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Record 1 of 23 AUTHOR AUTHOR TITLE D. PUBLISHER SHELF NO Strain, B R. Billings, W D. Vegetation and environment / Strain, B R and Billings, W The Hague : Junk, 1974. 581.52STR. Record 2 of 23 AUTHOR Knapp, Rudiger. TITLE The vegetation of Africa; with references to environment, development, economy, agriculture and forestry geography. TITLE Die Vegetation von Afrika; unter Berucksichtigung von Umwelt, Entwicklung, Wirtschaft, Agrar- und Forstgeographie. The vegetation of Africa; with references to environment, development, economy, agriculture and forestry geography / Knapp, Rudiger. PUBLISHER Stuttgart : Fischer, 1973. SHELF NO 581.96 KNA. Record 3 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE relation to Harris, James Arthur. The physico-chemical properties of plant saps in phytogeography; data on native vegetation in its natural PUBLISHER SHELF NO environment / Harris, James Arthur. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota press, c1934. 581.19HAR. Record 4 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE Philippe Duchaufour, Philippe. Handbook of pedology : Soils, vegetation, environment / Duchaufour ; foreword by Winfried E.H. Blum ; translated from PUBLISHER SHELF NO French by V.A.K. Sarma. Rotterdam : Balkama, 1998. 631.4DUC. Record 5 of 23 TITLE and Fire in the environment : the ecological atmospheric, climatic importance of vegetation fires / edited by P.J. PUBLISHER SHELF NO Crutzen and J.G. Goldammer. Chichester : Wiley, c1993. 574.5222FIR. Record 6 of 23 TITLE edited by PUBLISHER SHELF NO Vegetation and erosion : processes and environments / J.B. Thornes. Chichester : Wiley, c1990. 551.302VEG. Record 7 of 23 AUTHOR Goudie, Andrew. TITLE The human impact on the natural environment : past, present, and PUBLISHER future / Andrew Goudie. Malden, MA ; Oxford : Blackwell Pub., 2006. Record 8 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE effects of Pritchard, Seth G. Crops and environmental change : an introduction to global warming, increasing atmospheric CO2 and O3 concentrations, and soil salinization on crop physiology and PUBLISHER yield / Seth G. Pritchard, Jeffrey S. Amthor. New York : Food Products Press, c2005. Record 9 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE water Hattingh, J. M. The effect of the chemical properties of tailings and application on the establishment of a vegetative cover on gold tailings dams : report to the Water Research Commission / by PUBLISHER SHELF NO J.M. Hattingh and P.W. van Deventer. Gezina, South Africa : Water Research Commission, 2004. 628.16832 HAT. Record 10 of 23 TITLE Air pollution, global change and forests in the new millennium / edited by D. F. Karnosky ... [et al.]. PUBLISHER Oxford : Elsevier, 2003 (2006 printing) SHELF NO 577.3276 AIR. Record 11 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE Kruger Bestbier, R. X. A goal maintenance system for the management of the National Parks riverine alien vegetation : developing a protocol and a prototype / by R.X. Bestbier, D.L. Jacoby and PUBLISHER SHELF NO K.H. Rogers. Pretoria : WRC, 2000. 581.650968271BES. Record 12 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE Goudie. PUBLISHER SHELF NO Goudie, Andrew. The human impact on the natural environment / Andrew Oxford : Blackwell Publishers, 2000. 304.3GOU. Record 13 of 23 TITLE Shashi PUBLISHER SHELF NO Environmental pollution and plant response / edited by Bhushan Agrawal, Madhoolika Agrawal. Boca Raton, Fla. : Lewis Publishers, c2000. 581.7 ENV. Record 14 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE of Versfeld, D. B. (Dirk Barry) The use of vegetation in the amelioration of the impacts mining on water quality : an assessment of species and water PUBLISHER use / D.B. Versfeld, C.S Everson and A.G. Poulter. Pretoria : WRC, 1998. SHELF NO 631.640968VER. Record 15 of 23 TITLE Developing an integrated approach to predicting the water use of riparian vegetation / by A.L. Birkhead ... (et al.). PUBLISHER Pretoria : Water Research Commission, 1997. SHELF NO 577.68DEV. Record 16 of 23 TITLE Vegetation of South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland / edited by A. Barrie Low and A. (Tony) G. Rebelo ; from contributions by George J. Bredenkamp ... [et al.]. PUBLISHER Pretoria : Department of Environmental Affairs & Tourism, 1996. SHELF NO 581.968 VEG. Record 17 of 23 TITLE edited by PUBLISHER SHELF NO Interacting stresses on plants in a changing climate / Michael B. Jackson, Colin R. Black. Berlin : Springer, c1993. 581.5222 INT. Record 18 of 23 TITLE edited by PUBLISHER SHELF NO Landscape ecology and geographic information systems / Roy Haines-Young, David R. Green, Steven Cousins. London ; New York : Taylor & Francis, 1993. 910.157450285 LAN. Record 19 of 23 AUTHOR TITLE American PUBLISHER printing) SHELF NO Johnson, Edward A. (Edward Allison), 1940Fire and vegetation dynamics : studies from the North boreal forest / Edward A. Johnson. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1992 (1995 581.52642 JOH. Record 20 of 23 TITLE by J. PUBLISHER SHELF NO Ecological responses to environmental stresses / edited Rozema, J.A.C. Verkleij. Dordrecht : Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1991. 581.5 ECO. Record 21 of 23 TITLE The karoo biome : a preliminary synthesis / R.M. Cowling, P.W. Roux and A.J.H. Pieterse (editors). PUBLISHER Pretoria : Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Foundation for Research Development, 1986-. SHELF NO 577.540968715 KAR. Record 22 of 23 AUTHOR AUTHOR TITLE and PUBLISHER SHELF NO De Vries, D A. Afgan, N H. Heat and mass transfer in the biosphere / De Vries, D A Afgan, N H. New York : Wiley, 1975. 574.19121VRI. Record 23 of 23 AUTHOR AUTHOR AUTHOR AUTHOR conservation TITLE committee PUBLISHER SHELF NO Salverdo, Z. Seibert, P. Lindenbergh, P C. Council of Europe. European committee for the of nature and natural resources. Freshwater; three studies / Council of Europe. European for the conservation of nature and natural resources. (Strasbourg) : the Council, 1968. 333.91COU. Record 1 of 86 Author(s): Jackson, ST (Jackson, Stephen T.) Title: Vegetation, environment, and time: The origination and termination of ecosystems Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 17 (5): 549-557 OCT 2006 Author Keywords: climate variability; ecosystem; historical range of variation; global change; paleo-ecology; vegetation dynamics; vegetation management Keywords Plus: LATE-QUATERNARY VEGETATION; WIND-RIVER RANGE; HOLOCENE VEGETATION; CLIMATE VARIABILITY; NORTH-AMERICA; ROCKY-MOUNTAINS; BIGHORN BASIN; PLANT TRAITS; NEW-ENGLAND; HISTORY Abstract: Terrestrial ecosystems originate when particular plant species attain dominance at specific locations under specific environmental regimes. Ecosystems terminate, gradually or abruptly, when the dominant species or functional types are replaced by others, usually owing to environmental change or severe and irreversible disturbance. Assessing whether current ecosystems are sustainable in the face of future environmental change can be aided by examining the range of environmental variation those ecosystems have experienced in the past, and by determining the environmental conditions under which those ecosystems arose. The range of environmental variation depends on the time scale at which it is assessed. A narrow time span (e.g. 200-300 years) may underestimate the range of variation within which an ecosystem is sustainable, and it may also underestimate the risk of major transformation or disruption of that ecosystem by environmental change. Longer time spans (e.g. 1000-2000 years) increase the range of variation, by encompassing a larger sample of natural variability as well as non-stationary variability in the earth system. Most modem ecosystems disappear when the time span is expanded to 10000-15 000 years owing to secular changes in earth's climate system. Paleo-ecological records can pinpoint the time of origination of specific ecosystems, and paleo-environ mental records can reveal the specific environmental changes that led to development of those ecosystems and the range of environmental variation under which those ecosystems have maintained themselves in the past. This information can help identify critical environmental thresholds beyond which specific modem ecosystems can no longer be sustained. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 2 of 86 Author(s): Navratilova, J (Navratilova, Jana); Navratil, J (Navratil, Josef); Hajek, M (Hajek, Michal) Title: Relationships between environmental factors and vegetation in nutrientenriched fens at fishpond margins Source: FOLIA GEOBOTANICA, 41 (4): 353-376 2006 Author Keywords: central Europe; fluctuation; Trebon; vegetation; water level and chemistry; wetlands Keywords Plus: WEST EUROPEAN MIRES; WATER CHEMISTRY; SPECIES RICHNESS; ECOLOGICAL GRADIENTS; SEASONAL-VARIATION; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; SPRING FENS; PATTERNS; VALLEY; PH Abstract: Vegetation-environment relationships were investigated in fens of the Trebon basin (Czech Republic), which are enriched by nutrients and calcium from intensively managed and limed fishponds to test the hypothesis of altered gradient structure after long-term nutrient enrichment in fens. Water-table depth, pH, conductivity, N-NH4+, N-NO3-, 4 total P, SO42-, K, Ca, Mg and Fe were measured four times in 30 vegetation plots of 16 m(2) during the 2004 vegetation season. Both constrained and unconstrained ordination (DCA, CCA) were used to relate environmental factors to the species composition of the vegetation. The relationships among particular factors were revealed using PCA. Four fen vegetation types obtained by TWINSPAN classification were compared with measured factors using repeated measures ANOVA. Vegetation types differed significantly in water-table depth, water pH and Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and N-NO3- content. The concentration of major nutrients fluctuated noticeably during vegetation season and displayed large variation within vegetation types. Temporarily the concentration of different nutrients reached extremely high values. However, high nutrient supply has not altered the gradient structure of the vegetation. Water pH and water-table depths were found to be two major determinants of species variation in fishpond-margin fens, as in the majority of other environments studied throughout the Northern Hemisphere. Species richness of both vascular plants and bryophytes was partly explained by pH. However, the extent of variation in total mineral richness and potassium concentration were the next two most important variables determining bryophyte species richness. Water in flooded poor-fen vegetation, directly affected by water from limed fishponds, had calcium and magnesium concentration similar to fishpond water. The calcium concentrations of about 20 mg l(-1) in typical poor-fen vegetation have no analogy in the ecological literature. High phosphorus level presumably buffers the effect of calcium by enhancing bryophyte biomass depositing superfluous calcium. In conclusion, extremely high long-term nutrient supply to fishpond-margin fens have not altered gradient structure, but shifted chemical limits of plant communities. ISSN: 1211-9520 Record 3 of 86 Author(s): Kennedy, MP (Kennedy, M. P.); Murphy, KJ (Murphy, K. J.); Gilvear, DJ (Gilvear, D. J.) Title: Predicting interactions between wetland vegetation and the soil-water and surface-water environment using diversity, abundance and attribute values Source: HYDROBIOLOGIA, 570: 189-196 OCT 15 2006 Author Keywords: freshwater wetlands; eco-hydrology; vegetation attributes; predictive modelling Keywords Plus: DISTURBANCE GRADIENT; PLANT-COMMUNITIES; SPECIES RICHNESS; FLOODPLAIN MIRE; FEN VEGETATION; INSH MARSHES; ECOLOGY; HABITAT Abstract: This study investigated the response of freshwater wetland vegetation to hydrological driving factors by assessing collective vegetation variables, traits of dominant plant populations and hydrological and hydrochemical variables, repeatsampled within wetland sites across Scotland and northern England. Sampling was conducted at 55 permanent sample stations located along 11 independent transects. Eco-hydrological interactions were investigated using a regression-based modelling approach. Facets of the water-table dynamic (e.g., level of drawdown, level of fluctuation), along with vegetation abundance (e.g., biomass, stem density) and diversity (e.g., species richness) values, were used to build predictive models. Of the models predicting vegetation characteristics, the greatest predictive power was R-2 = 0.67 (p < 0.001) for a model predicting stem density (m(-2)). Conversely, vegetation variables proved useful for predicting characteristics of the water-table environment. In this instance, the greatest predictive power was R-2 = 0.79 (p < 0.001) for a model predicting minimum water table level (i.e. maximum level of drawdown). The models were tested using data collected during 2000 from repeat sites and independent sites. This approach might be successfully applied for the purposes of integrated ecohydrological management and monitoring of freshwater wetland vegetation. ISSN: 0018-8158 Record 4 of 86 Author(s): Virtanen, R (Virtanen, Risto); Oksanen, J (Oksanen, Jari); Oksanen, L (Oksanen, Lauri); Razzhivin, VY (Razzhivin, Vladimir Yu) Title: Broad-scale vegetation-environment relationships in Eurasian high-latitude areas Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 17 (4): 519-528 AUG 2006 Author Keywords: climate; complex gradient; ecocline; Eurasian Arctic; grazing; multivariate analysis; ordination; soil nutrients; soil pH Keywords Plus: CIRCUMPOLAR ARCTIC VEGETATION; BIOCLIMATE GRADIENT; LICHEN COMMUNITIES; TUNDRA VEGETATION; PLANTCOMMUNITIES; SOIL-PH; ORDINATION; ALASKA; CLASSIFICATION; ECOSYSTEMS Abstract: Question: How is tundra vegetation related to climatic, soil chemical, geological variables and grazing across a very large section of the Eurasian arctic area.? We were particularly interested in broad-scale vegetation-environment relationships and how well do the patterns conform to climate-vegetation schemes. Material and Methods: We sampled vegetation in 1132 plots from 16 sites from different pans of the Eurasian tundra. Clustering and ordination techniques were used for analysing compositional patterns. Vegetation-environment relationships were analysed by fitting of environmental vectors and smooth surfaces onto non-metric multidimensional scaling scattergrams. Results: Dominant vegetation differentiation was associated with a complex set of environmental variables. A general trend differentiated cold and continental areas from relatively warm and weakly continental areas, and several soil chemical and physical variables were associated with this broad-scaled differentiation. Especially soil chemical variables related to soil acidity (pH, Ca) showed linear relationships with the dominant vegetation gradient. This was closely related to increasing cryoperturbation, decreasing precipitation and cooler conditions. Remarkable differences among relatively adjacent sites suggest that local factors such as geological properties and lemming grazing may strongly drive vegetation differentiation. Conclusions: Vegetation differentiation in tundra areas conforms to a major ecocline underlain by a complex set of environmental gradients, where precipitation, thermal conditions and soil chemical and physical processes are coupled. However, local factors such as bedrock conditions and lemming grazing may cause marked deviations from the general climate-vegetation models. Overall, soil chemical factors (pH, Ca) turned out to have linear relationship with the broad-scale differentiation of arctic vegetation. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 5 of 86 Author(s): Miola, A (Miola, A.); Bondesan, A (Bondesan, A.); Corain, L (Corain, L.); Favaretto, S (Favaretto, S.); Mozzi, P (Mozzi, P.); Piovan, S (Piovan, S.); Sostizzo, I (Sostizzo, I.) Title: Wetlands in the Venetian po plain (northeastern Italy) during the last glacial maximum: Interplay between vegetation, hydrology and sedimentary environment Source: REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY, 141 (1-2): 53-81 AUG 2006 Author Keywords: Venetian po plain; last glacial maximum; pollen; non-pollen palynomorphs; plant macrofossils; palaeohydrology Keywords Plus: NOORD-HOLLAND; HOLOCENE PEAT; NETHERLANDS; POLLEN; BOG; RECONSTRUCTION; PALEOECOLOGY; SECTION; CLIMATE; EUROPE Abstract: In the low Venetian plain (northeastern Italy) thick sequences of silt and sand layers alternate with common, thin layers of peat and organic silt; the organic layers in the topmost 30 in of the Late Pleistocene alluvial series span between 23,000 and 14,000 yr BP (radiocarbon dating), in an area measuring 100 km by 30 km. They indicate broad areas where wetlands developed. We aim to understand the features and the origin of the wetlands by undertaking sedimentological, pollen, non-pollen palynomorph and plant macrofossil analyses. Thirteen cores were drilled in the central zone of the low Venetian plain near the coast of the Adriatic Sea and 79 samples were analysed. The palaeoenvironmental reconstruction based on previous pollen analysis did not emphasize the areas where peat layers were formed, suggesting a homogenous steppe environment, typical of a cold and dry climate. They were probably waterlogged for most of the year allowing the formation of peat and the development of local plant communities of mainly aquatic species. Macrofossil and pollen analyses suggest that herbaceous plants, such as Cyperaceae and Poaceae (probably Carex fusca and Phragmites australis), and brown mosses (mainly Scorpidium scorpioides) were the most important components of wetland communities. Fossils of obligate aquatic organisms indicate open water environments, these include macrofossils of Nymphaea, Characeae, Bryozoa and Potamogeton, and non-pollen palynomorphs such as algal resting cells, free cells and colonies (Zygnemataceae, Spirogyra, Mougeotia, Closterium idiosporum, Type 225, Type 229, Botryococcus, Pediastrum cf. boryanum, P. cf simplex, Ceratium hirundinella, Tetraedron cf minimum and Type 333), oocytes of aquatic invertebrates (Type 353A and 353B) and incompletely known types probably of algal origin (Type 303, Type 74, Type 128A and 128B). A discontinuous occurrence of fungal spores and other microfossils (Type 200, Gaeumannomyces (Type 126), Glomus (Type 207), Type 3 5 1, Type 79, and incompletely known types) suggests frequent fluctuations of the water depth with periodic emersions of the bottom of the ponds or fens. The water quality preferred by the identified species, or suggested in literature for the fossil types, is mainly eutrophic to mesotrophic and rich in cations. Peatland formed in wide, low-lying areas between the fluvial ridges which were periodically inundated by the fluctuating groundwater. Peat accumulated in continuous layers only where the fen organic deposition prevailed the alluvial minerogenic sediment. When alluvial deposition buried the organic deposit, the peat level was incorporated into the stratigraphic record. