The period after the I Ind World War was characterized by growing interest in water plants. This review describes very briefly the development of these studies. More a t tent ion was paid to the production ecology and physiological ecology of water plants, i.e. to those branches which started their act ivi ty during the period evaluated. These studies were st imulated by projects of the IBP and MaB programe.
The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens deposited new substrates upon which wetlands are now developing. We collected soil from five wetlands south of Spirit Lake, Mount St. Helens, Washington, to examine the seed banks. Seedling emergence density in the top 5 cm was highly variable, and ranged from (mean±s.d.) 15,700±15,200 to 38,000±31,500 per m2. Seedling emergence from soil at 5 to 10 cm depth varied from 800±600 to 18,000±24,800 per m2, and averaged 1/3 as many seeds as the surface. The high proportion of buried seeds may be due to continuing deposition of upland sediments. We identified 17 taxa from the wetland soil samples withEpilobium ciliatum, Juncus bufonius, Agrostis exarata andJuncus ensifolius being the dominant species. Wetland vegetation was dominated byEquisetum arvense, Salix sitchensis, Typha latifolia and the four dominant species in the seed bank. Correlations between vegetation and seed bank were not significant for four of the five wetlands, and the dominance byTypha latifolia in two wetlands contributed to the low correlations. Thus, vegetation of these early successional wetlands generally was not similar to seed bank composition. Canonical correspondence analysis was used to relate soil parameters to vegetation and seed bank data. The vegetation was correlated primarily with soil particle size and secondarily to water temperature, while the seed bank was correlated to pH, texture and temperature.
Using the Braun-Blanquet approach, a syntaxonomical revision of the order ofQuercetalia pubescenti-petraeae, based on the synthesis of 634 relevés, distinguished three alliances of the thermophilous oak forests in the Czech Republic: (1)Quercion pubescenti-petraeae (3 communities:Pruno mahaleb-Quercetum pubescentis, Lathyro versicoloris-Quercetum pubescentis, Corno-Quercetum), which includes peri-alpine and peri-Carpathian oak forests on calcareous bedrock, (2)Aceri tatarici-Quercion (2 communities:Quercetum pubescenti-roboris, Carici fritschii-Quercetum roboris), which comprises Pontic-Pannonian oak forests on loess or sand that occur in southern Moravia only, (3)Quercion petraeae (5 communities:Potentillo albae-Quercetum, Brachypodium pinnatum-Quercus robur community,Sorbo torminalis-Quercetum, Genisto pilosae-Quercetum petraeae, Asplenio cuneifolii-Quercetum petraeae), which includes Central European thermophilous oak forests distributed outside the range ofQuercus pubescens and some other submediterranean species.
Nomenclature, Plant communities, Syntaxonomy Phytosociology is a modem science which uses a methodology recognized by most plant ecologists to be the most efficient and effective way to explain natural vegetation patterns in a geographic area with a variety of ecological features. This approach is widely used in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, but not yet in North America. North American vegetation studies are very heterogeneous and the classification of plant communities has not been their objective. California is probably the region in the United States with most references on natural vegetation studies, but, unfortunately, the phytosociological approach has been used rarely on Californian vegetation. Major United States and Californian vegetation units are well-known, especially since Kt)CHLER'S works (1964, 1977). The synthesis on California published by BARaOUR & MAJOR (1977) and the general North American overview (BARBOUR & BILLINGS 1988) are also some basic references on modem North American vegetation bibliographies. These syntheses and classifications
A review of the vegetation of Greece, following the hierarchical system of four main syntaxonomic levels (association, alliance, order, class) is presented and the correspondence of the high-ranked syntaxa with the Habitat Types included in Annex I of the Directive 92/43/EEC has been prepared. The syntaxonomic list of the vegetation units of Greece (up to alliance level) is composed of 41 classes, 56 orders, and 91 alliances. Of the 226 Habitat Types listed in Annex I of Directive 92/43/EEC, 111 different Habitat Types are present in Greece, of which 26 are Priority Types. The establishment of a syntaxonomic typology for the Habitat Types recorded in Greece is essential for the sake of vegetation mapping and nature conservation. A habitat coding system, as applied in Spain, is proposed for Greece for mapping purposes. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A02DO015 00007
A syntaxonomic revision of vegetation of anthropogenic metalliferous habitats (mine spoils of lead, zinc and copper mining) in the Eastern Alps (Austria, Germany, Italy and Slovenia) was made. The communities studied belong to theThlaspietea rotundifolii (Linaria alpina-Cerastium uniflorum comm.,Papaveri kerneri-Thlaspietum kerneri, Violetum dubyanae, Thlaspietum cepaeifolii, Thlaspietum rotundifolii, Scrophulario juratensis-Erysimetum sylvestris, Minuartia gerardii-Silene glareosa comm.,Epipactido atrorubentis-Silenetum glareosae andSileno alpestris-Moehringietum muscosae) and to theAsplenietea trichomanis (Sileno rupestris-Asplenietum). There is neither floristic support nor syntaxonomic justification for the concepts of theGalio anisophylli-Minuartion vernae, theVioletalia calaminariae and theVioletea calaminariae in the Eastern Alps. These units should be included within theThlaspion rotundifolii, Thlaspietalia rotundifolii andThlaspietea rotundifolii, respectively.
