tansley eventually broadened the concept and thus came up with the idea of an
ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...
, combining all biotic and abiotic ecological aspects of an environment. The work of Tansley and Clements was quite divergent from the rest.


Usage today

Modern phytosociology for largely follows the work of
Józef Paczoski Józef Konrad Paczoski (; 8 December 186414 February 1942), was a distinguished Polish botanist whose significant contributions to the field have left a lasting impact on botanical studies. Born on 8th December 1864, he held the esteemed position ...
in Poland,
Josias Braun-Blanquet Josias Braun-Blanquet (3 August 1884 – 20 September 1980) was an influential phytosociologist and botanist. Braun-Blanquet was born in Chur, Switzerland, and died in Montpellier, France. Biography In Josias Braun-Blanquet's dissertation, sup ...
in France and
Gustaf Einar Du Rietz Gustaf Einar Du Rietz (25 April 1895 – 7 March 1967) was a Swedish botanist and lichenologist. His research interests included plant ecology, lichen taxonomy, and biogeography. He was a leading figure in the Uppsala school of phytosociology ...
in Sweden. In Europe a complete classification system has been developed to describe the vegetation types found across the continent. These are used as habitat-type classifications in the
NATURA 2000 Natura 2000 is a network of nature protection areas in the territory of the European Union. It is made up of Special Areas of Conservation and Special Protection Areas designated under the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive, respectiv ...
network and in
Habitats Directive The Habitats Directive (more formally known as Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora) is a directive adopted by the European Community in 1992 as a response to the Berne Convention. The ...
legislation. Each phytocoenose has been given a number, and protected areas can thus be classified according to the habitats they contain. In Europe this information is generally mapped per 2 km² blocks for
conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manage ...
purposes, such as monitoring particularly endangered habitat types, predicting success of
reintroduction Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the organism is capable of survival. The goal of species reintroduction is to establish a healthy, genetically diverse, self-sustain ...
s, or estimating more specific
carrying capacities The carrying capacity of an ecosystem is the maximum population size of a biological species that can be sustained by that specific environment, given the food, habitat, water, and other resources available. The carrying capacity is defined as the ...
. Because certain habitats are deemed more imperilled (i.e. having a higher conservation value) than others, a numerical conservation value of a specific site can be approximated.


Overview

The aim of phytosociology is to achieve a sufficient empirical model of vegetation using combinations of plant species (or subspecies, i.e.
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...
) that characterize discrete vegetation units. Vegetation units as understood by phytosociologists may express largely abstract vegetation concepts (e.g. the set of all hard-leaved
evergreen forest An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temperate zo ...
s of western
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
area) or actual readily recognizable vegetation types (e.g. cork-oak oceanic forests on
Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...
dunes with dense canopy in
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
). Such conceptual units are called syntaxa (singular "syntaxon") and can be set in a hierarchy system called "synsystem" or syntaxonomic system. Creating new syntaxa or adjusting the synsystem is called syntaxonomy. Before the rules were agreed upon, a number of slightly different systems of classification existed. These were known as "schools" or "traditions", and there were two main systems: the older Scandinavian school and the Zürich-Montpellier school, also sometimes called the Braun-Blanquet approach.


Relevé

The first step in phytosociology is gathering data. This is done with what is known as a relevé, a plot in which all the species are identified, and their abundance both vertically and in area are calculated. Other data are also recorded for a relevé: the geographic location, environmental factors and vegetation structure. Boolean operators and (formerly) tables are used to sort the data. As the calculations needed are difficult and tedious to do manually, modern ecologists feed the relevé data into software programs that use algorithms to crunch the numbers.