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0034-6667 Record 6 of 86 Author(s): Cooper, A (Cooper, A.); McCann, T (McCann, T.); Bunce, RGH (Bunce, R. G. H.) Title: The influence of sampling intensity on vegetation classification and the implications for environmental management Source: ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION, 33 (2): 118-127 JUN 2006 Author Keywords: countryside survey; data-balance; DCA; environment policy; grassland; sample design; TWINSPAN Keywords Plus: ORDINATION TECHNIQUES; ECOLOGY; FORESTS; EUROPE Abstract: As part of a programme of landscape-scale habitat surveillance in the United Kingdom (UK), the effect of grassland sampling intensity on the outcome of numerical classification was assessed. Sample quadrats from two regions of the UK were available for post priori analysis; a random sample from Great Britain (GB), with grasslands sampled in proportion to area, and an independent stratified random sample from Northern Ireland (NI), with similar numbers of quadrats from agricultural and semi-natural grassland habitat strata. Classification of a combined area-proportional (balanced) random sample from GB and NI showed the species composition of UK grasslands to be determined largely by climate, landscape structure and land-use intensity. The classification was influenced primarily by the greater number of eutrophic agricultural grassland quadrats and semi-natural grassland quadrats of the larger GB study area. The semi-natural grasslands of NI, represented by a small number of quadrats, had little influence. Classification of a stratified NI sample combined with an area-proportional GB sample was influenced most by the NI semi-natural grassland quadrats. The structure of the classifications depended on sampling intensity. Vegetation classification should be derived from a balanced sample so that it is representative and its application does not lead to decisions being directed at classes of vegetation (or estimates derived from them) that are weighted by sampling intensity. Area-proportional sample design linked explicitly to landscape structure satisfies the requirement for a balanced classification. The issue of data-balance is relevant in conservation management and environmental assessment, where stratification is a commonly accepted procedure to reduce sampling effort, or is carried out to sample rare or ecologically interesting vegetation. It applies to landscape-scale vegetation classifications used for environmental assessments and to classifications that compare plant communities between regions (as in phytosociological studies). The issue is also important when combining environmental databases from international sources for classification purposes. ISSN: 0376-8929 Record 7 of 86 Author(s): Chen, YH (Chen Yunhao); Shi, PJ (Shi Peijun); Li, XB (Li Xiaobing); Chen, J (Chen Jin); Li, J (Li Jing) Title: A combined approach for estimating vegetation cover in urban/suburban environments from remotely sensed data Source: COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES, 32 (9): 1299-1309 NOV 2006 Author Keywords: remote sensing; vegetation cover; land use classification; urban spread Keywords Plus: LEAF-AREA INDEX; SATELLITE DATA; FRACTIONAL COVER; RANGELANDS; ABUNDANCE; IMAGES; URBAN; MODEL Abstract: The spatio-temporal distribution of vegetation is an important component of the urban/suburban environment. Therefore, correct estimation of vegetation cover in urban/suburban areas is fundamental in land use studies. In this study, the potential of extracting fractional vegetation cover (FVC) from remotely sensed data and ground measurements is explored. Based on the assumption that pixel has a mosaic structure, sub-pixel models for FVC estimation are first introduced. Then a combined approach of using different sub-pixel models for FVC estimation based on land cover classification is proposed. The experimental result, derived from a case study in Haidian district, Beijing, indicates that the accuracy of FVC estimation using the proposed method can be up to 80.7%. The results suggest that this method may be generally useful for FVC estimation in urban and suburban areas. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0098-3004 Record 8 of 86 Author(s): Hejcmanova-Nezerkova, P (Hejcmanova-Nezerkova, P.); Hejcman, M (Hejcman, M.) Title: A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of the vegetation-environment relationships in Sudanese savannah, Senegal Source: SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 72 (2): 256-262 MAY 2006 Author Keywords: Niokolo Koba National Park; soil type; ordination; vegetation structure; West Africa Abstract: The effect of environmental variables on the structure of woody vegetation within one geomorphological unit (500 ha) in Niokolo Koba National Park in Senegal was investigated. A total of 59 woody species from 25 families were recorded in 43 releves. Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was used to evaluate the effect of soil type, topography and termitaria presence on the vegetation structure. The effects of soil type and topographical position were significant and respectively explained 15.9% and 5.2% of the species data variability. Termitaria presence was nonsignificant and had just a marginal influence on the vegetation structure and explained only 1.7% of the data variability. One-way ANOVA was used to evaluate the effect of soil type on total cover of particular layers. Significant differences were revealed for low shrub (0-2 m) and tree layers (6-20 in). The low shrub layer was the best developed on the plinthitic hardpan, the best-developed tree layer occurred on granite outcrops. High shrub layer (2-6 m) did not show any dependence on the soil type. In conclusion, we found that soil type and topography were the main factors affecting woody vegetation of the locality. (c) 2005 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0254-6299 Record 9 of 86 Author(s): Dodson, JR (Dodson, John Richard); Hickson, S (Hickson, Shirene); Khoo, R (Khoo, Rachel); Li, XQ (Li, Xiao-Qiang); Toia, J (Toia, Jemina); Zhou, WJ (Zhou, Wei-Jian) Title: Vegetation and environment history for the past 14 000 yr BP from Dingnan, Jiangxi Province, South China Source: JOURNAL OF INTEGRATIVE PLANT BIOLOGY, 48 (9): 1018-1027 SEP 2006 Author Keywords: development of rice agriculture; nutrient and fire history; South China; vegetation history Keywords Plus: MONSOON CLIMATE; YANGTZE DELTA; PHOSPHORUS; RICE; LAKE; VARIABILITY; HOLOCENE; REGION; EVENT; SOILS Abstract: A Late Pleistocene-Holocene pollen, phosphorus, and charcoal record was reconstructed from a peatland in southern Jiangxi Province in southern China. The area today has a mountainous and rolling landscape with villages, small towns, and agriculture dominated by rice paddies, vegetable, and fruit gardens, as well as areas of secondary forest and pine re-afforestation. The record opens before 14 300 yr BP, with Alnus woodland dominating the wetland areas and with an open Quercus woodland on the surrounding slopes. The forest area becomes more complex from approximately 12 800 yr BP and further from 9 000 yr BP. At approximately 6 000 yr BP, there is evidence of clearing and, by 4500-4000 yr BP, a complete collapse in the wetland Alnus and terrestrial forest as the low-lying areas are converted to rice production. For much of the record, the occurrence of fire around the site was low, although there is evidence of regional fires. Fire was used as a tool in clearing and then used in the annual cycles of stubble burning after rice harvest. Nutrient levels, as reflected by total phosphorus in the sediment, seem to be closely related to forest changes and high values in the surface layers probably result from land-management techniques associated with agriculture. Therefore, human impact greatly altered forest cover, fire frequency, and nutrient dynamics; this has been evident for approximately 6 000 yr BP and then intensifies towards the present day. ISSN: 1672-9072 Record 10 of 86 Author(s): Critchley, CNR (Critchley, C. Nigel R.); Fowbert, JA (Fowbert, John A.); Sherwood, AJ (Sherwood, Ann J.); Pywell, RF (Pywell, Richard F.) Title: Vegetation development of sown grass margins in arable fields under a countrywide agri-environment scheme Source: BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 132 (1): 1-11 SEP 2006 Author Keywords: community invasibility; field margin; habitat creation; seed mixture; variation partitioning Keywords Plus: PLANT-COMMUNITIES; SPECIES RICHNESS; UNCROPPED EDGES; SET-ASIDE; DIVERSITY; BIODIVERSITY; LANDSCAPES; BOUNDARIES; ABUNDANCE; ENGLAND Abstract: Farmers were paid to establish 6 m wide sown grass strips in arable field margins under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme in England, UK. One hundred and sixteen sites in eight regions were surveyed to determine if grass margins had been established successfully and the extent to which they were colonised by forbs. Sown margins had more grass and fewer weed species than naturally regenerated sites. Grass margins contrasted with normally cropped sites, having greater species richness of grasses, forbs and perennials and more bird, butterfly larva and bumblebee foodplants. Mesotrophic grassland forbs were scarce in margins established from basic grass seed mixtures but significantly more abundant if included in the seed mixture. Annuals were more prevalent in sites up to 2 years old but species composition was not related to age in sites over 2 years old. Variation partitioning showed that overall species composition was related to seed mixture type, region and. soil properties but there was little overlap in the variation explained by these environmental variable sets. Habitat context and management practices did not explain any variation in species composition. Perennial grassy vegetation was established successfully using basic grass seed mixes but only competitive species colonised subsequently. Diverse seed mixtures containing mesotrophic grassland forbs merit support in agri-environment schemes because they do enhance the botanical diversity of sown grass margins. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0006-3207 Record 11 of 86 Author(s): Piperno, DR (Piperno, Dolores R.) Title: Quaternary environmental history and agricultural impact on vegetation in Central America Source: ANNALS OF THE MISSOURI BOTANICAL GARDEN, 93 (2): 274-296 2006 Author Keywords: climate; human land use; prehistoric agriculture Quaternary history; seasonal tropical forests; slash and burn cultivation; vegetation Keywords Plus: LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM; LOW ATMOSPHERIC CO2; CLIMATE-CHANGE; POLLEN RECORD; RAIN-FOREST; PHYTOLITH ANALYSIS; MAIZE CULTIVATION; HUMAN DISTURBANCE; LOWLAND AMAZONIA; HUMAN OCCUPATION Abstract: The corpus of historical data from lake sediments relating to the climate, vegetation, and human land use of the lowland Central American tropical forest between ca. 20,000 BP and the time of European contact is reviewed. Pollen, phytolith, and charcoal records identify the distribution and composition of tropical vegetation and fire patterns during the late Pleistocene, when they were significantly altered from today's, and earliest Holocene, when plant communities reassembled and interglacial representatives began to coalesce on the landscape. The significance of the environmental perturbations that occurred during the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene for human occupation of the lowland tropical forest and the geography and chronology of agricultural origins is discussed. Fire was employed by hunters and gatherers and farmers alike during the past 11,000 years as a primary tool of forest modification. The profound effects of an ancient pre-Columbian development of plant food production and, subsequently, slash and burn agriculture between ca. 10,000 BP and 4000 BP can be seen on lowland forests from Mexico to the Amazon Basin. ISSN: 0026-6493 Record 12 of 86 Author(s): Abella, SR (Abella, Scott R.); Covington, WW (Covington, W. Wallace) Title: Vegetation-environment relationships and ecological species groups of an Arizona Pinus ponderosa landscape, USA Source: PLANT ECOLOGY, 185 (2): 255-268 2006 Author Keywords: ecosystem classification; forest; ground flora; indicator species; soil; understory Keywords Plus: SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS; NORTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN; FOREST ECOSYSTEMS; MULTIFACTOR CLASSIFICATION; JOCASSEE-GORGES; LANDFORM; COMMUNITIES; HEIGHT; QUEBEC; INDEX Abstract: Pinus ponderosa forests occupy numerous topographic and soil complexes across vast areas of the southwestern United States, yet few data exist on species distributions and vegetation -environment relationships for these environmentally diverse landscapes. We measured topography, soils, and vegetation on 66, 0.05-ha plots within a 110,000-ha P. ponderosa landscape in northern Arizona, USA, to discern vegetation -environment relationships on this landscape. We analyzed associations of environmental variables with plant communities and with singlespecies distributions, and we classified ecological species groups (co-occurring plant species exhibiting similar environmental affinities). Gradients in community composition paralleled gradients in soil texture, available water, organic C, total N, and geographic precipitation patterns. Soil parent material, affected by the presence or absence of volcanic activity, is a primary factor constraining vegetation patterns on this landscape. Using discriminant analysis, we built a model that correctly classified the most important of four grasses (Bouteloua gracilis, Muhlenbergia montana, Sporobolus interruptus, or Festuca arizonica) on 70-80% of plots based on five environmental variables related to soil moisture and resource levels. We also classified 52 of the 271 detected plant species into 18 ecological species groups. Species groups ranged from Phacelia and Bahia groups occupying xeric, volcanic cinder soils low in organic C and total N, to Festuca and Lathyrus groups characterizing moist, loam and silt loam soils. We applied the species groups by estimating P. ponderosa diameter increment in a regression tree using abundances of species groups. The most rapid P. ponderosa diameter growth of 5 mm/year occurred on plots with high importance of the Festuca and Lathyrus groups. Our results on this semi-arid landscape support several general ecological species group principles chiefly developed in temperate regions, and suggest that vegetation -environment research has great potential for enhancing our understanding of P. ponderosa forests occupying vast areas of the southwestern United States. ISSN: 1385-0237 Record 13 of 86 Author(s): Ubeda, X (Ubeda, X.); Outeiro, LR (Outeiro, L. R.); Sala, M (Sala, M.) Title: Vegetation regrowth after a differential intensity forest fire in a Mediterranean environment, northeast Spain Source: LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT, 17 (4): 429-440 JUL-AUG 2006 Author Keywords: forest fire; fire intensity; vegetation; Pinus; Quercus suber; Mediterranean; post-fire actions; reforestation; Spain Abstract: Inventories of vegetation were collected in a burnt area located in Cadiretes massif, Catalan Coastal Ranges, northeast Spain. The burnt forest primarily consisted of pine plantation (Pinus pinaster) with a large number of cork trees (Quercus suber). The burnt area was divided into three zones based on fire intensity. Data from three different periods after the fire (six, ten and twenty-four months) showed differences between the recovering vegetation and that in a control forest area. Numbers and types of resurgent vegetation species following the fire were different in each area. Regeneration of vegetation is important not only in terms of plant regrowth but also for protecting the soil surface from rainfall impact. During the research period the burnt area was managed homogeneously by the forestry authorities. Management operations, among others, involved tree felling, construction of terraces, with dead trees to control erosion, and reforestation of some species. Some of these operations, such as tree felling and the creation of terraces which were carried out one year after the fire, were implemented too late, since the most serious erosion had already taken place. Some operations, such as reforestation in some low intensity burnt areas, are unnecessary due to the profuse recovery of Pinus and Quercus suber. Copyright (c) 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISSN: 1085-3278 Record 14 of 86 Author(s): Roy, PS (Roy, P. S.); Joshi, PK (Joshi, P. K.); Singh, S (Singh, S.); Agarwal, S (Agarwal, S.); Yadav, D (Yadav, D.); Jegannathan, C (Jegannathan, C.) Title: Biome mapping in India using vegetation type map derived using temporal satellite data and environmental parameters Source: ECOLOGICAL MODELLING, 197 (1-2): 148-158 AUG 10 2006 Author Keywords: biome; classification; Holdridge; India; life zones; regional scale; vegetation Keywords Plus: LAND-COVER CLASSIFICATION; SENSOR DATA; MODEL; CLIMATE; ASIA; COEFFICIENT; MIDHOLOCENE; PHENOLOGY; IMAGES; CHINA Abstract: Development of regional biome models represents a new stage of earth systems modeling. By translating simulated climate variables and actual vegetation boundaries into maps of biomes, these models explicitly link the vegetation and climate patterns together, enabling the determination of trajectories of climate change. Through this research, a new one million scale biome map of India is prepared, based on actual vegetation cover type map derived from wide field sensor onboard Indian remote sensing satellite (IRS WiFS-spatial resolution 200 m) and Holdridge life zone (HLZ) system. A biome level characterization (BLC) model has been developed wherein, temporal satellite data helps to define the phenologically discriminant vegetation cover type, climatic parameters viz., biotemperature, mean annual precipitation and potential evapotranspiration ratio have been used to identify potential life zones and finally describe the biome boundaries based on the vegetation cover type and life zones. The study identifies 35 cover classes and describes 17 vegetation cover types. This is close to the type description given by Champion and Seth [Champion, H.G., Seth, S.K., 1968. A Revised Survey of Forest Types of India. New Delhi Government Publication, New Delhi.] in their forest cover type map. The geographical analysis identifies 19 HLZs seven biomes and 19 sub-biomes in the Indian sub-continent. The dataset is now available for diverse application studies in ecosystem modeling, land cover dynamics and global change. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0304-3800 Record 15 of 86 Author(s): Boschetti, M (Boschetti, Mirco); Brivio, PA (Brivio, Pietro Alessandro); Carnesale, D (Carnesale, Daniela); Di Guardo, A (Di Guardo, Antonio) Title: The contribution of hyperspectral remote sensing to identify vegetation characteristics necessary to assess the fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the environment Source: ANNALS OF GEOPHYSICS, 49 (1): 177-186 FEB 2006 Author Keywords: hyperspectral imaging; species distribution; LAI; semi-empirical model; POPs Keywords Plus: LEAF-AREA INDEX; BOREAL FORESTS; MODEL; IMAGE Abstract: During recent years hyperspectral remote sensing data were successfully used to characterise the state and properties of vegetation. The information on vegetation cover and status is useful for a range of environmental modelling studies. Recent works devoted to the understanding of the fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the environment showed that forests and vegetation in general act as a << sponge >> for chemicals present in air and the intensity of this << capture >> effect depends on some vegetation parameters such as surface area, leaf composition, turnover etc. In the framework of the DARFEM experiment conducted in late June 2001, different airborne hyperspectral images were acquired and analysed to derive some vegetation parameters of relevance for multimedia models, such as the spatial distribution of plant species and their relative foliage biomass. The study area, south west of Milan, encompasses a range of land cover types typical of Northern Italy, including intensive poplar plantations and natural broad-leaf forest. An intensive field campaign was accomplished during the aerial survey to collect vegetation parameters and radiometric measurements. Results obtained from the analysis of hyperspectral images, map of vegetation species, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and foliage biomass are presented and discussed. ISSN: 1593-5213 Record 16 of 86 Author(s): Heinemann, K (Heinemann, Karin); Kitzberger, T (Kitzberger, Thomas) Title: Effects of position, understorey vegetation and coarse woody debris on tree regeneration in two environmentally contrasting forests of north-western Patagonia: a manipulative approach Source: JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, 33 (8): 1357-1367 AUG 2006 Author Keywords: Argentina; coarse woody debris; forest dynamics; gaps; Nothofagus pumilio; Patagonia; precipitation gradient; seedlings; understorey removal Keywords Plus: OLD-FIELD SUCCESSION; NOTHOFAGUS-PUMILIO; PLANTCOMMUNITIES; CANOPY GAPS; GROWTH; ESTABLISHMENT; FACILITATION; SURVIVAL; COMPETITION; MECHANISMS Abstract: Aim: To investigate the differential effects of position within gaps, coarse woody debris and understorey cover on tree seedling survival in canopy gaps in two old-growth Nothofagus pumilio (Poepp. & Endl.) Krasser forests and the response of this species to gaps in two forests located at opposite extremes of a steep rainfall gradient. Location: Nahuel Huapi National Park, at 41 degrees S in north-western Patagonia, Argentina. Methods: In both study sites, seedlings were transplanted to experimental plots in gaps in three different positions, with two types of substrate (coarse woody debris or forest floor), and with and without removal of understorey vegetation. Survival of seedlings was monitored during two growing seasons. Soil moisture and direct solar radiation were measured once in mid-summer. Seedling aerial biomass was estimated at the end of the experiment. Results: Mid-summer soil water potential was lowest in the centre of gaps, in plots where the understorey had been removed, and highest at the northern edges of gaps. Direct incoming radiation was highest in gap centres and southern edges, and lowest at northern edges. Seedling mortality was highest in gap centres, in both sites. Coarse woody debris had a positive effect on seedling survival during summer in the mesic forest and during winter in the xeric forest. The removal of understorey cover had negative effects in gap centres during summer. Seedling final aerial biomass was positively affected by understorey removal and by soil substrate in both sites. In the dry forest gaps, seedling growth was highest in northern edges, whereas it was highest in gap centres in the mesic forest. Overall growth was positively related to survival in the xeric forest, and negatively related in the mesic forest. Main conclusions: Survival and growth were facilitated by the shade of gapsurrounding trees only in the xeric forest. Understorey vegetation of both forests facilitated seedling survival in exposed microsites but competed with seedling growth. Nurse logs were an important substrate for seedling establishment in both forests; however, causes of this pattern differed between forests. Water availability positively controls seedling survival and growth in the xeric forest while in the mesic forest, survival and growth are differentially controlled by water and light availability, respectively. These two contrasting old-growth forests, separated by a relatively short distance along a steep rainfall gradient, had different yet unexpected microenvironmental controls on N. pumilio seedling survival and growth. These results underscore the importance of defining microscale limiting factors of tree recruitment in the context of large-scale spatial variation in resources. ISSN: 0305-0270 Record 17 of 86 Author(s): Fensholt, R (Fensholt, Rasmus); Sandholt, I (Sandholt, Inge); Stisen, S (Stisen, Simon) Title: Evaluating MODIS, MERIS, and VEGETATION - Vegetation indices using in situ measurements in a semiarid environment Source: IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, 44 (7): 1774-1786 Part 1 JUL 2006 Author Keywords: grassland; in situ measurements; Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS); Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS); Senegal; VEGETATION; vegetation index Keywords Plus: RESOLUTION IMAGING SPECTRORADIOMETER; NOAAAVHRR DATA; WEST-AFRICA; ATMOSPHERIC CORRECTION; EARTH OBSERVATION; SAHELIAN REGION; WATER-VAPOR; HAPEX-SAHEL; NDVI DATA; LAND Abstract: New and improved satellite sensors specially designed for vegetation monitoring have been launched in recent years; including the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) onboard Terra and Aqua, the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on the ENVISAT satellite, and VEGETATION onboard the Systeme Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) satellite. The aim of this paper is to evaluate two different vegetation indices of these new sensors; the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and the enhanced vegetation index (EVI). This is done by radiometric in situ measurements covering natural grass savanna in Senegal. Variations in the dynamic range of in situ NDVI was found caused by the differences in spectral response functions, MERIS NDVI characterized by the largest dynamic range. Both daily MERIS and MODIS NDVI mirrored accurately in situ measured NDVI (MERIS r(2) = 0.97 and MODIS r(2) = 0.96). VEGETATION NDVI (only available as ten-day composites) was found to be significantly lower than MODIS NDVI due to lower VEGETATION near-infrared (NIR) reflectance values. A good agreement between the NDVI/EVI relation from satellite and from in situ measured MODIS NDVI/EVI was found. This indicates an accurate atmospheric correction of the MODIS red, NIR, and blue spectral bands, also confirmed by in situ measured reflectances. EVI is sensitive to variations in blue band reflectance, and the consistency between EVI from the different sensors is reduced when compared to NDVI due to the different atmospheric correction schemes of the blue band. Thus, it is recommended that vegetation index cross-sensor algorithms should be based on NDVI over EVI. ISSN: 0196-2892 Record 18 of 86 Author(s): Boulain, N; Cappelaere, B; Seguis, L; Gignoux, J; Peugeot, C Title: Hydrologic and land use impacts on vegetation growth and NPP at the watershed scale in a semi-arid environment Source: REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE, 6 (3): 147-156 JUN 2006 Author Keywords: millet; savanna; West Africa; climate change Keywords Plus: SAHELIAN WEST NIGER; HAPEX-SAHEL; ATMOSPHERE INTERACTIONS; ENDOREIC CATCHMENT; PROCESS SIMULATION; MODEL; CLIMATE; VARIABILITY; AFRICA; SAHARA Abstract: Significant, adverse climatic change and drastically increased demographic pressure have strongly affected, in recent years, the hydrology and environment in the semi-arid Sahel region of West Africa. Marked rain deficits have coincided with increased water runoff, meaning less water availability for the vegetation. Conversely, changes in vegetation cover have had strong repercussions on the hydrologic cycle. To study these phenomena, the coupling of two explicit, process-based models, of catchment hydrology and of mixed vegetation cover, respectively, has been undertaken and applied to a 2 km(2) site in Niger. Some of the first significant results are presented herein. Some are consistent with intuitive judgements that can be made in the absence of a coupled model, others are much less so and show that representation through model coupling of hydro sphere/biosphere interactions is essential to produce more reliable analyses and projections. In particular, it is found that the relation of biomass productivity to rainfall under this dry, water-limited climate is not as straightforward as one would expect, more specifically, that its main control may not be the total season rainfall. ISSN: 1436-3798 Record 19 of 86 Author(s): Court-Picon, M; Buttler, A; de Beaulieu, JL Title: Modern pollen/vegetation/land-use relationships in mountain environments: an example from the Champsaur valley (French Alps) Source: VEGETATION HISTORY AND ARCHAEOBOTANY, 15 (3): 151-168 JUN 2006 Author Keywords: surface pollen samples; modern pollen land-use relationships; anthropogenic indicators; numerical analyses; French Alps Keywords Plus: POLLEN-VEGETATION RELATIONSHIPS; CULTURAL LANDSCAPES; WESTERN NORWAY; SURFACE POLLEN; REPRESENTATION; SPECTRA; RECORDS; ANALOGS; ALPINE; SWEDEN Abstract: This study aims at elucidating modern pollen spectra/environmental data relationships from both natural and human-induced vegetation types as an aid for palaeo-ecological reconstructions. A set of 51 surface moss polsters was sampled from different vegetation and land-use types in the Champsaur area (French Alps) and analysed to obtain modern pollen analogues of ancient cultural landscapes in mountain ecosystems. Samples were selected from grazed areas, mown meadows, cultivated fields, fallow land and deciduous and coniferous forests. Vegetation composition around the sampling points and seventeen types of environmental variables (e.g., management type, soil and topography) were collected all for these 51 sites. Patterns of modern local pollen variation in relation to the environmental variables were explored by means of canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) and associated statistical tests. This correlative model allows us to determine the major explanatory variables and to identify taxa indicative of particular anthropogenic activities, and thus may help to calibrate fossil pollen assemblages. The indicator pollen types are evaluated in the light of comparable material from lowland and mid-elevation areas of western Europe. The results of the French data-set confirm some of the conclusions drawn from the North European data-sets, but also show some site specific features. Pollen markers with a broader global significance common to other regions include Rhinanthus type, Apiaceae and Dipsacaceae for mown meadows, Urtica type, Plantago media/major, Trifolium type and Potentilla type for grazed areas, and Cerealia type, Centaurea cyanus, and Polygonum aviculare for cultivated fields. New pollen anthropogenic indicators typical of our study area are Sanguisorba officinalis, Vicia type (mowing), Lotus type, Onobrychis type, Centaurea nigra type, Serratula type (grazing), Sinapis type and Papaver rhoeas (cultivation). This study provides potentially valuable analogues for human-induced vegetation types, and it may then become possible to interpret more objectively local pollen diagrams from Alpine mountain environments in terms of past cultural landscape development. ISSN: 0939-6314 Record 20 of 86 Author(s): Zheng, YR; Xie, ZX; Jiang, LH; Shimizu, H; Rimmington, GM; Zhou, GS Title: Vegetation responses along environmental gradients on the Ordos plateau, China Source: ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 21 (3): 396-404 MAY 2006 Author Keywords: ecophysiological properties; plant community structure; species distribution; shrub islands; soil water content; temperature; vegetation distribution patterns Keywords Plus: INNER-MONGOLIA; GRASSLAND; CLIMATE; NICHE; MODEL; LAND Abstract: The Ordos plateau is a unique ecotone and is a focal region for the campaign to reduce or reverse desertification in China. This paper explores the relationship between vegetation and environmental gradients on the Ordos plateau based on a field survey of species distribution, vegetation distribution patterns, plant community structure, ecophysiological properties, and soil water content along an environmental gradient. The vegetation on the Ordos plateau may be divided into three types from east to west: steppe (eastern part), desert steppe (middle part) and steppe desert (western part). From east to west, precipitation declines significantly (from 400 mm to 150 mm). The spatial distribution pattern of vegetation at different sites was random. The density of shrub islands decreased from east to west, and their height and diameter were negatively correlated with precipitation. From east to west, the transpiration rate increased as temperature increased. Stomatal conductance was positively correlated with percentage of sunshine hours and negatively correlated with temperature. Water-use efficiency was positively correlated with average annual precipitation but negatively correlated with increasing percentage of sunshine hours. The results suggest that for effective revegetation, highly drought-tolerant species, such as Caragana tibetica and C. stenophylla, should be used and a lower percentage of vegetation cover expected (30-40%) in the western half of the Ordos plateau. In the eastern half, moderately drought-tolerant species, such as Artemisia ordosica and C. korshinskii, could be used and a higher percentage vegetation cover expected (4050%). ISSN: 0912-3814 Record 21 of 86 Author(s): Domac, A; Suzen, ML Title: Integration of environmental variables with satellite images in regional scale vegetation classification Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF REMOTE SENSING, 27 (7): 1329-1350 APR 10 2006 Keywords Plus: LAND-COVER CLASSIFICATION; ANCILLARY DATA; ACCURACY; IMPROVEMENT; TOPOGRAPHY Abstract: The difficulty of collecting information at conventional field studies and relatively coarse spatial and spectral resolution of Landsat images forced the use of environmental variables as ancillary data in vegetation mapping. The aim of this study is to increase the accuracy of species level vegetation classification incorporating environmental variables in the Amanos Mountains region of southern central Turkey. In the first part of the study, ordinary vegetation classification is attained by using a maximum likelihood method to Landsat images with the help of forest management maps. Discriminant analysis is used in the second part of the study in two different stages. First, Fisher's linear equations for each of the pre-defined nine vegetation groups are calculated and values of the pixels are assigned by the greatest probability value. Second, distance raster value of maximum likelihood classification is used as a threshold. The distance raster pixels having values less than one is accepted as misclassified and replaced with the results of discriminant analysis results. As a result of this study 19.6% increase in overall accuracy is obtained by using the relationships between environmental variables and vegetation existence. ISSN: 0143-1161 Record 22 of 86 Author(s): Hardtle, W; Redecker, B; Assmann, T; Meyer, H Title: Vegetation responses to environmental conditions in floodplain grasslands: Prerequisites for preserving plant species diversity Source: BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY, 7 (3): 280-288 2006 Author Keywords: Cnidium dubium; land-use management; phosphate limitation; productivity; River Elbe Keywords Plus: NUTRIENT LIMITATION; MEADOWS; RICHNESS; SYSTEM; RIVER Abstract: We studied plant species responses to environmental conditions in floodplain grasslands (alliance Cnidion) of the river Elbe (northern Germany) in order to describe relationships between species composition/diversity and underlying site gradients. We analysed a total area of 639ha of floodplain grasslands, using 98 sampling plots. Vegetation responses to environmental conditions were examined by means of DCA. The relationships between species diversity and environmental conditions were examined using regression analyses. Our results show that species composition and species richness are mainly affected by present-day utilization, by the phosphate supply and by the productivity of stands. Species richness decreases significantly under grazing, with increasing phosphate supply and productivity of stands. Intermediate productivity levels, mowing and high inundation frequencies promote floodplain target species. N-inorg availability and base availability have only a minor impact on species composition/species diversity. Productivity is closely related to the amount of plant available phosphate. Low phosphate concentrations in the topsoil are particularly characteristic of Cnidium dubium floodplain meadows. Therefore, it is likely that in floodplain grasslands with low to intermediate productivity, phosphate is the most important factor influencing plant competition and plant species diversity. We hypothesize that an increased phosphate supply increases stand productivity and, hence, the competition for light, thus excluding weak competitors. This interpretation is supported by the present-day distribution of C. dubium floodplain meadows of the river Elbe: these are concentrated in the hybrid (between summer and winter dykes) and fossil floodplain (landward side of winter dykes), but have been replaced in the functional floodplain by grass-dominated plant communities as a result of a steady increase in the river water phosphate content. It is, therefore, only in the hybrid and fossil. floodplain grasslands that species diversity may be preserved in the tong term, as the P input is lower here than in the functional floodplain. (c) 2005 Gesellschaft fur Okologie. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1439-1791 Record 23 of 86 Author(s): Rickson, RJ; Clarke, MA; Owens, PN Title: The use of vegetation for erosion control and environmental protection Source: EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, 31 (5): 533-535 APR 30 2006 ISSN: 0197-9337 Record 24 of 86 Author(s): King, WM; Dowling, PM; Michalk, DL; Kemp, DR; Millar, GD; Packer, IJ; Priest, SM; Tarleton, JA Title: Sustainable grazing systems for the Central Tablelands of New South Wales. 1. Agronomic implications of vegetation-environment associations within a naturalised temperate perennial grassland Source: AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL AGRICULTURE, 46 (4): 439-456 2006 Keywords Plus: ELECTRICAL-CONDUCTIVITY; COMMUNITY INVASIBILITY; EASTERN AUSTRALIA; HIGH-RAINFALL; PASTURES; MANAGEMENT; WOODLANDS; TREES; PRODUCTIVITY; RESTORATION Abstract: Temperate perennial grass-based pastures dominate the high rainfall zone of south-eastern Australia and support a major livestock production industry. This area has experienced a recent change in overall pasture condition, however, typified by a reduction in the abundance of perennial grasses and an increasingly prominent winter-annual grass weed component. Improving the condition and productivity of these pastures can be achieved by improved management but this requires better knowledge of the interactions between management options and pasture species composition and of the interaction between pasture vegetation and the complex effects of a heterogeneous landscape. This paper reports the results of an intensive survey of a 60-ha paddock that was designed to identify the species present, determine their patterns of distribution and examine the relationships between pasture vegetation and the environment. The survey of species present in late summer was supplemented by the identification of seedlings that later emerged from extracted soil cores and by soil physical and chemical analyses. Data were analysed using ordination and interpreted with GIS software so that topographic features could be considered. The most frequently identified taxa were Hypochaeris radicata, Austrodanthonia spp. and Bothriochloa spp. ( in late summer) and Vulpia spp., Bromus molliformis and Trifolium subterraneum ( winter-annual species). Austrodanthonia spp. were commonly found on the drier ridges and more acid soils with lower phosphate levels. These were also the areas dominated in spring by Vulpia spp. and were generally lower in plant species richness overall. The most species-rich areas occurred downslope where soil fertility was higher and less moisture stress was presumably experienced. The measured environmental factors explained a substantial proportion of the variation in the vegetation dataset, which underlined the importance of considering landscape effects in the management of typical tablelands pastures. ISSN: 0816-1089 Record 25 of 86 Author(s): Falcon-Lang, HJ Title: Vegetation ecology of Early Pennsylvanian alluvial fan and piedmont environments in southern New Brunswick, Canada Source: PALAEOGEOGRAPHY PALAEOCLIMATOLOGY PALAEOECOLOGY, 233 (1-2): 34-50 APR 4 2006 Author Keywords: Pennsylvanian; coal; uplands; alluvial fan; Fern Ledges; Joggins Formation Keywords Plus: TROPICAL RAIN-FORESTS; BOSS POINT FORMATION; NOVA-SCOTIA; JOGGINS FORMATION; CORDAITALEAN TREES; CUMBERLAND BASIN; MARITIME CANADA; EASTERN CANADA; UPLAND ECOLOGY; SYDNEY BASIN Abstract: The vegetation ecology of Pennsylvanian upland/dryland regions is poorly known, despite its evolutionary significance. Here, fossil plant assemblages are described from well-drained alluvial fan/piedmont deposits in the uppermost Boss Point and Tynemouth Creek formations (late Yeadonian-Langsettian), southern New Brunswick. Beds record the northward building of a large alluvial fan complex over alluvial plain deposits in response to near-continuous sourceland uplift. Proximal alluvial fan environments, characterized by sheetfloods and braided streams, were dominated by large cordaitalean trees, medullosan pteridosperms, ferns, and calamiteans. Distal alluvial fan environments, where braided stream and levee/splay sedimentation predominated, were covered by similar vegetation, together with lycopsids in localized poorly drained depressions. Calamitean thickets were particularly widespread in rapidly aggrading settings on the distal fan. Well-drained alluvial plains beyond the fan toe were characterized by axial braided rivers containing cordaitalean trunks transported from proximal settings. Piedmont vegetation is otherwise poorly resolved. All studied plant assemblages are of low- to medium-diversity, and dominated by the remains of a single group, cordaitalean seed plants. Such dominance-diversity characteristics, together with the presence of charcoal, the product of wildfire, imply that Pennsylvanian upland/dryland vegetation experienced water-stress and that the seed habit was integral to successful colonization. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0031-0182 Record 26 of 86 Author(s): McAuliffe, JR; McDonald, EV Title: Holocene environmental change and vegetation contraction in the Sonoran Desert Source: QUATERNARY RESEARCH, 65 (2): 204-215 MAR 2006 Author Keywords: alluvial fan; bioturbation; climate change contracted vegetation; creosotebush; desert pavement; drought; Larrea tridentata; rock varnish; Sonoran Desert Keywords Plus: SOUTHWESTERN UNITED-STATES; MOJAVE DESERT; CLIMATE-CHANGE; USA; RECORD; SOILS Abstract: Two types of microtopographic features (plant scar mounds and plant scar depressions) on surfaces of barren desert pavements provide a unique record of the former presence of large perennial plants. Evidence of bioturbation by burrowing animals extends more than I in beneath each type of plant scar, indicating that both features originated as large bioturbation mounds. Formation of bioturbation mounds in desertscrub environments is generally restricted to areas beneath widely separated, large perennial plants. The contrasting forms of plant scars (mounds vs. depressions) represent time-dependent changes following disappearance of the large plants and eventual cessation of bioturbation. Plant scar mounds represent a geologically recent episode of plant mortality, whereas plant scar depressions represent the disappearance of plants at a considerably earlier time, possibly at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Contrasting spatial distributions of the two kinds of plant scars indicate that vegetation on alluvial fans has progressively contracted from a more diffuse., former vegetation cover, yielding the wide, barren pavement surfaces present today. In less and portions of the Sonoran Desert, spatial distribution of recent plant mortality due to persistent, severe drought provides an analog of the progressive loss of plants from different parts of the landscape in the past. (c) 2005 University of Washington. All tights reserved. ISSN: 0033-5894 Record 27 of 86 Author(s): Liew, PM; Huang, SY; Kuo, CM Title: Pollen stratigraphy, vegetation and environment of the last glacial and Holocene - A record from Toushe Basin, central Taiwan Source: QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, 147: 16-33 APR 2006 Keywords Plus: PLANT MACROFOSSIL DATA; HIGH-RESOLUTION POLLEN; YOUNGER-DRYAS; ASIAN PALEOMONSOONS; CLIMATE CHANGES; NORTH-ATLANTIC; MONSOON; MAXIMUM; BIOMES; CHINA Abstract: The pollen record from the Toushe Basin (23 degrees 49'N; 120 degrees 53'E; 650 m above sea level), a peat bog of central Taiwan, displays a continuous vegetation history of the past 96,000 yr BP of monsoon Asia. Instead of today's closed subtropical evergreen broadleaved forest dominated by Machilus-Castanopsis surrounding the basin, temperate deciduous forest predominated during most of the last glacial. In early MIS 4, Alnus reaches the highest value of the whole sequence (60-70%) representing temperate deciduous forest and relatively cold and arid conditions. Following this stadial, Alnus and herbs (mainly Cyperaceae) dominated alternately, with a minor increase of Castanopsis. Peaks of monolete spores between cal. 42.2 and 37.0 kyr BP (kyr BP represent calibrated years) indicate episodic wet conditions. The later glacial, especially between 23.2 and 18.7 kyr BP. shows a high percentage of Gramineae, indicating dry and possibly sometimes cold conditions. The late glacial shows a remarkable increase of warm-temperate to temperate forest elements, such as Ilex, Cyclobalanopsis and Symplocos. At about 15.1 kyr BP a peak of monolete spores indicates wet-warm conditions. A subsequent sharp increase of Salix and then Gramineae between 13.0 and 11.6 kyr BP corresponds to the Younger Dryas. A warming event at 11.5 kyr BP is also evident. The Holocene is characterized by warm-wet conditions of the overwhelmingly abundant monolete spores since 10.7 kyr BP and the prominent increase of Castanopsis. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1040-6182 Record 28 of 86 Author(s): Wilson, JB; White, PS; Bakker, JP; Diaz, S Title: Disentangling the environment and representing vegetation science Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 17 (1): 1-3 FEB 2006 Keywords Plus: FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY; PLANT-COMMUNITIES; CLASSIFICATION; RESPONSES ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 29 of 86 Author(s): Gu, BH; Hoyer, MV Title: Community structure and environmental conditions in Florida shallow lakes dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation Source: LAKE AND RESERVOIR MANAGEMENT, 21 (4): 403-410 DEC 2005 Author Keywords: biodiversity; biomass; Florida lakes; light; phosphorus; submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) Keywords Plus: PHOSPHORUS REMOVAL; MACROPHYTES; BIOMASS; EUTROPHICATION; EVERGLADES; PATTERNS; COVER Abstract: Florida inland waters are dominated by shallow lakes, many of which support the growth of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). We examined the species composition and selected environmental variables of SAV-dominated lakes using data from the Florida LAKEWATCH program. Our analysis revealed eight genera with approximately 15 species of SAV among these shallow lakes, which range in size from < 2-2,300 ha. The SAV community within each lake primarily consisted of a single or a few species. Utricularia and Hydrilla were the most common SAV genera found in these lakes. Many SAV species grew well in a wide range of water quality conditions, although biodiversity and biomass tended to increase with increasing alkalinity and calcium concentration. More SAV species were also found in lakes with higher pH and Secchi depth. On average, Ceratophyllum, Najas and Vallisneria dominated lakes with high total phosphorus (TP) concentrations (0.034-0.053 mg/L) while Chara, Utricularia, Potantogeton and Myriophyllum corresponded with relatively low TP concentrations (0.008-0.013 mg/L). However, there, was a large overlap in nutrient concentrations in lakes dominated by different species. ISSN: 1040-2381 Record 30 of 86 Author(s): Corney, PM; Le Duc, MG; Smart, SM; Kirby, KJ; Bunce, RGH; Marrs, RH Title: Relationships between the species composition of forest field-layer vegetation and environmental drivers, assessed using a national scale survey Source: JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, 94 (2): 383-401 MAR 2006 Author Keywords: canonical correspondence analysis; forest field layer; forest herb species; National Woodland Survey; variation partitioning; vegetation analysis Keywords Plus: GROUND FLORA; ECOLOGICAL SURVEY; PLANT DISPERSAL; CLIMATE-CHANGE; WOODLAND; ANCIENT; HABITAT; GROWTH; CONSERVATION; LANDSCAPE Abstract: Simulation models of forest stand dynamics have increased understanding of over-storey vegetation functioning, and have facilitated the development of tools capable of assessing possible successional trajectories. However, few models incorporate the response of the field layer vegetation despite it being another key component of forest ecosystems. Our main objective was to assess the degree to which field-layer vegetation composition in forests is determined by variables operating at different scales, from regional (e.g. climate, location) to local factors (e.g. basal area of canopy trees, management). We used data gathered during a nationwide forest survey to assess the relative effects of a broad spectrum of environmental variables on species composition. Variation partitioning was used to examine the relative contribution of subsets of environmental variables such as site spatial variation, boundary type and presence of herbivores. Ordination confirmed hypotheses that field layer vegetation is primarily structured by two composite geo-climatic gradients. However, variation partitioning demonstrated that site- and plot-scale management factors also strongly influence the floristic composition of forest patches. Disturbance variables (site boundary type/regional presence of deer) accounted for considerable species variation, exceeding that due to either site spatial variation or forest structure. This is the first time variation attributable to such a comprehensive range of environmental variables has been quantified for forests surveyed at a national scale. We thus provide a context within which regional studies, or analyses considering a more limited range of factors, can be viewed, and a framework from which robust models of floristic response to gradual and episodic natural and anthropogenic disturbances may be developed. The methodology we present, including a novel technique for the identification and removal of outliers in large data sets, provides a unique and standardized means of assessing the relative importance of diverse environmental drivers across a range of habitat types at the landscape scale, and is readily applicable elsewhere. ISSN: 0022-0477 Record 31 of 86 Author(s): Tidon, R Title: Relationships between drosophilids (Diptera, Drosophilidae) and the environment in two contrasting tropical vegetations Source: BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, 87 (2): 233-247 FEB 2006 Author Keywords: biodiversity; Brazil; Cerrado biome; Drosophila; gallery forest; savanna; South America; temporal distribution; Zaprionus Keywords Plus: LONG-DISTANCE MIGRATION; SONORAN DESERT DROSOPHILA; BRAZILIAN CERRADO; AUSTRALIAN DROSOPHILA; SOUTHERN-CALIFORNIA; BREEDING SITES; CENTRAL CHILE; POPULATION; ABUNDANCE; ECOLOGY Abstract: Although natural populations of drosophilid flies have been the subject of ecological studies, the population ecology of these insects in the tropics is still poorly known. This paper discusses aspects of the relationship between drosophilids and their environment, based on 28 monthly collections made in two contrasting vegetations of the Brazilian Cerrado biome: gallery forest and savanna. Exotic species were found in both types of environment; but 14 of the 30 captured Neotropical species occurred exclusively in the gallery forests, probably because of their climatic stability and greater environmental heterogeneity. Even though some endemic species were more abundant in the dry and cold months, most populations exhibited peaks of abundance in the wet season. The species diversity indexes (H' and D), higher in the dry season, were probably affected by increased evenness at this time of year, when the populations of practically all the species are greatly reduced. As species richness in the savanna vegetation clearly decreased in the dry season, increasing again in the wet season, it is suggested that some drosophilids migrate to the forests when climatic conditions are too stressful in the savannas. (c) 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 87, 233-247. ISSN: 0024-4066 Record 32 of 86 Author(s): Navratilova, J; Navratil, J Title: Vegetation gradients in fishpond mires in relation to seasonal fluctuations in environmental factors Source: PRESLIA, 77 (4): 405-418 2005 Author Keywords: Central Europe; electrical conductivity; fen; fluctuation; mire vegetation; water pH; water table Keywords Plus: SURFACE-WATER CHEMISTRY; SPRING FEN VEGETATION; WEST EUROPEAN MIRES; ECOLOGICAL GRADIENTS; SPECIES RICHNESS; SOUTHERN ALPS; POOR; CARPATHIANS; COMMUNITY; PATTERNS Abstract: The composition of the vegetation of fishpond mires in the Trebon Basin (Czech Republic) was studied in relation to temporal fluctuations in certain environmental factors. The water-table depth, water pH and electrical conductivity at 49 permanent plots were measured at approximately three-week intervals from March to October 2003. Minimum, maximum, mean, median and variation in the abovementioned environmental factors were correlated with vegetation composition. The most important environmental factors explaining the variation in vegetation were mean pH and maximum water-table level. Median conductivity increased with increase in waterlogging and eutrophication. Some seasonal trends in the dynamics of these parameters were observed. The lowest conductivity was in spring, increased continuously throughout summer and peaked in autumn. In contrast, water level decreased in summer, when evapotranspiration was greatest, and rose in autumn after heavy rainfall. The pH increased from March to June, then was stable and decreased at the end of summer. Seasonal trends were generally identical in all vegetation types. The fluctuations in the environmental factors were so considerable that they may influence the reliability of vegetation environmental analyses. ISSN: 0032-7786 Record 33 of 86 Author(s): Peel, MJS; Kruger, JM; Zacharias, PJK Title: Environmental and management determinants of vegetation state on protected areas in the eastern Lowveld of South Africa Source: AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, 43 (4): 352-361 DEC 2005 Author Keywords: herbaceous layer; stocking density; system determinants Keywords Plus: RAINFALL; SAVANNA; BIOMASS Abstract: Principal driving determinants (rainfall, geology, soil, tree density and canopy cover, animal numbers and feeding classes, and fire) of vegetation structure and function in the Lowveld savanna in South Africa were grouped for a 7-year period to establish their influence on the limiting herbaceous layer. Grass type, abundance and cover were examined (450 sites; approximately 4000 km(2)). Using ordination, the variation and differences in the herbaceous-response variables viz. perennial composition and cover allowed for the broad environmental grouping of areas of similar ecological potential. We demonstrate that areas of higher ecological potential carried higher densities of large herbivores without detrimentally affecting herbaceous composition and cover. The results have implications for land users and policy makers in terms of setting animal stocking density guidelines. ISSN: 0141-6707 Record 34 of 86 Author(s): Murren, CJ; Denning, W; Pigliucci, M Title: Relationships between vegetative and life history traits and fitness in a novel field environment: Impacts of herbivores Source: EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY, 19 (6): 583-601 NOV 2005 Author Keywords: colonizing species; herbivory; microenvironment; non-native environment; selection analysis; tolerance Keywords Plus: PLANT ARABIDOPSIS-THALIANA; NATURAL-SELECTION; EVOLUTIONARY ECOLOGY; DATURA-STRAMONIUM; GENETICVARIATION; IPOMOPSIS-AGGREGATA; DEER HERBIVORY; MORNING GLORY; TOLERANCE; RESISTANCE Abstract: At the edge of a species range, plants may experience myriad microenvironmental gradients, which may differ and impose strong yet complex selective regimes. We explore these issues using the model organism Arabidopsis thaliana, a native of Europe that has naturalized in North America, which we planted in a common garden field plot in Knoxville, Tennessee and observed across two biotic gradients. We found evidence that directional selection favors increased plant size, consistent with hypotheses of plant responses to novel environments. However, selection differed among plants with fungus gnat larvae damage, aphid damage, and plants that escaped herbivory, evidence that the selective landscape is variable and complex even for quasi-natural field plots. We did not uncover evidence for resistance; however, our results suggest that tolerance of A. thaliana may play an important role for population establishment and persistence in the presence of herbivores in a novel environment. Our findings highlight the variation in one segment of the biotic selective landscape of field environments, as well as the importance of biotic interactions in shaping the success of recently established populations that may be a critical component of post-invasion evolution. ISSN: 0269-7653 Record 35 of 86 Author(s): Miller, DL; Smeins, FE; Webb, JW; Yager, L Title: Mid-Texas, USA coastal marsh vegetation pattern and dynamics as influenced by environmental stress and snow goose herbivory Source: WETLANDS, 25 (3): 648-658 SEP 2005 Author Keywords: patch dynamics; coastal marsh ecotone; drought; snow goose herbivory; cyclic succession Keywords Plus: PLANT COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; ENGLAND SALTMARSH; SOIL-SALINITY; GROWTH; DISTURBANCE; LOUISIANA; HABITATS; ZONATION; WETLAND; GEESE Abstract: Vegetation pattern and dynamics were characterized across a mid-Texas, USA coastal marsh ecotone subjected to snow goose herbivory, drought, and saltwater pulses. For eight years following snow goose feeding, species cover was evaluated in heavy and light goose-use patches at increasing distances from tidal influence. Just prior to and for two years after the feeding event, drought, and several salt-water pulses associated with tropical storms typified the hydrologic dynamics of the marsh. Herbivory history was more important than distance from tidal influence, salinity, or flooding in explaining spatial and temporal vegetation pattern for three years. Precipitation variation influenced vegetation dynamics in areas heavily used by geese. Recovery to pre-herbivory composition and abundance required six years without further snow goose feeding. Extremes of annual precipitation, salinities, and water levels impacted cover of Spartina patens dominated patches little unless feeding snow geese uprooted vegetation. Schoenoplectus americanus was more impacted by extremes of environmental dynamics than S. patens but even more impacted by synergistic effects of uprooting and environmental extremes. During this period, the ecotone could be characterized as patchy, with a gulfward waxing and waning of S. americanus. ISSN: 0277-5212 Record 36 of 86 Author(s): Sherman, RE; Martin, PH; Fahey, TJ Title: Vegetation-environment relationships in forest ecosystems of the Cordillera Central, Dominican Republic Source: JOURNAL OF THE TORREY BOTANICAL SOCIETY, 132 (2): 293-310 APR-JUN 2005 Author Keywords: cloud forests; disturbance; diversity; Dominican Republic; gradient analysis; logistic regression; pine forests; trade wind inversion; tropical montane forests Keywords Plus: ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT; MOUNT KINABALU; DIVERSITY; LANDSCAPES; PATTERNS; HISTORY; BORNEO Abstract: We examined forest vegetation-environment relationships the central mountain range of Hispaniola to improve general understanding of tropical montane forests. Forest inventory data were collected in 1999 and 2000 from 245 plots established in the Armando Bermudez and Carmen Ramirez National Parks, Dominican Republic, over an elevation range of 1,100-3,075 m. Average tree density (>= 10 cm dbh), basal area, and dbh were highly variable across the elevation gradient; species richness declined significantly with elevation; and the canopy height of