Heathland vegetation of northern Spain, included in theCalluno-Ulicetea, was studied using a set of 802 phytosociological relevés. The existing syntaxonomy has been tested and most of the types (associations and subassociations) fit satisfactorily with the observed groupings. Two main problems were encountered within theUlex dominated communities of the Cantabrian fringe and the Castilian-Cantabrian heathland communities. Both groups of communities were subject to ordination in order to clarify relationships between them. For the former group, ordination suggests that three associations can be distinguished: theUlici-Ericetum vagantis (lowlands up to the submontane belt), theVaccinio-Ulicetum gallii for the communities of higher altitudes (montane belt) and theUlici-Ericetum ciliaris (hygrophilous heathlands). The Castilian-Cantabrian heathlands show a variable Mediterranean influence and have a dispersed distribution due to lithological conditions. This results in the distinction of two new associations, viz. theArctostaphylo crassifoliae-Daboecietum cantabricae (marly, water-retaining soils) and theEricetum scopario-vagantis (sandy soils). A complete classification of theCalluno-Ulicetea in the studied area and short ecological and biogeographical diagnoses are given.
The main objective of the present study was to attempt to assign different vegetation types in South Sweden to the Braun-Blanquet system of syntaxa. The alliance was chosen as the most appropriate phytosociological unit for this purpose. Coniferous forests represent the zonal vegetation in large parts of South Sweden: spruce forests on mesic to moist sites and pine forests on dry, often strongly oligotrophic sites can be assigned to thePiceion excelsae andDicrano-Pinion respectively. In addition, various types of azonal vegetation (e.g., mires, springs, swamps and salt-marshes) subjected to some form of extreme environmental factor can be placed in alliances described from Central Europe. In contrast, some southern vegetation types in Sweden are difficult to assign, partly due to a lack of character species, as in the case of deciduous hardwood forests. In other cases, species of southern syntaxa are still frequent, for example in dry basiphilous grasslands and sun-exposed forest edges, but the syntaxonomical difficulties arise from an intermixture of diagnostic species of complementary alliances. This might be explained by the floristic and climatic conditions in South Sweden which deviate considerably from those in e.g. Germany a feature supported by the communities' indicator figures for temperature and continentality. This refers particularly to the combination of rather low average temperatures and, except in the west, a strong thermal or hygric continentality.
Six transects were established on the edges of two deciduous forests near Krosno (Carpathian Foothills) to compare the species richness pattern of vascular plants, bryophytes and fungi. The transects had the shape of a cross with one arm 10 m along the forest edge and the other across the edge, 50 m into the forest interior and 12 m into the grassland. They consisted of 2×2 quadrats.
Differences between two subspecies ofBolboschoenus maritimus (L.)Palla (=Scirpus maritimus L.) in different habitats (littoral and terrestrial) are partly due to variations in the buoyancy of their achenes, caused by different anatomical structure of the fruits. This hypothesis was tested by comparing fruit buoyancy and anatomy of both subspecies at several localities.
The rupicolous vegetation of the Asplenietea trichomanis in the south-western Iberian Peninsula is analysed using the methods of the Zürich-Montpellier School. Phytosociological tables, and biogeographical, ecological and floristic data are given for a number of syntaxa. A phytosociological synopsis of the studied vegetation was made for the entire region. Four new syntaxa are described: the Coincyo logirostri-Dianthetum lusitani, Jasiono marianae-Dianthetum lusitani jasionetosum tomentosae, Digitali thapsi-Dianthetum lusitani conopodietosum ramosi and Sedo hirsuti-Polypodietum cambrici polypodietosum interjecti .
A synopsis of high-rank syntaxa of scree vegetation with an accompanying list of plant communities is presented. The classification of scree vegetation in only one broadly conceived class, the Thlaspietea rotundifolii, throughout Europe is a new concept.The vegetation on screes was classified into 8 major groups (17 orders and 42 alliances) according to their altitudinal range and the chemistry of the parent material. Brief information on ecological conditions, phytogeographical patterns, and altitudinal distribution are given. The characteristics and important diagnostic taxa for each alliance and order classified within the Thlaspietea rotundifolii are given.
