Latest Articles from Vegetation Classification and Survey Latest 4 Articles from Vegetation Classification and Survey https://vcs.pensoft.net/ Fri, 29 Mar 2024 07:07:55 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://vcs.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Vegetation Classification and Survey https://vcs.pensoft.net/ Vegetation survey methodology in arable weeds is reported with less detail from vegetation science than weed science https://vcs.pensoft.net/article/105300/ Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 209-218

DOI: 10.3897/VCS.105300

Authors: Jana Bürger, Filip Küzmič

Abstract: Aims: Understand and illustrate differences and common methods in surveys of arable weed vegetation from the two scientific disciplines Vegetation science and Weed science; analyse the relationship between study aims and the employed methodology; assess in how much detail methodologies are reported and whether this changed over time. Study area: Europe. Methods: Literature review, classification of studies according to their reported aims and according to the journal scope. Results: Survey methods were reported in greater detail in studies aiming to describe management effects on weed vegetation compared to phytosociological studies. Methods employed in vegetation science and weed science differ in plot sizes, surveyed field parts and the seasonal timing of the survey. Conclusions: We recommend for future weed surveys to record and report on plot size and position relative to field limits, recording date, abundance scale, as well as the crop grown in a field. This information should also be retained when digitising published data and compiling large databases. A data standard should be developed in an interdisciplinary process.

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Review and Synthesis Mon, 2 Oct 2023 16:05:30 +0300
Vegetation types of the Arid Chaco in Central-Western Argentina https://vcs.pensoft.net/article/100532/ Vegetation Classification and Survey 4: 167-188

DOI: 10.3897/VCS.100532

Authors: Sebastián R. Zeballos, Alicia T. R. Acosta, Walter D. Agüero, Rodrigo J. Ahumada, Martín G. Almirón, Daihana S. Argibay, Daniel N. Arroyo, Lisandro J. Blanco, Fernando N. Biurrun, Juan J. Cantero, Justo Márquez, Alejandro Quiroga, Raúl E. Quiroga, Marcelo R. Cabido

Abstract: Aims: We address the following questions: 1) Which are the main vegetation types that currently occur in the Arid Chaco? 2) Do those vegetation types differ in terms of floristic composition, endemism, chorotypes and life forms? and 3) Is there any spatial association between the vegetation types and the environmental heterogeneity of the Arid Chaco? Study area: The southwestern extreme of the Gran Chaco, in Central-Western Argentina. Methods: The survey was based on a dataset comprising 654 relevés collected according to the Braun-Blanquet method. Data were classified by the hierarchical ISOmetric feature mapping and Partition Around Medoids (ISOPAM), and ordinated through isometric feature mapping (ISOMAP). Bioclimatic and edaphic variables were related to the ISOMAP ordination. Results: We recorded 439 vascular plant species, 62 endemic at the national level and 22 endemic species restricted to the study and surrounding environments in Central-Western Argentina. A total of nine vegetation types, belonging to four major clusters, were identified. The most prominent chorotypes included species distributed in the Chaco region and in the Arid Chaco/Monte phytogeographic units. The predominant life forms were micro- and nano-phanerophytes, followed by hemicryptophytes, chamaephytes and mesophanerophytes. Conclusions: Major results highlighted that xerophytic shrublands are the most common vegetation types in this area as a result of the historical and present use, while old growth forests were constrained to areas with low anthropogenic disturbance in the last decades or to protected areas. Most vegetation types (with the exception of halophytic environments) are poorly differentiated from a floristic point of view; however, they clearly differ in physiognomy. The floristic composition of the vegetation types described revealed numerous species in common with other sectors of the Chaco of northern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. Although the number of species restricted to the Arid Chaco was quite low, the most relevant chorotype included species with Western and Eastern Chaco distribution, conferring a clear Chaquenian identity to this area and discriminating it from other phytogeographic units. Taxonomic reference: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Zuloaga et al. 2008) and its online update (http://www.darwin.edu.ar). Abbreviations: ISOMAP = isometric feature mapping; ISOPAM = isometric partitioning around medoids.