Association model

The basic unit of syntaxonomy, the organisation and nomenclature of phytosociological relationships, is the "
association Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
", defined by its characteristic combination of plant taxa. Sometimes other habitat features such as the management by humans (mowing regime, for example),
physiognomy Physiognomy () or face reading is the practice of assessing a person's character or personality from their outer appearance—especially the face. The term can also refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain without referenc ...
and/or the stage in
ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of how species compositions change in an Community (ecology), ecological community over time. The two main categories of ecological succession are primary succession and secondary succession. Primary successi ...
may also be considered. Such an association is usually viewed as a discrete phytocoenose. Similar and neighbouring associations can be grouped in larger ecological conceptual units, with a group of plant associations called an "alliance". Similar alliances may be grouped in "orders" and orders in vegetation "classes". The setting of syntaxa in such a hierarchy makes up the syntaxonomical system. The most important workers to define the modern system were initially
Charles Flahault Charles Henri Marie Flahault (3 October 18523 February 1935) was a French botanist, among the early pioneers of phytogeography, phytosociology, and forest ecology. The word '' relevé'' for a plant community sample is his invention. Early life an ...
, with the work of his student
Josias Braun-Blanquet Josias Braun-Blanquet (3 August 1884 – 20 September 1980) was an influential phytosociologist and botanist. Braun-Blanquet was born in Chur, Switzerland, and died in Montpellier, France. Biography In Josias Braun-Blanquet's dissertation, sup ...
being the what is generally considered the final version of syntaxonomical nomenclature. Braun-Blanquet further refined and standardised the work of Flahault and many others when he worked on the phytocoenosis of the southern
Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...
. He established the modern system of classifying vegetation. Braun-Blanquet's method uses the
scientific name In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
of its most characteristic species as namesake, changing the ending of the
generic epithet Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family as used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial spec ...
to "-''etum''" and treating the
specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...
as an
adjective An adjective (abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that describes or defines a noun or noun phrase. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Traditionally, adjectives are considered one of the main part of speech, parts of ...
. Thus, a particular type of mesotrophic grassland widespread in western Europe and dominated only by the grass ''
Arrhenatherum elatius ''Arrhenatherum elatius'' is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae, commonly known as false oat-grass, and also bulbous oat grass (subsp. ''bulbosum''), tall oat-grass, tall meadow oat, onion couch and tuber oat-grass. It is na ...
'' becomes "'' Arrhenatheretum elatioris'' Br.-Bl.". To distinguish between similar plant communities dominated by the same species, other important species are included in the name, but the name is otherwise is formed according to the same rules. Another type of mesotrophic
pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...
dominated by black knapweed (''
Centaurea nigra ''Centaurea nigra'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, and is also known as lesser knapweed, common knapweed, black knapweed and bell weed. It is native to central Europe, and has been introduced to temperate North America ...
'') and the grass ''
Cynosurus cristatus ''Cynosurus cristatus'', the crested dog's-tail, is a short-lived perennial grass in the family Poaceae, characterised by a seed head that is flat on one side. It typically grows in species rich grassland. It thrives in a variety of soil types ...
'', which is also widespread in western Europe, is consequently named ''
Centaureo-Cynosuretum cristati British NVC community MG5 (''Cynosurus cristatus - Centaurea nigra'' grassland) is one of the mesotrophic grassland communities in the British National Vegetation Classification system. It is one of four such communities associated with well-drai ...
'' Br.-Bl. & Tx.. If the second species is characteristic but notably less dominant than the first one, its genus name may be used as the adjective, for example in '' Pterocarpetum rhizophorosus'', a type of
tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...
scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...
near water which has abundant ''
Pterocarpus officinalis ''Pterocarpus officinalis'', the dragonsblood tree, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to southern Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is typically found in coastal freshwater or slig ...
'' and significant (though not overwhelmingly prominent) red mangrove (''
Rhizophora mangle ''Rhizophora mangle'', also known as the red mangrove, is a salt-tolerant, small-to-medium sized evergreen tree restricted to coastal, estuarine ecosystems along the southern portions of North America, the Caribbean as well as Central America ...
''). Today an ''International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature'' exists, in which the rules for naming syntaxa are given. Its use has increased among botanists. In Anglo-American ecology, the association concept is mostly linked to the work of the mid-twentieth century botanist
Henry Gleason Henry Allan Gleason (1882–1975) was an American ecologist, botanist, and taxonomist. He was known for his endorsement of the individualistic or open community concept of ecological succession, and his opposition to Frederic Clements's concept ...
, who set it up as an alternative to Frederic Clement's views on the superorganismic framework. The philosophical parameters of the association concept have also come under study by environmental philosophers as to how it values and defends the natural environment.


Vegetation complexes

Modern phytosociologists try to include higher levels of complexity in the perception of vegetation, namely by describing whole successional units (vegetation series) or, in general, vegetation complexes. Other developments include the use of
multivariate statistics Multivariate statistics is a subdivision of statistics encompassing the simultaneous observation and analysis of more than one outcome variable, i.e., '' multivariate random variables''. Multivariate statistics concerns understanding the differ ...
for the definition of syntaxa and their interpretation.


Data collections

Phytosociological data contain information collected in relevés (or plots) listing each species cover-abundance values and the measured environmental variables. This data is conveniently databanked in a program like TURBOVEG allowing for editing, storage and export to other applications. Data is usually classified and sorted using TWINSPAN in host programs like
JUICE Juice is a drink made from the extraction or Cold-pressed juice, pressing of the natural liquid contained in fruit and vegetables. It can also refer to liquids that are flavored with concentrate or other biological food sources, such as meat ...
to create realistic species-relevé associations. Further patterns are investigated using clustering and resemblance methods, and ordination techniques available in software packages like CANOCO or the R-package vegan. PDF


See also

*
Josias Braun-Blanquet Josias Braun-Blanquet (3 August 1884 – 20 September 1980) was an influential phytosociologist and botanist. Braun-Blanquet was born in Chur, Switzerland, and died in Montpellier, France. Biography In Josias Braun-Blanquet's dissertation, sup ...
*
Józef Paczoski Józef Konrad Paczoski (; 8 December 186414 February 1942), was a distinguished Polish botanist whose significant contributions to the field have left a lasting impact on botanical studies. Born on 8th December 1864, he held the esteemed position ...
*
António Rodrigo Pinto da Silva Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language–speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular m ...
* Victor Westhoff *
Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the species distribution, distribution of species and ecosystems in geography, geographic space and through evolutionary history of life, geological time. Organisms and biological community (ecology), communities o ...
* JUICE - program for phytosociologists *
Plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...
*
Phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution ...


References


External links


International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature
3rd edition



Methods of Ecosystem Analysis, yale.edu
Technical University of Braunschweig, Working Group for Vegetation Ecology and Experimental Plant Sociology, accessed 20 April 2010
{{Authority control Branches of botany Biogeography Habitats Habitat management equipment and methods Nomenclature codes ru:Геоботаника