broadleaved stands declined whereas the height of stands dominated by the endemic pine, Pinus occidentalis Sw., was relatively constant across the elevation gradient. Four major forest associations were identified using TWINSPAN: a low elevation broadleaved forest; a pine-broadleaved mixed forest; a mid-elevation cloud forest; and a largely monospecific pine forest that extends from the cloud forests to the summits of the highest peaks and dominates the leeward slopes of the mountains. Species composition varied continuously along the elevation gradient up to 2,250 m; however, above 2,250 m there was an abrupt shift from cloud forest to monospecific pine forests. Temperature, humidity, and fire history appear to regulate the position of this boundary, probably reflecting the position of the trade wind inversion. Ordination and logistic regression indicated that disturbance history and topo-edaphic factors influenced individual species distributions. ISSN: 0040-9618 Record 37 of 86 Author(s): Rull, V Title: Vegetation and environmental constancy in the Neotropical Guayana Highlands during the last 6000 years? Source: REVIEW OF PALAEOBOTANY AND PALYNOLOGY, 135 (3-4): 205222 JUL 2005 Author Keywords: vegetation change; Holocene; palynology; palaeoecology; palaeoclimatology; South America; tropics Keywords Plus: RADIOCARBON AGE CALIBRATION; LOST-WORLD; PALEOECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE; SOUTHEASTERN VENEZUELA; CONSERVATION; TERRESTRIAL; GUAIQUINIMA; HYPOTHESES; SEDIMENTS; MASSIF Abstract: The aim of this paper is to document the Holocene (6000 years BP to the present) vegetation trends on the summit of three tepuis (table mountains), from one of the largest and highest tepuian massifs of the Neotropical Guayana region, the Chimanta, situated in Venezuela. The tepui summits are almost pristine and unique sites to record natural forcings and ecosystem responses. Here, pollen analysis and radiocarbon dating of four peat sequences obtained with a manual Hiller borer are presented, and compared with modem analogues from surface samples, for interpretation. Highland tepuian meadows have been the dominant vegetation type throughout the time interval studied. The sequences studied exhibited different minor vegetation patterns in time, recording primarily local vegetation dynamics, such as lateral variations in the forest-meadow ecotones, and quantitative shifts in the dominant meadow taxa. Moderate climatic shifts formerly reported for other localities were not recorded here, probably because the intermediate altitude and the geomorphological characteristics of the sites studied made them insensitive to subtle regional changes in temperature and moisture, which are hidden by local vegetation shifts. The results of the present study allowed estimation of the magnitude of formerly reported vegetation shifts in the same massif In the studied sites, the constancy in the vegetation through time cannot be considered only as the result of a high degree of climatic stability, but also the consequence of site insensitivity. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0034-6667 Record 38 of 86 Author(s): Devineau, JL; Fournier, A Title: To what extent can simple plant biological traits account for the response of the herbaceous layer to environmental changes in fallow-savanna vegetation (West Burkina Faso, West Africa)? Source: FLORA, 200 (4): 361-375 2005 Author Keywords: co-inertia analysis; functional group; man-made disturbances plant-soil relationships; Sudan-type savanna; tree-grass relationships Keywords Plus: FUNCTIONAL TYPES; GRAZING RESPONSE; GLOBAL CHANGE; TREE; BIOGEOGRAPHY; GRADIENTS; DYNAMICS; PATTERNS; ROOTS; FORMS Abstract: The ability of simple plant traits used as surrogate of species to reflect environmental variability of grasses and herbs in a West African savanna subject to fallow land rotation is assessed by referring to plants' functional attributes. The aim is to determine the nature and the importance of the loss of information associated with the trait-vs.-species simplification. The traits selected are easily observable and widely documented. They are related to plant responses to resource availability, environmental constraints/disturbances and to plant palatability and capacity to disperse. The co-inertia analyses of both species-environment and traits-environment are compared. Although selected traits account for only a part of the variability recorded by species, they are relevant and most of them have an ecological significance. Syndromes of attributes that reflect the functional plant-environment relationships of the grass layer along a twofold gradient of soil fertility and woody cover could then be established. Periodic clearing and soil fertility decline produced by the fallow system determine vegetation types dominated by herbaceous species ranging from competitive and ruderal-competitive on fertile and wooded sites to stress-tolerant ruderal on unfertile and non-wooded sites. Thus, selected traits do not reveal all functional aspects of the relationships of savanna plants to their environment, such as soil hydromorphy and depth of the clayey horizon. That is possibly due to the scarcity of traits that characterize the root system involved in the analysis. (c) 2005 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0367-2530 Record 39 of 86 Author(s): Aranda, V; Oyonarte, C Title: Effect of vegetation with different evolution degree on soil organic matter in a semi-arid environment (Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park, SE Spain) Source: JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS, 62 (4): 631-647 SEP 2005 Author Keywords: soil hunnic acids; soil organic matter; surface soil horizon; scrub vegetation; Mediterranean semi-arid vegetation; Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park; SE Spain Keywords Plus: FOREST SOIL; HUMIC ACIDS; SPECTROSCOPY; CULTIVATION Abstract: The organic matter of the surface horizons of soils developed below scrub vegetation in a Mediterranean semi-arid area of great environmental interest (Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park, SE Spain) has been studied. The study mainly concentrates on examining the influence of two vegetation types, one evolved (according to its successional stage), and the other clearly degraded as a result of prior removal of vegetation. In spite of the homogeneity in the results obtained from the analysis of the organic matter from the soils studied, a relationship may be established between vegetation biotype and characteristics and evolution of the soil organic matter. The evolved vegetation results in the presence in the soil of a somewhat more evolved and stable organic matter (demonstrated by certain chemical and microbiological aspects), resulting in a greater degree of humification, thus favouring the protection of the soil and the ecosystem as a whole. Hence, the presence of degraded vegetation might lead to soil degradation, something that is unsustainable in semi-arid areas that are particularly fragile in nature. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0140-1963 Record 40 of 86 Author(s): Stave, J; Oba, G; Stenseth, NC; Nordal, I Title: Environmental gradients in the Turkwel riverine forest, Kenya: Hypotheses on dam-induced vegetation change Source: FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, 212 (1-3): 184-198 JUL 1 2005 Author Keywords: constrained ordination; dam impoundment; floodplain forest; riparian vegetation; Turkana; variation partitioning Keywords Plus: CANONICAL CORRESPONDENCE-ANALYSIS; RIPARIAN VEGETATION; TANA RIVER; WATER-TABLE; FLOODPLAIN FORESTS; SOUTH TURKANA; RIO-GRANDE; PATTERNS; ORDINATION; WOODLAND Abstract: The ecology of and and semi-arid floodplain forests in Africa is being deliberately altered by the construction of dams. There is, however, a widespread lack of baseline data to support detailed assessments of dam-induced impacts on downstream forest composition. In the Turkwel River, north-western Kenya, fragmented discharge records reveal that the river flow regime has changed significantly after the impoundment of the Turkwel Gorge Dam in 1990. In order to generate hypotheses on the impacts of river damming, a series of 93 sample plots (30 m x 30 m) were distributed across and along the entire Turkwel River floodplain. The vegetation gradients were summarized by detrended correspondence analysis and correlated with measured environmental variables. Canonical correspondence analysis was then used to partition the compositional variation on hydrological, climatic, landuse, and edaphic variables. The gradient approach was compared with the scales of spatial autocorrelation among ordination axes and environmental variables to detect causal vegetation-environment relationships. Results show that the main vegetation gradient was strongly correlated with distance to the river channel, elevation, and subsoil electrical conductivity, while the second gradient was strongly correlated with distance to the river mouth and rainfall. Increased lateral distance and elevation was interpreted as a reduction in flooding frequency and duration towards the dry and saline edge of the riverine zone. Floodplain inundation is believed to combine with post-flood water tables in determining suitable conditions for forest regeneration. The longitudinal gradient represented a regional change in water regime from the mesic upstream to the xeric downstream section of the river. Variation partitioning illustrated the crucial importance of hydrology, which explained 63% of the total compositional variation, as compared to soils (43%), climate (34%), and land-use (4%). There were also significant interactions between hydrology, soils, and climate. It is hypothesised that the Turkwel riverine forest will experience shifts in the lateral as well as longitudinal vegetation gradients due to reductions in peak and mean flows. This study demonstrates an efficient and straightforward approach for assessing the possible impacts of river flow regulation in the absence of detailed hydrological data and long-term vegetation records. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0378-1127 Record 41 of 86 Author(s): Verlinden, A; Dayot, B Title: A comparison between indigenous environmental knowledge and a conventional vegetation analysis in north central Namibia Source: JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS, 62 (1): 143-175 JUL 2005 Author Keywords: indigenous environmental knowledge; vegetation; ordination; land classification; resource use; grazing Keywords Plus: SOIL KNOWLEDGE Abstract: Local communities use an indigenous classification of environmental land units for natural resource management in central north Namibia. These indigenous land units (ILUs) were compared with a conventional vegetation analysis to improve understanding by scientists. The indigenous classification is based on many criteria. Detrended correspondence analysis was carried out on 388 vegetation samples, collected in a participatory way. The ordination diagrams of species and samples were a good reflection of ecological variation in the area. The data were used to draw sample standard deviation ellipses around the average ILU score. Classes with highly ranked vegetation criteria had little overlap with each other, while classes with no vegetation criteria often had large overlaps with other land classes. Advantages and disadvantages of working with indigenous environmental knowledge are discussed. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0140-1963 Record 42 of 86 Author(s): McEwan, RW; Muller, RN; McCarthy, BC Title: Vegetation-environment relationships among woody species in four canopylayers in an old-growth mixed mesophytic forest Source: CASTANEA, 70 (1): 32-46 MAR 2005 Keywords Plus: SOUTHEASTERN OHIO; EASTERN KENTUCKY; OAK FOREST; PATTERNS; DISTURBANCE; UNDERSTORY; ECOSYSTEMS; DYNAMICS; DEBRIS; PLANTS Abstract: We examined vegetation-environment relationships among woody species in four canopy-strata within an old-growth mixed mesophytic forest. We hypothesized that 1) the most important environmental variables determining vegetation composition would differ among canopy-layers and 2) the maximum abundance of Quercus spp. would occur under different environmental conditions than those of Acer spp. Overstory and mid-story vegetation were arrayed along gradients of soil fertility and elevation. The shrub-layer and the ground-layer were most strongly correlated with soil fertility and pH. Across strata, Quercus spp. were consistently located in ordination space on well-lit upper slopes with low soil pH. Acer rubrum was found across a wide array of environmental conditions and Acer saccharum was found in mesic areas. ISSN: 0008-7475 Record 43 of 86 Author(s): Gombert, S; Asta, J; Seaward, MRD Title: The use of autecological and environmental parameters for establishing the status of lichen vegetation in a baseline study for a long-term monitoring survey Source: ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION, 135 (3): 501-514 JUN 2005 Author Keywords: lichen vegetation; multivariate analyses; autecological indices; environmental parameters; urban ecology; Grenoble Keywords Plus: EPIPHYTIC LICHENS; AIR-POLLUTION; URBAN AREA; BIODIVERSITY; NETHERLANDS; FLUORIDE; ENGLAND; DIOXIDE; TIME; SO2 Abstract: In 1997 the ecological characteristics of the epiphytic species (83 lichens and two algae) of an urban area (Grenoble, France) were determined. Seven autecological indices were used to characterize the lichen ecology: illumination index, humidity index, pH of bark, nutrient status of substratum, ecological index of IAP and frequency. Six clusters (A1-A6) were defined using cluster analysis and principal component analysis. Seven environmental parameters characterizing the stations and the lichen releves were also used: elevation, parameters of artificiality (urbanization, traffic and local land use), IAP, and the percentage of nitrophytic and acidophytic species. Six clusters (B1-B6) were defined using cluster analysis and canonical correspondence analysis. Four clusters (C1-C4) were finally defined using an empirical integrated method combining the autecological and environmental parameters. This final clustering which established the status of the lichen vegetation in 1997 can be reliably used as a baseline study to effectively monitor environmental changes in this urban area. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0269-7491 Record 44 of 86 Author(s): Sheridan, CD; Spies, TA Title: Vegetation-environment relationships in zero-order basins in coastal Oregon Source: CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH-REVUE CANADIENNE DE RECHERCHE FORESTIERE, 35 (2): 340-355 FEB 2005 Keywords Plus: RIPARIAN FORESTS; RANGE; USA; ASSEMBLAGES; MOUNTAINS; DENSITY; AREAS Abstract: Zero-order basins, where hillslope topography converges to form drainages, are common in steep, forested landscapes but we know little about their ecological structure. We used indirect gradient analysis to characterize gradients in plant species composition and cluster analysis to characterize groups of plant species associated with specific geomorphic areas. We sampled vegetation within 63 randomly selected zero-order basins in the southern Coast Range of Oregon and collected data on herb, shrub, and overstory tree cover, as well as environmental conditions. Zero-order basin overstories were similar in tree composition to both firstorder riparian and upland plant assemblages, but were intermediate in tree density. Shrubs in zero-order basins included both species associated with dry upland conditions and species associated with riparian conditions. Results suggest that understory plant species composition in zero-order basins follows gradients in geomorphic and overstory conditions. Furthermore, it appears that zero-order basins have distinctive geomorphology and fluvial regimes. These distinctive features appear to support both plant species associated with riparian conditions and species associated with upland conditions. Zero-order basins represent the farthest upstream extension of riparian plant species into upland areas, increasing plant species diversity in steep, forested landscapes. ISSN: 0045-5067 Record 45 of 86 Author(s): White, JG; Antos, MJ; Fitzsimons, JA; Palmer, GC Title: Non-uniform bird assemblages in urban environments: the influence of streetscape vegetation Source: LANDSCAPE AND URBAN PLANNING, 71 (2-4): 123-135 MAR 28 2005 Author Keywords: urban ecosystems; streetscapes; remnants; bird guilds; introduced birds Keywords Plus: NEW-SOUTH-WALES; BREEDING BIRDS; HABITAT; AUSTRALIA; COMMUNITIES; RICHNESS; BUSHLAND; WOODLAND; PATTERNS; FOREST Abstract: The urban landscape encompasses a broad spectrum of variable environments ranging from remnant patches to highly modified streetscapes. Despite the expansion of urban environments, few studies have examined the influence of urbanization on faunal diversity, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere. In this study, four broad habitat types were recognized in the urban environment, representing a continuum of modification ranging from parks with remnant vegetation to streetscapes dominated by native vegetation and those dominated by exotic vegetation to recently developed streetscapes. Bird censuses were conducted at 36 sites throughout urban Melbourne, with nine sites surveyed in each habitat type. The four habitat types supported significantly different bird communities based on species richness, abundance and composition suggesting that bird assemblages of urban environments are non-uniform. Parks and native streetscapes generally supported fewer introduced species than exotic and recently developed streetscapes. Overall abundance and richness of species were lower in the exotic and recently developed streetscapes than in parks and native streetscapes. Significant differences were also observed in foraging guilds within the four habitat types, with parks having the most foraging guilds and recently developed streetscapes having the fewest. The transition from native to exotic streetscapes saw the progressive loss of insectivorous and nectarivorous species reflecting a reliance by these species on structurally diverse and/or native vegetation for both shelter and food resources. The implementation of effective strategies and incentives which encourage the planting of structurally diverse native vegetation in streetscapes and gardens should be paramount if avian biodiversity is to be retained and enhanced in urban environments. It is also critical to encourage the maintenance of the existing remnant vegetation in the urban environment. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0169-2046 Record 46 of 86 Author(s): Corney, PM; Le Duc, MG; Smart, SM; Kirby, KJ; Bunce, RGH; Marrs, RH Title: The effect of landscape-scale environmental drivers on the vegetation composition of British woodlands Source: BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION, 120 (4): 491-505 DEC 2004 Author Keywords: National Woodland Survey; environmental factors; vegetation analysis; canonical correspondence analysis; variation partitioning Keywords Plus: CLIMATE-CHANGE; NITROGEN DEPOSITION; ECOLOGICAL SURVEY; LAYER VEGETATION; OAK FORESTS; CLASSIFICATION; DIVERSITY; RESPONSES; IMPACT; UPLAND Abstract: Assessment of factors influencing woodland vegetation composition across Britain was made using multivariate techniques to analyse data gathered during the 1971 National Woodland Survey. Indirect gradient analysis (unconstrained ordination using detrended correspondence analysis) suggested a gradient strongly associated with nutrient availability and pH. Direct gradient analysis (constrained ordination using canonical correspondence analysis) and variation partitioning were used with over 250 ecophysiologically relevant variables, including climatic, geographical, soil and herbivore data, to model the response of woodland vegetation. Although there was a high degree of multicollinearity between environmental variables, analysis revealed the vegetation composition of surveyed woodlands to be primarily structured by geographical, climatic and soil gradients, in particular rainfall, soil pH and accumulated temperature. The woods have recently been resurveyed. The results of this analysis therefore provide a baseline against which species dynamics can be assessed under a series of conservation threats, such as land use and climate change. