Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic charact ...

over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use,

resource Resource refers to all the materials available in our environment which are technologically accessible, economically feasible and culturally sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and wants. Resources can broadly be classified upon their av ...

and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for

biodiversity management Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using

geographic information systems A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...

(GIS) software.

Classification schemes

Following, some important classification schemes.

Köppen (1884)

Although this scheme is in fact of a

climate classification Climate classifications are systems that categorize the world's climates. A climate classification may correlate closely with a biome classification, as climate is a major influence on life in a region. One of the most used is the Köppen climate ...

, it has a deep relationship with vegetation studies: * Class A ** Tropical rainforest ''(Af)'' ** Tropical monsoon ''(Am)'' ** Tropical savanna ''(Aw, As)'' * Class B ** Desert'' (BWh, BWk)'' ** Semi-arid ''(BSh, BSk)'' * Class C ** Humid subtropical ''(Cfa, Cwa)'' ** Oceanic ''(Cfb, Cwb, Cfc, Cwc)'' ** Mediterranean ''(Csa, Csb, Csc)'' * Class D ** Humid continental ''(Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb, Dsa, Dsb)'' ** Subarctic ''(Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd, Dsc, Dsd)'' * Class E ** Tundra ''(ET)'' ** Ice cap ''(EF)'' ** Alpine ''(ET, EF)''

Wagner & von Sydow (1888)

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

von Sydow von Sydow, often used in German and Swedish with the word "von" meaning "of", is a locational surname, which originally meant simply a person from one of several places called Sydow in northern Germany.''Dictionary of American Family Names''"Von Syd ...

(1888) scheme: ''Vegetationsgürtel'' (vegetation belts):Wagner, H. & von Sydow, E. 1888. ''Sydow-Wagners methodischer Schulatlas''. Gotha: Perthes

23th (last) ed., 1944

* ''Tundren'' (tundra) * ''Hochgebirgsflora'' (mountain flora) * ''Vegetationsarme Gebiete (Wüsten)'' (vegetation poor areas eserts * ''der gemässigten zone'' (the temperate zone) ** ''Grasland'' (prairie) ** ''Vorherrschend Nadelwald'' (mainly coniferous forest) ** ''Wald (Laub und Nadelwald) und Kulturland'' (forest eciduous and coniferous forestand cultivated land) * ''in tropischen und subtropischen Gebieten'' (in tropical and subtropical areas) ** ''Grasland'' (prairie) ** ''Wald und Kulturland'' (forest and cultivated land) ** ''Urwald'' (jungle)

Warming (1895, 1909)

Warming (1895, 1909) oecological classes:Warming, E. (1895). '' Plantesamfund - Grundtræk af den økologiske Plantegeografi.'' P.G. Philipsens Forlag, Kjøbenhavn. 335 pp.Warming, E. (1909). ''Oecology of Plants. An introduction to the study of plant-communities'', translated by P. Groom and I. B. Balfour. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 422 pp
BHL
* A. The soil (in the widest sense) is very wet, and the abundant water is available to the plant (at least in Class 1), the formations are therefore more or less hydrophilous: ** Class 1. Hydrophytes (of formations in water). ** Class 2. Helophytes (of formations in marsh). * B. The soil is physiologically dry, i. e. contains water which is available to the plant only to a slight extent; the formations are therefore essentially composed of xerophilous species: ** Class 3. Oxylophytes (of formations on sour (acid) soil). ** Class 4. Psychrophytes (of formations on cold soil). ** Class 5. Halophytes (of formations on saline soil). * C. The soil is physically dry, and its slight power of retaining water determines the vegetation, the climate being of secondary import; the formations are therefore likewise xerophilous: ** Class 6. Lithophytes (of formations on rocks). ** Class 7. Psammophytes (of formations on sand and gravel). ** Class 8. Chersophytes (of formations on waste land). * D. The climate is very dry and decides the character of the vegetation; the properties of the soil are dominated by climate; the formations are also xerophilous: ** Class 9. Eremophytes (of formations on desert and steppe). ** Class 10. Psilophytes (of formations on savannah). ** Class 11. Sclerophyllous formations (bush and forest). * E. The soil is physically or physically dry: ** Class 12. Coniferous formations (forest). * F. Soil and climate favour the development of mesophilous formations: ** Class 13. Mesophytes. Warming's types of formations: * 1. Microphyte-formation * 2. Moss-formation * 3. Herb-formation * 4. Dwarf-shrub formations and undershrub-formations * 5. Bush-wood or shrub-wood * 6. Forest ** High forest ** Underwood ** Forest-floor vegetation * Other ** Simple formations ** Compound formations ** Mixed formations ** Secondary formations ** Sub-formations

