Abstract
The method of principal component analysis (PCA) is commonly used for the ordination of plant communities (through relevés or synoptic tables). Its diffusion in ecology is due to the work of Goodall (1954), Dagnelie (1960), van Groenewoud (1965), Orlóci (1966, 1973), Austin & Orlóci (1966), Ivimey-Cook & Proctor (1967), van der Maarel (1969), and others. Although PCA is a statistical method, in ecology it serves as an ordination technique in indirect gradient analysis (Whittaker 1967) without much statistical content.
Contribution from the Working Group for Data-Processing in Phytosociology, International Society for Vegetation Science.
This work was supported by the Italian C.N.R. and the Centro di Calcolo dell’Università di Trieste within the framework of a broader project entitled ‘I metodi statistici e le loro applicazioni mediante l’uso dell’elaboratore’.
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Feoli, E. (1980). On the Resolving Power of Principal Component Analysis in Plant Community Ordination. 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_8
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