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0006-3207 Record 47 of 86 Author(s): Biondi, E; Feoli, E; Zuccarello, V Title: Modelling environmental responses of plant associations: A review of some critical concepts in vegetation study Source: CRITICAL REVIEWS IN PLANT SCIENCES, 23 (2): 149-156 2004 Author Keywords: fuzzy sets; phytosociology; plant association; response function; vegetation science Keywords Plus: ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES; ORDINATION METHODS; GRADIENT ANALYSIS; CONTINUUM CONCEPT; SPECIES RESPONSE; FUZZY-LOGIC; CLASSIFICATION; PHYTOSOCIOLOGY; COMPLEXITY; SYNTAXONOMY Abstract: The definition of vegetation types at different hierarchical levels, both to study the vegetation processes and for practical cartographic representation, is still considered a critical issue in many circles of plant ecologists. The problems are mainly related to the misleading idea that classification of the vegetation system, as developed by European phytosociologists during the last century within the discipline called syntaxonomy, would imply the assumption of the organismic concept of the plant community. After a short discussion on the role of Braun-Blanquet approach in plant ecology and in landscape ecology, the methods to detect multispecies responses along environmental gradients are briefly reviewed. In the main part of this article, we intend to stress that concepts considered critical, such as plant association and its ecological niche, are just operational tools that have nothing to do with the individualistic or organismic interpretation of plant communities in vegetation studies. Important to our views on vegetation, we believe that plant associations as well as the higher syntaxa can be regarded as fuzzy sets in an operational context for describing vegetation along ecological gradients in synthetic ways and can further the understanding of vegetation variation. ISSN: 0735-2689 Record 48 of 86 Author(s): Hedl, R Title: Vegetation of beech forests in the Rychlebske Mountains, Czech Republic, reinspected after 60 years with assessment of environmental changes Source: PLANT ECOLOGY, 170 (2): 243-265 2004 Author Keywords: acidification; beech forests; Central Europe; Ellenberg indicator values; forestry management; repeated sampling Keywords Plus: ELLENBERG INDICATOR VALUES; PARK GRASS EXPERIMENT; AIR-POLLUTION; SOIL ACIDITY; SOUTH SWEDEN; DECIDUOUS FORESTS; VASCULAR PLANTS; SWEDISH BEECH; FIELDLAYER; NITROGEN Abstract: From 1941-1944 nearly 30 phytosociological releves were completed by F. K. Hartmann in the Rychlebske Mountains, a typical mountainous area in northeastern Czech Republic. Of the original plots still covered with adult grown beech (Fagus sylvatica) forest, 22 were resampled in 1998 and 1999. In order to describe the recent vegetation variability of the sites 57 releves were recorded. Changes in vegetation were estimated using relative changes in species density and ordinations (PCA, RDA). Environmental changes were assessed using Ellenberg indicator values when no direct measurements were available. A decline in species diversity has been documented, particularly, many species occurring frequently in deciduous forests with nutrient and moisture well-supplied soils around neutral have decreased. In contrast, several light-demanding, acid- and soil desiccation-tolerant species have increased. Natural succession, quantified as forest age, contributed slightly to these changes. In Ellenberg indicator values, a decline in F (soil moisture), R (soil calcium) and N (ecosystem productivity), and an increase in L (understorey light) were shown. This is interpreted as the influence of modified forestry management and of airborne pollutants. Intensified logging caused the canopy to open and soil conditions to worsen. The latter is most likely also due to acid leaching of soil cations (Ca, K, Na). This caused a decline in soil productivity, thus the effect of nitrification could not be detected. The original releves may have differed in size influencing the results. ISSN: 1385-0237 Record 49 of 86 Author(s): King, RS; Richardson, CJ; Urban, DL; Romanowicz, EA Title: Spatial dependency of vegetation-environment linkages in an anthropogenically influenced wetland ecosystem Source: ECOSYSTEMS, 7 (1): 75-97 JAN 2004 Author Keywords: scale; pattern; hierarchy theory; macrophytes; partial Mantel test; ordination; spatial autocorrelation; hydropattern; nutrients; Everglades Keywords Plus: EVERGLADES PLANT-COMMUNITIES; CONSERVATION AREA 2A; FLORIDA EVERGLADES; NORTHERN EVERGLADES; PHOSPHORUS ADDITIONS; SPECIES COMPOSITION; NUTRIENT RETENTION; TYPHA-DOMINGENSIS; SOIL NUTRIENTS; MODEL ANALYSIS Abstract: Management and restoration of vegetation patterns in ecosystems depends on an understanding of allogenic environmental factors that organize species assemblages and autogenic processes linked to assemblages. However, our ability to make strong inferences about vegetation-environment linkages in field studies is often limited due to correlations among environmental variables, spatial autocorrelation, and scale dependency of observations. This is particularly true in large, heterogeneous ecosystems such as the Everglades. Here, an extensive canal-and-levee system has modified historical fire regimes and hydropatterns while contributing large inputs of surface-water phosphorus (P), nitrogen (N) and cations such as sodium (Na). Some of these anthropogenic influences have been implicated as factors leading to the shift of sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense Crantz) and slough communities to an assemblage of weedy species such as cattail (Typha domingensis Pers.). To untangle the independent effect of multiple variables, we used a spatially explicit, multivariate approach to identify linkages among spatial patterns, environmental factors, and vegetation composition along a 10-km gradient of anthropogenic influence in the Everglades, an area immediately downstream from canal inflow structures. Clusters of plots were stratified among three zones (Impacted, Transition, and Reference), a design that allowed us to contrast vegetation-environment linkages and spatial patterns at multiple scales and degrees of ecosystem alteration. Along the 10-km gradient, partial Mantel tests showed that nutrients (phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium) and hydropattern (frequency of dryness) were independently linked to patterns in finescale vegetation composition, but phosphorus was the only environmental variable linked to patterns of coarse-scale composition. Regardless of scale, the effect of distance from canal inflows accounted for variation in vegetation that could not be explained by other variables. A significant residual effect of spatial proximity among sampling locations also was detected and was highly suggestive of dispersal or other spatial determinants of vegetation pattern. However, this pure spatial effect was significantly stronger in the Transition and Impacted zones than in the Reference zone-fine-scale environmental variables explained all of the spatial structure in vegetation in the Reference zone. A further examination of spatial patterns in vegetation by using Mantel correlograms revealed significant heterogeneity at fine, local scales in the Reference zone, but this pattern progressively degraded toward homogeneity among closely neighboring locations in the Impacted zone. However, the fine-scale vegetation pattern in the Reference zone was hierarchically nested at a broader scale and yielded a similar coarse pattern across the landscape, whereas the coarse pattern in the Transition and Impacted zones was relatively heterogeneous and fragmented. Collectively, these results indicate that allogenic spatial and environmental factors related to the canal system have disrupted the coupling between pattern and process by altering fine-scale vegetation-environment linkages and spatial patterns characteristic of the natural Everglades ecosystem. ISSN: 1432-9840 Record 50 of 86 Author(s): Jafari, M; Chahouki, MAZ; Tavili, A; Azarnivand, H; Amiri, GZ Title: Effective environmental factors in the distribution of vegetation types in Poshtkouh rangelands of Yazd Province (Iran) Source: JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS, 56 (4): 627-641 MAR 2004 Author Keywords: classification; Iran; multivariate analysis; ordination; Poshtkouh rangelands; soil characteristics Abstract: The objective of this research was to study the relationships between environmental factors and vegetation in order to find the most effective factors in the separation of the vegetation types in Poshtkou rangelands of Yazd province. Sampling of soil and vegetation were performed with randomized-systematic method. Vegetation data including density and cover percentage were estimated quantitatively within each quadrat, and using the two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN), and vegetation was classified into different groups. The topographic conditions were recorded in quadrat locations. Soil samples were taken in 0-30 and 30-60 cm depths in each quadrat. The measured soil variables included texture, lime, saturation moisture, gypsum, acidity (pH), electrical conductivity, sodium absorption ratio, Mg2+, Cl-, CO2- SO2-). and soluble ions (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Cl-, CO32-, HCO3- and SO42-). Multivariate techniques including principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) were used to analyse the collected data. The results showed that the vegetation distribution pattern was mainly related to soil characteristics such as salinity, texture, soluble potassium, gypsum, and lime. Totally, considering the habitat conditions, ecological needs and tolerance range each plant species has a significant relation with soil properties. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0140-1963 Record 51 of 86 Author(s): Miyawaki, A Title: Restoration of living environment based on vegetation ecology: Theory and practice Source: ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 19 (1): 83-90 JAN 2004 Author Keywords: chinju-no-mori; ecological restoration; native forest by native trees; potential natural vegetation; restoration practice Abstract: The foundation of ecological restoration is how to preserve biocoenoses (i.e. functional ecosystems) and how to restore and reconstruct them where they were destroyed. One of the most important challenges is the restoration of complex, multilayer forests representing the potential natural vegetation. Native forests have functions in disaster mitigation and environmental protection, as well as providing the basis of existence for local people and maintaining gene pools for the future. Through vegetation surveys in Japan and South-east Asia, we have established basic principles in vegetation-ecological restoration of forests. We have been restoring expected disaster-mitigation and environmental protection forests, as experimental reforestation projects, since the 1970s at more than 750 sites throughout the 3000 km long Japanese Archipelago, and since the 1980s in parts of South-east Asia, China and South America. The restoration movement has spread from a local activity to a global movement. We aim for the sustainable development of human society through ecological restoration of living environments. ISSN: 0912-3814 Record 52 of 86 Author(s): Mulder, C; de Zwart, D Title: Assessing fungal species sensitivity to environmental gradients by the Ellenberg indicator values of above-ground vegetation Source: BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY, 4 (6): 557-568 2003 Author Keywords: Cs-137 and Pb-210 activity; abiotic factors; competition intensity; diversity effect; fungal ecological significance; Monte Carlo simulation; Multiple General Linear Modelling; soil palynology; spore abundance; trophic levels Keywords Plus: ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION; FOOD WEBS; ECOLOGY; BIODIVERSITY; COMMUNITIES; STABILITY; POLLEN; LIGHT; LINKS; AREA Abstract: The structure of the mycoflora in the montane and subalpine zone of the Algovian Alps is extremely variable, though the majority of the fungal remains (spores and hyphae) remain widespread in most soils. The study addresses the following questions: (1) To which extent can environmental heterogeneity be recognised by qualitative changes in species richness or quantitative shifts in structure diversity within the mycoflora of different permanent plots? (2) May the ecological tolerance of fungi be assessed by means of (non-)linear models? The abundance of many fungal genera clearly points to the Ellenberg indicator values (averages calculated upon a vascular plant list of 555 local species). A multivariate analysis revealed that altitude-related microclimate, dung-related nitrogen and vegetation carpet play an important role in the ecological amplitude of the soil flora in calcareous scree communities, alpine grasslands and meadows. Especially the belowground mycoflora of moist calcareous soils shows evident biodiversity shifts due to charged ledge communities, while the sporocarps of mutualistic macrofungi of the timberline appear to be extremely sensitive to full sun light and UV. As expected, the mycocoenoses of forest communities is strongly related to higher average temperatures. Multiple General Linear Modelling (GLM) inferred the actual ecological requirements of 30 taxa and five morpha with respect to the combined action of light, temperature, moisture, soil reactivity and N-availability. As demonstrated by a multifactorial Monte Carlo simulation, the possibility for increased competition of mycelium growth and spore dispersal of individual species are only favoured by specific conditions in each of the predictor variables (lower threshold). This evaluation can yield new perspectives in future prognostic efforts by improving the evidential value of bottom-up forces in food web models. ISSN: 1439-1791 Record 53 of 86 Author(s): Bottema, S; Sarpaki, A Title: Environmental change in Crete: a 9000-year record of Holocene vegetation history and the effect of the Santorini eruption Source: HOLOCENE, 13 (5): 733-749 SEP 2003 Author Keywords: archaeology; environmental change; vegetation history; palynology; Thera; Santorini; volcano; Crete; Holocene Keywords Plus: SOUTHWEST TURKEY; LAKE-SEDIMENTS; TEPHRA Abstract: Palynological investigations were carried out in the coastal lowland of northwestern Crete, in the area of Lake Kournas. Results comprise the longest continuous vegetation record ( 9000 radiocarbon years) for Crete. From about 8500 to 7500 BP, open deciduous-oak forest occurred and appears to reflect the driest conditions of the Holocene. After 7500 BP, tree-pollen numbers increase. Some of these tree species are thought to be autochthonous, but for at least six species this is doubted and the presence of their pollen is ascribed to long-distance transport. Up to 6000 BP, the local vegetation included deciduous and evergreen oaks, Pistacia, Phillyrea and a variety of herbs. Only after 7000 BP, some species, e. g., Mercurialis annua, Cynocrambe and spores of Pteridium, might indicate the effects of Neolithic habitation. Towards 6000 BP, plane tree and Styrax ( storax) appear; from about 6000 BP, olive is present and human activity becomes more evident. Slowly, pollen types indicative of the exploitation of present-day Mediterranean vegetation, e. g., Poterium and Ericaceae, appear and the presence of the alga Gloeotrichia indicates a rise in phosphate. A striking aspect of the sediment core nearest to the sea is a pumice layer originating from the Theran ( Santorini) eruption. From the manner of its deposition it is concluded that no tsunami met the Cretan beach. Influence of the eruption from Thera on the vegetation is hardly visible. Decrease of economically important cultivated plants, e. g., olive, already took place decades, up to about a century, before the volcanic eruption. Around the time of the eruption, the values of some pollen types hardly changed, others increased and another group decreased. This pollen behaviour appears to be explained rather by socio-economic changes, such as withdrawing of the inhabitants to the interior for reasons other than volcanic effects. It is concluded from the pollen cores that no major climatic changes affected northwestern Crete during the Holocene but the first two millennia of the Holocene tended to be drier than the following period when there was an increase in moisturedemanding trees. It is difficult to assign changes in the Cretan vegetation to climatic effects in a period when human impact was gathering strength. ISSN: 0959-6836 Record 54 of 86 Author(s): Cingolani, AM; Cabido, MR; Renison, D; Solis, VN Title: Combined effects of environment and grazing on vegetation structure in Argentine granite grasslands Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 14 (2): 223-232 APR 2003 Author Keywords: biodiversity; floristic composition; growth form; gradient; physiognomy; soil property; topography Keywords Plus: TIERRA-DEL-FUEGO; COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; SEMIARID GRASSLAND; PATAGONIA; PATTERNS; STEPPE; HETEROGENEITY; PRECIPITATION; ECOSYSTEMS; RESPONSES Abstract: Effects of grazing and environment on vegetation structure have been widely acknowledged, but few studies have related both factors. We made 57 floristic samples in a highly variable landscape of mountain grasslands in central Argentina; 26 sample were in fence-lines with contrasting vegetation. For each sample, we recorded topographic and edaphic parameters, as well as grazing intensity indicators. Floristic gradients were analysed with DCA and relations with abiotic and grazingrelated variables were detected with DCCA. Floristic axis 1 was explained by edaphic parameters associated to topography, ranging from communities in well drained soils on upper topographic positions to hydromorphic vegetation in poorly drained soils on lower topographic positions. Species richness decreased as soil moisture increased. Floristic axis 2 was associated with present and long-term grazing indicators, and reflected shifts in vegetation physiognomy and species evenness. Tall tussock grasslands, with low species evenness and evidences of low or null grazing intensity were located at one extreme. Tussocks were gradually replaced by short graminoids and forbs towards the centre of the gradient, as grazing increased, and evenness reached a maximum. In degraded sites with heavy long-term grazing intensities, short perennial species were replaced by an annual species, and evenness decreased. The magnitude of changes in floristic composition produced by grazing decreased with increasing soil moisture, and vegetation-environment relationships were stronger in moderate to highly grazed situations than in lightly or non grazed situations. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 55 of 86 Author(s): Peng, SL; Yang, LC; Lu, HF Title: Environmental effect of vegetation restoration on degraded ecosystem in low subtropical China Source: JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES-CHINA, 15 (4): 514-519 JUL 2003 Author Keywords: vegetation restoration; degraded ecosystem; low subtropical zone; environment impact Abstract: The environmental effect of degraded ecosystem's vegetation restoration in low subtropical China was studied. Results indicated that the vegetation recovery on degraded lands significantly ameliorates surrounding environment, increases species diversity, improves soil structure, raises soil fertility, enhances productivity, and promotes regional agricultural production and social economic development dramatically. Through the combining engineering and biological measures, the restoration of degraded ecosystem in low subtropical area is possible and economical. The restoration experience in Xiaoliang, Wuhua and other sites are valuable for other degraded subtropical area was introduced. ISSN: 1001-0742 Record 56 of 86 Author(s): Foster, DR; Hall, B; Barry, S; Clayden, S; Parshall, T Title: Cultural, environmental and historical controls of vegetation patterns and the modern conservation setting on the island of Martha's Vineyard, USA Source: JOURNAL OF BIOGEOGRAPHY, 29 (10-11): 1381-1400 OCT-NOV 2002 Author Keywords: New England; land-use history; natural disturbance; fire; conservation; pine; oak; grassland; cultural landscape Keywords Plus: CENTRAL NEW-ENGLAND; POLLEN SOURCE AREA; REPRESENTATION; LANDSCAPE; DYNAMICS; ECOLOGY Abstract: Aim Long-term studies of landscape dynamics in relationship to changes in cultural, environmental and disturbance factors have great potential for increasing the understanding of modern ecological conditions and improving the development of conservation plans that incorporate historically important processes. In this study we compiled archaeological, historical, palaeoecological and ecological information on Martha's Vineyard to investigate temporal and spatial variation in landscape pattern and process. Although < 250 km(2), this island off the Massachusetts coast embraces remarkable geographical variation and harbours uncommon plant and animal assemblages that make it a national priority for conservation. Location The study embraces the entire island of Martha's Vineyard, which lies c. 8 km south of Cape Cod and the mainland of Massachusetts. The triangular-shaped island contains three major geomorphological regions: moraine forms a series of irregular and subparallel ridges and hills 40 to over 80 m in elevation that terminate at the western end of the island in high cliffs at Gay Head and Squibnocket; sandy glacial outwash overlying moraine spreads down the northeastern end of the island forming a region of low undulating hills and shallow depressions 15-30 m in elevation, and an extensive outwash plain stretches across the central and eastern part of the island and slopes gently from 30-m elevation in the north to < 3 m towards the southern coast where it is dissected by a series of north-south trending valleys that terminate in coastal ponds. In all areas except the southwest corner the island is underlain by > 100 m of Quaternary and coastal plain sediments. Methods Long-term records of vegetation, fire, natural disturbance and human activity were compiled over the past 2000 years and across the physiographic variation on the island. Palaeoecological interpretations of vegetation, fire, climate and land-use history are based on a series of eleven stratigraphies from ponds, lakes and wetlands; archaeological data were compiled from recent surveys; historical data were assembled from census and town records, fire records, aerial photographs and cartographic series; and ecological information was derived from forestry and conservation surveys and field sampling of vegetation, soils and site characteristics. Extensive use was made of geographical information systems and multivariate statistical analyses. Results Spatial patterns in vegetation over the past 2000 years have varied strongly with soils and physiography, which are also associated with major differences in fire and land-use history. Mesic hardwood forests that seldom burned occupy the western moraine, open oak-pine and hardwood forests occur on the frequently burned and dissected outwash plain along the south coast, and pine-oak forests cover the central outwash plain, which extends across much of the island and displays among the highest charcoal values in New England. Although a relatively large Native American population may have been an important source of fire ignitions there is no palynological or archaeological evidence that this culture cleared substantial areas or directly altered the extent of forest cover. Shifts in forest composition and fire were associated with regional climate change during the pre-European period, whereas pronounced changes in forest cover and the development of extensive open-land areas of grassland, shrubland and heathland were driven by European land use. The contrasting characteristics, land-use histories and ownerships of different regions of the island yield contrasting conservation priorities and management directions. The mesic morainal forests have changed modestly in composition during the historical period and can effectively support a distinct woodland flora if adequately protected. The large outwash plain is broken by non-native plantations but could yield an effective landscape mosaic of oak and pine forests interrupted by extensive scrub oak barrens that could be maintained through prescribed fire or cutting. In contrast, the south shore grasslands and shrublands are the product of intensive agricultural land use. These habitats and their unusual suite of plants and animals require traditional land-use practices, or their substitutes, in order to reverse the ongoing increase in woody species and to maintain these cultural landscapes. Main Conclusion The biotic, edaphic, disturbance and historical diversity across this relatively small landscape is remarkable and yet poses many challenges to interpretation and conservation. The modern landscape can only be understood through knowledge of its long-term past and can be best managed in the context of the natural and cultural factors that have shaped it through time. ISSN: 0305-0270 Record 57 of 86 Author(s): Law, BE; Falge, E; Gu, L; Baldocchi, DD; Bakwin, P; Berbigier, P; Davis, K; Dolman, AJ; Falk, M; Fuentes, JD; Goldstein, A; Granier, A; Grelle, A; Hollinger, D; Janssens, IA; Jarvis, P; Jensen, NO; Katul, G; Mahli, Y; Matteucci, G; Meyers, T; Monson, R; Munger, W; Oechel, W; Olson, R; Pilegaard, K; Paw, KT; Thorgeirsson, H; Valentini, R; Verma, S; Vesala, T; Wilson, K; Wofsy, S Title: Environmental controls over carbon dioxide and water vapor exchange of terrestrial vegetation Source: AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY, 113 (1-4): 97-120 DEC 2 2002 Author Keywords: gross ecosystem production; ecosystem respiration; net ecosystem exchange; carbon balancc; eddy covariance Keywords Plus: NET ECOSYSTEM EXCHANGE; PONDEROSA PINE FORESTS; LONG-TERM MEASUREMENTS; BLACK SPRUCE FOREST; DECIDUOUS FOREST; LEAF-AREA; SEASONAL-VARIATION; BOREAL FOREST; PRIMARY PRODUCTIVITY; PACIFIC-NORTHWEST Abstract: The objective of this research was to compare seasonal and annual estimates of CO2 and water vapor exchange across sites in forests, grasslands, crops, and tundra that are part of an international network called FLUXNET, and to investigating the responses of vegetation to environmental variables. FLUXNETs goals are to understand the mechanisms controlling the exchanges of CO2, water vapor and energy across a spectrum of time and space scales, and to provide information for modeling of carbon and water cycling across regions and the globe. At a subset of sites, net carbon uptake (net ecosystem exchange, the net of photosynthesis and respiration) was greater under diffuse than under direct radiation conditions, perhaps because of a more efficient distribution of non-saturating light conditions for photosynthesis, lower vapor pressure deficit limitation to photosynthesis, and lower respiration associated with reduced temperature. The slope of the relation between monthly gross ecosystem production and evapotranspiration was similar between biomes. except for tundra vegetation, showing a strong linkage between carbon gain and water loss integrated over the year (slopes = 3.4 g CO2/kg H2O for grasslands, 3.2 for deciduous broadleaf forests, 3.1 for crops, 2.4 for evergreen conifers, and 1.5 for tundra vegetation). The ratio of annual ecosystem respiration to gross photosynthesis averaged 0.83, with lower values for grasslands, presumably because of less investment in respiring plant tissue compared with forests. Ecosystem respiration was weakly correlated with mean annual temperature across biomes, in spite of within site sensitivity over shorter temporal scales. Mean annual temperature and site water balance explained much of the variation in gross photosynthesis. Water availability limits leaf area index over the long-term, and interannual climate variability can limit carbon uptake below the potential of the leaf area present. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0168-1923 Record 58 of 86 Author(s): Mueller-Dombois, D Title: Forest vegetation across the tropical Pacific: A biogeographically complex region with many analogous environments Source: PLANT ECOLOGY, 163 (2): 155-176 DEC 2002 Author Keywords: biogeographic gradients; island types; profile hierarchy; biomelevel profiles; landscape-level profiles; stand-level profiles; PABITRA net Abstract: The tropical realm of the Pacific contains many islands with closely similar (analogous) environmental settings. Due to the 'filter effect' of the ocean, these are occupied by historically different species assemblages. This results in a unique biogeographic complexity not found in any of the continental tropical regions. The paper presents a hierarchical approach to the study of vegetation in analogous environments with data illustrated by a series of diagrams. It begins with differentiating island types and climatic zones. Then it focuses on Pacific-wide biomes, thereafter on island landscape profiles, and finally, on stand-level profiles as a method to compare forest structure and composition among islands in analogous environments at the scale of releves. The conclusions emphasize the urgent need for intensifying conservation-oriented research and capacity building in all island countries of the Pacific (not only Hawaii) to protect their indigenous biodiversities for sustainable uses and the health of their ecosystems. Attention is also drawn to the scientific advantage of using the Pacific-Asia Biodiversity Transect (PABITRA) Network, since it connects the island areas across biogeographic boundaries in form of an experimental design. This design refers to analogous island environments filled with different sets of biodiversities, which follow a trend of impoverishment with indigenous founder species from west to east. ISSN: 1385-0237 Record 59 of 86 Author(s): McGuire, AD; Wirth, C; Apps, M; Beringer, J; Clein, J; Epstein, H; Kicklighter, DW; Bhatti, J; Chapin, FS; de Groot, B; Efremov, D; Eugster, W; Fukuda, M; Gower, T; Hinzman, L; Huntley, B; Jia, GJ; Kasischke, E; Melillo, J; Romanovsky, V; Shvidenko, A; Vaganov, E; Walker, D Title: Environmental variation, vegetation distribution, carbon dynamics and water/energy exchange at high latitudes Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 13 (3): 301-314 JUN 2002 Author Keywords: boreal; climate; disturbance; energy; gradient; tundra Keywords Plus: BOREAL FOREST; CLIMATE-CHANGE; ARCTIC TUNDRA; EASTERN SIBERIA; ABOVEGROUND BIOMASS; ENERGY-EXCHANGE; SPECIAL SECTION; PINE FORESTS; SOIL CARBON; ALASKA Abstract: The responses of high latitude ecosystems to global change involve complex interactions among environmental variables, vegetation distribution, carbon dynamics, and water and energy exchange. These responses may have important consequences for the earth system. In this study, we evaluated how vegetation distribution, carbon stocks and turnover, and water and energy exchange are related to environmental variation spanned by the network of the IGBP high latitude transects. While the most notable feature of the high latitude transects is that they generally span temperature gradients from southern to northern latitudes, there are substantial differences in temperature among the transects. Also, along each transect temperature co-varies with precipitation and photosynthetically active radiation, which are also variable among the transects. Both climate and disturbance interact to influence latitudinal patterns of vegetation and soil carbon storage among the transects, and vegetation distribution appears to interact with climate to determine exchanges of heat and moisture in high latitudes. Despite limitations imposed by the data we assembled, the analyses in this study have taken an important step toward clarifying the complexity of interactions among environmental variables, vegetation distribution, carbon stocks and turnover, and water and energy exchange in high latitude regions. This study reveals the need to conduct coordinated global change studies in high latitudes to further elucidate how interactions among climate, disturbance, and vegetation distribution influence carbon dynamics and water and energy exchange in high latitudes. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 60 of 86 Author(s): Feoli, E; Vuerich, LG; Zerihun, W Title: Evaluation of environmental degradation in northern Ethiopia using GIS to integrate vegetation, geomorphological, erosion and socio-economic factors Source: AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT, 91 (1-3): 313-325 SEP 2002 Author Keywords: canonical correlation; classification; data integration; degradation; Ethiopia; fuzzy set analysis; GIS; rehabilitation Abstract: The scale of human induced land degradation is very high in northern Ethiopia. However, there are only a few studies of land degradation in Ethiopia which provide an integrated assessment of the driving forces and consequences. A pilot study was made in Adwa district (Tigray) with the objective of evaluating the factors related to environmental degradation,and assessing the effects of agricultural activities on the natural resources. Environmental data, a digital terrain model, vegetation, geomorphological, and erosion maps of the study area were integrated with socioeconomic variables using a geographical information system (GIS). The classification of the data used in the integration, and the information extracted using the GIS gave three main groups of Tabias and four main groups of variables. The relationship among the Tabias (smallest administrative units), groups of Tabias and environmental variables were quantified using various statistical, multivariate numerical methods and fuzzy set analysis. The application of fuzzy set theory showed that each group of Tabia, recognized as a rural subsystem (RS) was associated with a group of variables. Analysis of variance showed that the three RSs were significantly different in most of the environmental variables considered. Human and livestock population densities, geomorphology, altitude and some natural and anthropogenic vegetation types were highly discriminatory. Percentage cover of evergreen scrub, bushlands and severe badlands are considered key indicators of the scale of environmental degradation. Results of the canonical correlation analysis (CCA) indicated that human pressure had more impact on the physiognomy of the vegetation than on its floristic composition. The Evergreen scrub vegetation type appeared to be expanding with increasing human influence signifying a decrease in biomass of vegetation as a result of collecting wood for fuel and other domestic uses. Bushland appeared to be expanding with the same trend. Woodland, which was abundant in one of the RSs, is considered to be the natural physiognomic vegetation type in the area and efforts to maintain it and/or recover it elsewhere in the study area are recommended. Food production in the area did not match population growth. The expected crop yield under good soil and rainfall conditions was low by any standard. The per capita energy obtained from the grain harvested in the farm plots ranged from 428 to 4347 cal per person per day (the average is far below the basic minimum required for mere subsistence) suggesting that there is a need for substantial supplementary income from off-farm activities and/or other sources. This study indicated that regional and site specific approaches and interaction with the people at all stages of the research, program development and implementation are required for sustainable rehabilitation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0167-8809 Record 61 of 86 Author(s): Cowell, CM; Dyer, JM Title: Vegetation development in a modified riparian environment: Human imprints on an Allegheny River wilderness Source: ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS, 92 (2): 189-202 JUN 2002 Author Keywords: dam impacts; disturbance regime; flooding; natural area management Keywords Plus: PLANT-SPECIES RICHNESS; DISTURBANCE REGIMES; ANIMAS RIVER; DYNAMICS; FLOODPLAIN; PATTERNS; HISTORY; BIODIVERSITY; FORESTS; REGENERATION Abstract: Pristine floodplain forests are virtually nonexistent in the eastern United States, requiring that preservation efforts focus on relatively intact representatives of these unique ecosystems, many situated where hydrologic modifications are the norm. This article examines the vegetation dynamics for one such natural area, a wilderness island in northwestern Pennsylvania, to assess how the ecological processes of a riparian preserve are affected by changes to the surrounding environment. Ordination of a vegetation sample identifies several landscape patches on the island; the structure and historical development of these communities are analyzed using tree ring patterns, aerial photography, and the flood regime characteristics preceding and following construction of a large dam upstream. Research on natural riparian sites has emphasized the role of floods as a disturbance that generates early successional habitat. Here, however, moderation of the hydrologic regime has shifted the impact of floods from disturbance to stressor. Peak flows are no longer sufficient to open sites for colonization, while the duration of flooding has increased. Without flood disturbance, later stages of succession become more widely represented, and species regeneration occurs in the context of competitive-rather than open-sites. The altered disturbance regime thus favors species with life history characteristics atypical of the pre-dam environment, including normative species, resulting in altered composition and vegetation dynamics. Managerial expectations that natural successional processes will eventually restore degraded riparian habitats in these modified settings are therefore unlikely to be fulfilled. ISSN: 0004-5608 Record 62 of 86 Author(s): Fuhlendorf, SD; Briske, DD; Smeins, FE Title: Herbaceous vegetation change in variable rangeland environments: The relative contribution of grazing and climatic variability Source: APPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, 4 (2): 177-188 DEC 2001 Author Keywords: climate; grazing; herbivory; plant-animal interaction; rangeland evaluation; resilience; stability; state and transition model; vegetation change; vegetation monitoring Keywords Plus: BUNCHGRASS SCHIZACHYRIUM-SCOPARIUM; PLANT COMMUNITY STRUCTURE; SEMIARID SAVANNA; SPECIES COMPOSITION; GRASSLAND; DYNAMICS; HERBIVORY; TEXAS; FIRE; SELECTIVITY Abstract: A 44-yr record of herbaceous vegetation change was analysed for three contrasting grazing regimes within a semi-arid savanna to evaluate the relative contribution of confined livestock grazing and climatic variability as agents of vegetation change. Grazing intensity had a significant, directional effect on the relative composition of short- and mid-grass response groups; their composition was significantly correlated with time since the grazing regimes were established. Interannual precipitation was not significantly correlated with response group composition. However, interannual precipitation was significantly correlated with total plant basal area while time since imposition of grazing regimes was not, L but both interannual precipitation and tit-no since the grazing regimes were established were significantly correlated with total plant density. Vegetation change was reversible even though the herbaceous community had been maintained in an altered state for ca. 60 yr by intensive livestock grazing. However, ca, 25 yr were required for the mid-grass response group to recover following the elimination of grazing and recovery occurred