Schimper (1898, 1903)

Schimper (1898, 1903) climatic chief formation types:Schimper, A. F. W. 1898. ''Pflanzen-Geographie auf physiologischer Grundlage''. Fisher, Jena. 876 pp. English translation, 1903

* Woodland, forest, bushwood, shrubwood * Grassland, meadow (hygrophilous or tropophilous), steppe (xerophilous), savannah (xerophilous grassland containing isolated trees) * Desert (dry or cold) Schimper formation types across the zones and regions * Tropical zone formations ** Climatic formations *** Tropical districts constantly moist **** Rain-forest *** Tropical districts with pronounced dry seasons **** Woodland formations (monsoon-forest, savannah-forest, thorn-forest) **** Grassland formations *** Tropical deserts ** Glossary of botanical terms#edaphic, Edaphic formations *** In Tropical Inland Country *** In Tropical Sea-shore * Temperate zone formations ** Climatic formations *** Warm temperate belts **** Subtropical districts **** Constantly moist districts (without a dry season) **** Moist summer districts **** Moist winter districts *** Cold temperate belts *** Temperate deserts ** Edaphic formations *** Littoral Formations *** Heath *** Moors * Arctic zone formations ** Tundra, moss-tundra, lichen-tundra, moors, oases * Mountain climate formations (basal region, montane region, alpine region) ** In the tropics ** In the temperate zones * Aquatic vegetation ** Marine vegetation ** Freshwater vegetation

Schimper & Faber (1935)

Formation-types:Beard J.S. (1978). The Physiognomic Approach. In: R. H. Whittaker (editor). ''Classification of Plant Communities'', pp 33-64

* 1. Tropical rainforest * 2. Subtropical rainforest * 3. Monsoon forest * 4. Temperate rainforest * 5. Summer-green deciduous forest * 6. Needle-leaf forest * 7. Evergreen hardwood forest * 8. Savanna woodland * 9. Thorn forest and scrub * 10. Savanna * 11. Steppe and semidesert * 12. Heath * 13. Dry desert * 14. Tundra and cold woodland * 15. Cold desert

Ellenberg & Mueller-Dombois (1967)

Heinz Ellenberg, Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) scheme: * Formation-class I. Closed forests * Formation-class II. Woodlands * Formation-class III. Fourrés (shrublands or thickets) * Formation-class IV. Dwarf-scrub and related communities * Formation-class V. Terrestrial herbaceous communities * Formation-class VI. Deserts and other scarcely vegetated areas * Formation-class VII. Aquatic plant formations

Oliveira-Filho (2009, 2015)

A vegetation classification with six main criteria ("hierarchical attributes", with exemplified categories applicable mainly to

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bi ...

region): * A. Basic vegetation physiognomies ** 1. Forest physiognomies ** 2. Shrubland physiognomies ** 3. Savanna physiognomies ** 4. Grassland physiognomies ** 5. Man-made physiognomies * B. Climatic regime ** Maritime ** Semi-arid ** Seasonal ** Rain ** Cloud * C. Leaf flush regime ** Evergreen ** Semideciduous ** Deciduous ** Alternate ** Ephemeral * D. Thermal realm ** Tropical ** Subtropical, etc. * E. Elevation range ** Coastal ** Lower plains ** Upper plains ** Lower highlands ** Upper highlands ** Montane * F. Substrate ** Shallow soils ** Deep soils ** Soily ** Sandy ** Gravelly ** Rocky ** Dystrophic ** Mesotrophic ** Eutrophic ** Ridge ** Slope ** Thalweg ** Riverine ** Floodplain ** Marshy ** Swampy

Other

Other important schemes: Grisebach (1872), Tansley and Chipp (1926), Rübel (1930),

Burtt Davy Joseph Burtt Davy (7 March 1870 Findern, Derbyshire – 20 August 1940 Birmingham) was a Quaker botanist and agrostologist. He was the first curator of the Forest Herbarium (FHO) at the Imperial Forestry Institute when it was founded in 1924 unde ...

(1938),

Beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal a ...

(1944, 1955), André Aubréville (1956, 1957), Trochain (1955, 1957), Dansereau (1958), Küchler (1967), Webb and Tracey (1975). In the sixties, A. W. Kuchler coordinated an extensive review of vegetation maps from all the continents, compiling the terminology used for the types of vegetation.Küchler, A. W. (1965-1970). ''International bibliography of vegetation maps''. Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas Libraries. 5 vol

nd ed., 1980

]

References

{{Biomes Botany Ecology