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The Concept of Structure in Phytosociology with References to Classification of Plant Communities

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Book cover Data-processing in phytosociology

Part of the book series: Advances in vegetation science I ((AIVS,volume 1))

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Abstract

In phytosociology the term ‘structure’ appears to refer prevailingly to the spatial distribution pattern of biomass and representation of life forms which are expressed in different ways. The use of compound terms such as population structure, age structure, ecological structure, competitive structure, production structure, size-class structure, dynamic structure, are more or less common in the literature. In texts describing vegetation structure, we can find paragraphs dealing with physiognomy, species composition, synusiae, consortia, minimal area, species association, etc. In these texts only about one in two authors discuss cyclic changes, i.e. the periodicity of plant communities. In theoretical ecology, on the other hand, sets of differential equations describing dynamics of multipopulation systems are considered as appropriate models for community structure.

Contribution from the Working Group for Data-Processing, International Society for Vegetation Science.

Thanks are due to Drs. J. Jeník and J.Květ for advice and to the Editors for linguistic help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, Charles University, Praha, Czechoslovakia

    M. Rejmánek

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  1. M. Rejmánek
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geobotany, University of Nijmegen, Toernooiveld, Nijmegen, The Netherlands

    Eddy van der Maarel

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Western Ontario, N6A 5B7, London, Canada

    László Orlóci

  3. Istituto ed Orto Botanico, I 34100, Trieste, Italy

    Sandro Pignatti

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© 1980 Dr. W. Junk bv Publishers, The Hague

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Rejmánek, M. (1980). The Concept of Structure in Phytosociology with References to Classification of Plant Communities. In: van der Maarel, E., Orlóci, L., Pignatti, S. (eds) Data-processing in phytosociology. Advances in vegetation science I, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9194-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-9194-1_10

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