Vegetation classification is the process of classifying and mapping the vegetation over an area of the earth's surface. Vegetation classification is often performed by state based agencies as part of land use, resource and environmental management. Many different methods of vegetation classification have been used. In general, there has been a shift from structural classification used by forestry for the mapping of timber resources, to floristic community mapping for biodiversity management. Whereas older forestry-based schemes considered factors such as height, species and density of the woody canopy, floristic community mapping shifts the emphasis onto ecological factors such as climate, soil type and floristic associations. Classification mapping is usually now done using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software.
Following, some important classification schemes.
Although this scheme is in fact of a climate classification, it has a deep relationship with vegetation studies:
Class ATropical rainforest (Af)Tropical monsoon (Am)Tropical savanna (Aw, As)Class BDesert (BWh, BWk)Semi-arid (BSh, BSk)Class CHumid subtropical (Cfa, Cwa)Oceanic (Cfb, Cwb, Cfc, Cwc)Mediterranean (Csa, Csb, Csc)Class DHumid continental (Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb, Dsa, Dsb)Subarctic (Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd, Dsc, Dsd)Class ETundra (ET)Ice cap (EF)Alpine (ET, EF)Wagner & von Sydow (1888) scheme: Vegetationsgürtel (vegetation belts):
Tundren (tundra)Hochgebirgsflora (mountain flora)Vegetationsarme Gebiete (Wüsten) (vegetation poor areas [deserts])der gemässigten zone (the temperate zone)Grasland (prairie)Vorherrschend Nadelwald (mainly coniferous forest)Wald (Laub und Nadelwald) und Kulturland (forest [deciduous and coniferous forest] and cultivated land)in tropischen und subtropischen Gebieten (in tropical and subtropical areas)Grasland (prairie)Wald und Kulturland (forest and cultivated land)Urwald (jungle)Warming (1895, 1909) oecological classes:
A. The soil (in the widest sense) is very wet, and the abundant water is available to the plant (at least in Class 1), the formations are therefore more or less hydrophilous:Class 1. Hydrophytes (of formations in water).Class 2. Helophytes (of formations in marsh).B. The soil is physiologically dry, i. e. contains water which is available to the plant only to a slight extent; the formations are therefore essentially composed of xerophilous species:Class 3. Oxylophytes (of formations on sour (acid) soil).Class 4. Psychrophytes (of formations on cold soil).Class 5. Halophytes (of formations on saline soil).C. The soil is physically dry, and its slight power of retaining water determines the vegetation, the climate being of secondary import; the formations are therefore likewise xerophilous:Class 6. Lithophytes (of formations on rocks).Class 7. Psammophytes (of formations on sand and gravel).Class 8. Chersophytes (of formations on waste land).D. The climate is very dry and decides the character of the vegetation; the properties of the soil are dominated by climate; the formations are also xerophilous:Class 9. Eremophytes (of formations on desert and steppe).Class 10. Psilophytes (of formations on savannah).Class 11. Sclerophyllous formations (bush and forest).E. The soil is physically or physically dry:Class 12. Coniferous formations (forest).F. Soil and climate favour the development of mesophilous formations:Class 13. Mesophytes.Warming's types of formations:
1. Microphyte-formation2. Moss-formation3. Herb-formation4. Dwarf-shrub formations and undershrub-formations5. Bush-wood or shrub-wood6. ForestHigh forestUnderwoodForest-floor vegetationOtherSimple formationsCompound formationsMixed formationsSecondary formationsSub-formationsSchimper (1898, 1903) climatic chief formation types:
Woodland, forest, bushwood, shrubwoodGrassland, meadow (hygrophilous or tropophilous), steppe (xerophilous), savannah (xerophilous grassland containing isolated trees)Desert (dry or cold)Schimper formation types across the zones and regions
Tropical zone formationsClimatic formationsTropical districts constantly moistRain-forestTropical districts with pronounced dry seasonsWoodland formations (monsoon-forest, savannah-forest, thorn-forest)Grassland formationsTropical desertsEdaphic formationsIn Tropical Inland CountryIn Tropical Sea-shoreTemperate zone formationsClimatic formationsWarm temperate beltsSubtropical districtsConstantly moist districts (without a dry season)Moist summer districtsMoist winter districtsCold temperate beltsTemperate desertsEdaphic formationsLittoral FormationsHeathMoorsArctic zone formationsTundra, moss-tundra, lichen-tundra, moors, oasesMountain climate formations (basal region, montane region, alpine region)In the tropicsIn the temperate zonesAquatic vegetationMarine vegetationFreshwater vegetationFormation-types:
1. Tropical rainforest2. Subtropical rainforest3. Monsoon forest4. Temperate rainforest5. Summer-green deciduous forest6. Needle-leaf forest7. Evergreen hardwood forest8. Savanna woodland9. Thorn forest and scrub10. Savanna11. Steppe and semidesert12. Heath13. Dry desert14. Tundra and cold woodland15. Cold desertEllenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) scheme:
Formation-class I. Closed forestsFormation-class II. WoodlandsFormation-class III. Fourrés (shrublands or thickets)Formation-class IV. Dwarf-scrub and related communitiesFormation-class V. Terrestrial herbaceous communitiesFormation-class VI. Deserts and other scarcely vegetated areasFormation-class VII. Aquatic plant formationsA vegetation classification with six main criteria ("hierarchical attributes", with exemplified categories applicable mainly to Neotropical region):
A. Basic vegetation physiognomies1. Forest physiognomies2. Shrubland physiognomies3. Savanna physiognomies4. Grassland physiognomies5. Man-made physiognomiesB. Climatic regimeMaritimeSemi-aridSeasonalRainCloudC. Leaf flush regimeEvergreenSemideciduousDeciduousAlternateEphemeralD. Thermal realmTropicalSubtropical, etc.E. Elevation rangeCoastalLower plainsUpper plainsLower highlandsUpper highlandsMontaneF. SubstrateShallow soilsDeep soilsSoilySandyGravellyRockyDystrophicMesotrophicEutrophicRidgeSlopeThalwegRiverineFloodplainMarshySwampyOther important schemes: Grisebach (1872), Tansley and Chipp (1926), Rübel (1930), Burtt Davy (1938), Beard (1944, 1955), André Aubréville (1956, 1957), Trochain (1955, 1957), Küchler (1967).
