Some Examples of Application

Abstract

Vegetation maps show the location, extent and geographical distribution of units of vegetation and indicate directly or by implication something about the nature of the sites on which the vegetation units occur. The significance of such maps lies in the fact that they portray areas of equal biological potential or what Rey (1962c) called ‘isopotential zones’. Such zones consist therefore of ecologically equivalent biotopes and form the natural divisions of the landscape. These, in turn, can be read directly on a map of the natural vegetation. The important point here is that those in charge of land-use should have a map that reveals the areas of biological potential. Whether these areas happen to be occupied by one or another kind of substitute communities at a given time is of secondary importance because even the cultural vegetation fits neatly into the framework of the natural phytocenoses, and the laws of phytocenology apply just as much to cultural vegetation as they do to natural plant communities.