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Research Paper Mon, 24 Jul 2023 08:43:53 +0300
VegAndes: the vegetation database for the Latin American highlands https://vcs.pensoft.net/article/95750/ Vegetation Classification and Survey 3: 287-296

DOI: 10.3897/VCS.95750

Authors: Gwendolyn Peyre, Daniel Montesinos, Daniela Giraldo, Antonio Galán de Mera, Barbara Ruthsatz, Federico Luebert, Marcela Ontivero, Nicolas García, Miguel Álvarez, Rosa Isela Meneses, Pablo Lozano, Daniela León, Maximilian Weigend, Fabien Anthelme, Milagro Palma, Carolina Rodriguez

Abstract: In the era of Big Data, Latin American countries and biomes remain underrepresented. To remediate this issue, promoting repositories for biodiversity data focused on Latin America is a main priority. VegAndes -Dpt the vegetation database for the Latin American highlands (GIVD: SA-00-005), is a novel dataset for georeferenced and standardized information on vascular pants in the region. The database compiles 5,340 vegetation plots sampled above the montane treeline and below the permanent snowline in 11 Latin American countries and spanning over seven decades. VegAndes currently encompasses 5,804 taxon names, corresponding to 3,858 accepted names, as well as 136 syntaxon names. The database is nested within a scientific consortium of Latin American experts on highland vegetation and piloted from the University of the Andes (Colombia). Because the VegAndes data can support multi-scale studies in botany, ecology and biogeography, the database makes an essential contribution to biodiversity research and management perspectives in Latin America. Taxonomic reference: TROPICOS (preferential source, www.tropicos.org/), World Flora Online (secondary source, www.worldfloraonline.org/).

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Long Database Report Fri, 30 Dec 2022 17:51:08 +0200
Floristic patterns of the neotropical forests, savannas and scrublands with Trithrinax campestris (Arecaceae) in central Argentina https://vcs.pensoft.net/article/59384/ Vegetation Classification and Survey 2: 5-18

DOI: 10.3897/VCS/2021/59384

Authors: Sebastián R. Zeballos, Marcelo R. Cabido, Juan J. Cantero, Alicia T.R. Acosta, M. Virginia Palchetti, Juan Argarañaz, Paula I. Marcora, Paula A. Tecco, Ana Ferreras, Guillermo Funes, Victoria M. Vaieretti, Georgina Conti, Melisa A. Giorgis

Abstract: Aims: Trithrinax campestris is one of the palm species with the southernmost distribution in the Neotropics. Despite that the vegetation types in which T. campestris occurs are nowadays heavily threatened by land use and land cover changes, their floristic composition and structure are still to be documented. In order to characterize T. campestris habitats, the aim of this study was to describe the floristic composition of the vegetation types in which this palm occurs and their relationships with different environmental factors. Study area: The survey was conducted in central Argentina in an area comprising the southern extreme of the distribution of T. campestris in the following phytogeographic areas: Espinal, Lowland and Mountain Chaco. Methods: Following the Braun-Blanquet approach we collected 92 floristic relevés recording a total of 601 vascular plant species. Vegetation was classified through the ISOPAM hierarchical analysis. Bioclimatic and elevation data were related to the floristic data through the ISOMAP ordination. Remote-sensed images (Landsat TM, ETM+ and OLI) were used to characterize the fire frequency in the 92 stands. Results: Four vegetation types that differed in floristic composition and in diagnostic species were discriminated: 1.1 Celtis tala/Sida rhombifolia closed forest; 1.2 Aspidosperma quebracho-blanco/Prosopis kuntzei open forest; 2.1 Jarava pseudoichu/Vachellia caven open savanna; and 2.2 Acalypha variabilis/Nassella cordobensis scrubland. The ISOMAP ordination showed that differences in floristic composition were related to elevation, topography and climatic variables.Out of the 92 stands, only 21 showed the occurrence of fires during the period 1999–2018. Conclusions: Our results evidenced that vegetation types (forests, savannas and scrublands) comprising T. campestris developed in a wide range of environmental conditions. This is the first study that focuses on all vegetation types in which T. campestris occurs in central Argentina and it is relevant for conservation and sustainable management of the only native palm species in the flora of this part of the country. Taxonomic reference: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Zuloaga et al. 2008) and its online update (http://www.darwin.edu.ar). Abbreviations: ISOMAP = isometric feature mapping; ISOPAM = isometric partitioning around medoids.

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Research Paper Wed, 17 Feb 2021 20:07:01 +0200