intermittently. The increase in mid-grass composition was associated with a significant decrease in total plant density and an increase in mean individual plant basal area. Therefore, we failed to reject the hypotheses based on the proportional change in relative response group composition with grazing intensity and the distinct effects of grazing and climatic variability on response group composition, total basal area and plant density. Long-term vegetation change indicates that grazing intensity established the long-term directional change in response group composition, but that episodic climate events defined the short-term rate and trajectory of this change and determines the upper limit on total basal area. The occurrence of both directional and non-directional vegetation responses were largely a function of (1) the unique responses of the various community attributes monitored and (2) the distinct temporal responses of those community attributes to grazing and climatic variation. This interpretation supports previous conclusions that individual ecosystems may exist in equilibrial and non-equilibrial states at various temporal and spatial scales. ISSN: 1402-2001 Record 63 of 86 Author(s): Grandin, U Title: Short-term and long-term variation in seed bank/vegetation relations along an environmental and successional gradient Source: ECOGRAPHY, 24 (6): 731-741 DEC 2001 Keywords Plus: DECIDUOUS FORESTS; BANK; SOIL; VEGETATION; PATTERNS; ECOLOGY; SWEDEN; GRASSLAND; DYNAMICS; DORMANCY Abstract: The seed bank along a successional and environmental gradient was analysed. Soil was collected in 3-cm thick horizons from permanent plots along two transects across a land uplift seashore, spanning several centuries of succession from shoreline to mature forest. Vegetation in the plots was recorded when the soil was sampled and also 9 and 15 yr before that. Within- and between-plot effects on seed bank/vegetation relationships were analysed using estimates of seed longevity, Sorensen's similarity index and mean Ellenberg indicator values. A seed bank longevity index was constructed by using the database by Thompson et al. (1997. The soil seed banks of north west Europe. Methodology, density and longevity. - Cambridge Univ. Press), for all species with more than one entry in the database. For species with one or no entry, an internal index was constructed. The two indices were correlated and it was suggested that the internal index should be used where the Thompson database is insufficient. There were small differences between the upper three soil horizons in seed density, in similarity with the vegetation and in mean Ellenberg values. The highest seed densities and seed bank/vegetation similarities were found at the shoreline, after that the density and the similarity decreased with increasing successional age, with the mature forest having very low seed density and similarity values. Weighted mean Ellenberg indicator values for light, nitrogen, salt and moisture differed between vegetation and seed bank. For the seed bank, the mean Ellenberg values for light, moisture and nitrogen and weighted mean of seed bank longevity indices showed a trend along one of the transects. ISSN: 0906-7590 Record 64 of 86 Author(s): Holm, AM; Loneragan, WA; Adams, MA Title: Do variations on a model of landscape function assist in interpreting the growth response of vegetation to rainfall in arid environments? Source: JOURNAL OF ARID ENVIRONMENTS, 50 (1): 23-52 JAN 2002 Author Keywords: landscape function; resilience; landscape degradation; primary productivity; indicators; patch; patch-mosaic Keywords Plus: SEMIARID GRAZING SYSTEMS; PLANT-SOIL INTERACTIONS; WESTERN-AUSTRALIA; SOUTH-AFRICA; DYNAMICS; RANGELANDS; ECOSYSTEMS; WATER; PRODUCTIVITY; GRASSLANDS Abstract: Across nearly 100 sampling locations widely distributed within the and shrub-land of Western Australia, we demonstrated a general relationship between landscape function, primary productivity and rainfall-use efficiency. Sampling locations included landscapes that had been severely 'degraded' by more than 100 years of grazing, mainly by sheep. There was generally less phytomass and poorer rainfall-use efficiency on dysfunctional or degraded landscapes than on functional or non-degraded landscapes. Relationships were stronger at broader spatial scales of patch-mosaics than at the scale of individual patches and are likely to be more readily interpreted over decadal rather than yearly time-scales. A-priori assessment of landscape 'resilience' provided few insights into the capacity of landscapes to respond to rainfall. Contrary to expectations, herb mass increased on both resilient and nonresilient landscapes as proportional areas occupied by vegetated patches declined. (C) 2002 Academic Press. ISSN: 0140-1963 Record 65 of 86 Author(s): Jensen, ME; Dibenedetto, JP; Barber, JA; Montagne, C; Bourgeron, PS Title: Spatial modeling of rangeland potential vegetation environments Source: JOURNAL OF RANGE MANAGEMENT, 54 (5): 528-536 SEP 2001 Author Keywords: habitat types; ecological sites; range sites; ecological classification; Geographic Information System; remote sensing; vegetation mapping; ecological units Keywords Plus: ECOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION; TERRAIN Abstract: Potential vegetation environments (e.g., habitat types, range sites, ecological sites) are important to land managers because they provide a conceptual basis for the description of resource potentials and ecological integrity. Efficient use of potential vegetation classifications in regional or subregional scale assessments of ecosystem health has been limited to date, however, because traditional ecological unit mapping procedures often treat such classifications as ancillary information in the map unit description. Accordingly, it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe the precise location, patch size, and spatial arrangement of potential vegetation environments from most traditional ecological unit maps. Recent advances in remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS), terrain modeling, and climate interpolation facilitate the direct mapping of potential vegetation through a predictive process based on gradient analysis and ecological niche theory. In this paper, we describe how a predictive vegetation mapping process was used to develop a 30 m raster-based map of 4 grassland, 5 shrubland, and 6 woodland habitat types across the Little Missouri National Grasslands, North Dakota. Discriminant analysis was used in developing this potential vegetation map based on 6 primary geographic information system themes. Geoclimatic subsections and remotely sensed vegetation lifeform maps were used in predictive model stratification. Terrain indices, LANDSAT satellite imagery, and interpolated climate information were used as independent (predictor) variables in model construction. A total of 616 field plots with known habitat type membership were used as dependent variables and assessed by a jackknife discriminant analysis procedure. Accuracy values of our map ranged from 54 to 77% in grasslands, 62 to 100% in shrublands, and 70 to 100% in woodlands dependent on geoclimatic subsection setting. Techniques are also described for generalizing the 30 in pixel resolution habitat type map to appropriate ecological unit maps (e.g., landtype associations) for use in ecosystem health assessments and land use planning. ISSN: 0022-409X Record 66 of 86 Author(s): Otto, R; Fernandez-Palacios, JM; Krusi, BO Title: Variation in species composition and vegetation structure of succulent scrub on Tenerife in relation to environmental variation Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 12 (2): 237-248 APR 2001 Author Keywords: biomass; Canary Islands; canonical correspondence analysis; plant-available water; plant functional type; precipitation gradient; semi-arid vegetation; species richness Keywords Plus: PLANT FUNCTIONAL TYPES; AFRICAN SAVANNA; CANARY-ISLANDS; ECOSYSTEM; GRADIENT; PATTERNS; DESERT; ISRAEL; TRAITS; FORMS Abstract: On Tenerife, the occurrence of environmental gradients over short distances provides a unique opportunity to investigate the relationship between vegetation and environmental factors. In the semi-arid coastal region of Tenerife, floristic composition, species richness and vegetation structure of perennial plants have been studied in 67 locations covering the existing precipitation gradient. On the island as a whole, variation in species composition could be best explained by mean annual precipitation; at coastal sites, substrate age and soil characteristics also played a significant role. On the other hand, substrate chemistry and the type of eruptive material explained little of the floristic variation. Stand biomass was strongly correlated with mean annual precipitation and was, on the youngest lava flows studied, also affected by substrate age. The native stem succulent species made up the bulk of total biomass along the whole precipitation gradient. Disturbed and undisturbed sites differed significantly in stand biomass and cover. Species richness was correlated with precipitation and substrate age. Distribution of plant functional types was also related to the precipitation gradient. The relative abundance of hemicryptophytes and shrubs with non-hairy leaves increased with increasing precipitation whereas the ratio of shrubs with hairy/non-hairy leaves and succulent plants decreased. Some alien plants were quite frequent at disturbed sites but, on the whole, they contributed little to the species spectrum and to the stand biomass. Undisturbed sites remained almost free of introduced species not considering annuals. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 67 of 86 Author(s): Serag, MS; Khedr, AHA Title: Vegetation-environment relationships along El-Salam Canal, Egypt Source: ENVIRONMETRICS, 12 (3): 219-232 MAY 2001 Author Keywords: canals; ecological relations; macrophytes; multivariate analysis Keywords Plus: CANONICAL CORRESPONDENCE-ANALYSIS; SPECIES RICHNESS; NILE DELTA; BIOMASS Abstract: The bank and open water vegetation along El-Salam Canal in north-eastern Egypt were studied in relation to the prevailing environmental factors. The hypothesis that terrestrial and aquatic species would show different downstream patterns of species richness was tested by sampling species composition and environmental variables along 80 km of the canal. Species richness was highest in the first 30 km of the canal. The downstream decrease in species richness exhibits interpretable downstream patterns. Total species richness increased with increasing organic matter in the soil and decreased with both increasing soil and water salinity along the gradient. The indicator species of TWINSPAN analysis are: Azolla filiculoides, Echinochloa stagnina, Eichhornia crassipes and Saccharum spontaneum (cluster I); Ceratophyllum demersum. Ludwigia stolonifera and Typha domingensis (cluster II); Potamogeton pectinatus and Phragmites australis (cluster III); Tamarix nilotica and Suaeda vera (cluster IV). The environmental factors influencing the vegetation clusters were analysed using canonical correspondence analysis ordination (CCA). The water salinity total nitrogen and total phosphorus appeared to be the most important factors controlling the abundance of aquatic plant distribution along the canal. The shoreline vegetation is mainly controlled by salinity, K+ and organic carbon of the soil. Water analysis indicated that the salinity of the water increases southwards and the minimum salinity of the water (0.78 mS/cm) was recorded at the intake of the canal. The maximum value (7.5 mS/cm) of water salinity was recorded near the Suez Canal. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. ISSN: 1180-4009 Record 68 of 86 Author(s): McDonald, PM Title: Diversity, density, and development of early vegetation in a small clear-cut environment. Source: USDA FOREST SERVICE PACIFIC SOUTHWEST RESEARCH STATION RESEARCH PAPER, (239): II-+ SEP 1999 Author Keywords: natural vegetation; northern California; plant community dynamics; plant species development; small forest opening Abstract: The forest ecosystem manager of the near future will need a tremendous amount of data. An inescapable fact is that an ecosystem cannot be managed without inventory data on as many plants, animals, insects, and genes as possible. Disturbance, either from nature or humans, is inevitable, and key questions include: how do ecosystems change and develop after a disturbance, and what are the longterm implications of such changes? Unfortunately, data to answer these questions are lacking or fragmented. The primary focus of this 5-year (1976-1980) study was to record every plant species that was present in a small composite clearing on a high quality site in northern California and to measure the height and width of each over time. In addition, the five major regeneration strategies were examined to determine which were operative and to link species presence and development to them. Change was a major interest. The presence or absence of a species, the gain or loss in density, an elongation or decline in height-all were observed with interest. Further, the ascendence or decline of various categories of vegetation (conifers, hardwoods, shrubs, annuals and biennials, perennials, graminoids [grasses and sedges], and bracken fern) were monitored with vigor. The fact that this was a high quality site is important. To the vegetation, this means plentiful rainfall, warm temperatures, and a long growing season. It also means deep soil, with inherent capability to catch and hold critical moisture. Further, it suggests that the nutrient pool is large and that critical nutrients are available as long as soil moisture is adequate. More specifically, it means that the land can support many plants of many species with a potential for rapid growth. However, the long, hot, rainless summers of the Mediterranean climate guarantee that when the soil moisture is gone, there is no more. Soil moisture is the limiting factor to establishment, growth, and survival. Plants must adapt a strategy of growing as fast as they can as soon as they can. Then they either die or find a way to endure months of high temperatures, searing winds, and minimum amounts of soil moisture. Seventy-one species were present during this study. The number of plant species present after one growing season was 47 and after five seasons was 62. Nine species had disappeared by the study's end, only to be replaced by many new species, mostly perennials. Plant density reflected the high quality site with 24,860 plants per acre present initially and 112,408 per acre after five growing seasons. Foliar cover increased from 950 to 17,433 ft(2) per acre during the study, and the tallest plants were 3.5 to 4.9 feet in height. In general, the annuals and biennials were major contributors to density, shrubs to foliar cover, and the graminoids to height. For a given descriptor (density, cover, height), and specific year, many species excelled at least once. The most consistent ratings, however, were achieved by bracken fern, which ranked among the top four species each year in terms of density and foliar cover, and tanoak, which was present among the top four species in terms of height for 4 of the 5 years in the study. All five regeneration strategies were used: rapid growth above ground was characterized by the root crown sprouts of the hardwoods and shrubs, rapid growth below ground by bracken fern, the seedling bank by tanoak and at least one perennial, windblown seeds by many annuals and biennials as well as graminoids and some perennials, and finally the seedbank in the soil by many shrubs and some annuals and perennials. Some early trends in the composition of the future plant community can be deciphered. Chief among them were that initial species with tall life forms and either established root systems or capability to rapidly develop downward thrusting systems probably will do well. Hardwoods and shrubs have this capability and will dominate in the future plant community. The conifers, chiefly ponderosa pine, will also be present in the future community, but scattered as individual trees and in small aggregations. Shade-enduring perennials and bracken fern will be present in the understory of the future plant community; they also tend to develop deep and extensive root systems. The more shallow-rooted annuals and graminoids are likely to be represented only by small numbers in small openings where site resources are more readily available. ISSN: 0363-5988 Record 69 of 86 Author(s): McQueen, AAM; Wilson, JB Title: Vegetation and environment of a New Zealand raised bog Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 11 (4): 547-554 AUG 2000 Author Keywords: ombrotrophic; raised bog; switch mechanism; vegetation description Keywords Plus: ECOLOGY; MIRES; PEATLANDS; BASIN Abstract: The vegetation of a mire in a medium-high rainfall area of South Island, New Zealand is described. The central part of the bog is raised 6 m above the surroundings, suggesting that it is ombrotrophic, and the species present are those of apparently ombrotrophic bogs elsewhere in New Zealand. pH of < 4.0 and Ca/Mg molar quotient of < 1.0 also indicates ombrotrophic conditions. Within the mire, these criteria provide effective discrimination between the fen (rheotrophic) and bog (ombrotrophic) communities. A bimodal distribution of ordination scores suggests that the change in pH and in Ca/Mg quotients cause a switch to operate. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 70 of 86 Author(s): Mark, AF; Dickinson, KJM; Hofstede, RGM Title: Alpine vegetation, plant distribution, life forms, and environments in a perhumid New Zealand region: Oceanic and tropical high mountain affinities Source: ARCTIC ANTARCTIC AND ALPINE RESEARCH, 32 (3): 240-254 AUG 2000 Keywords Plus: ALTITUDINAL GRADIENT; SPECIES RICHNESS; COMMUNITIES; ORDINATION; ECOSYSTEMS; ISLAND; CLASSIFICATION; GRASSLANDS; AREAS; ALPS Abstract: Macro- and mesoscale patterns of the full altitudinal range (1200-2200 m) of alpine vegetation and vascular flora on Mount Armstrong, on New Zealand's perhumid Southern Alps, are deduced from 41 vegetation and soil samples. Multivariate analyses of quantitative data for 138 vascular plant taxa separated high alpine from low-alpine communities between 1640 and 1800 m depending on local topography. Four high-alpine and seven low-alpine communities were differentiated. Vector fitting of 25 environmental variables to a sample ordination revealed 16 were statistically significant. Factors associated with topography (altitude, exposure, and slope) are the primary determinants of the macroscale patterns while soil, particularly those factors affected by processes associated with site stability, determine the mesoscale patterns of the alpine vegetation. Dominance of Hemicryptophytes and Chamaephytes across the alpine zone reveals a general consistency with alpine areas elsewhere. The tussock or caespitose form of Hemicryptophyte is the most common in New Zealand except near the upper limit of the high-alpine zone where cushion and mat forms dominate. Several large-leaved, mostly evergreen forbs (megaphyllous herbs) are a feature of the New Zealand low-alpine zone in perhumid regions. The overall pattern of alpine vegetation and associated life forms in oceanic New Zealand shows closer affinities with those occurring on perhumid tropical high mountains and other oceanic regions, particularly the subantarctic islands, than those of the temperate northern hemisphere continental mountains. The similarity between the moderate, extended but Variable alpine growing season in New Zealand and the nonseasonal environments of tropical high mountains and subantarctic islands is suggested as the basis for this affinity. This contrasts with the much shorter but generally more favorable growing season and the extreme winters of temperate northern hemisphere continental mountains. Two data sets. one from Mount Armstrong and the other gathered from a wider geographic and altitudinal range, revealed curvilinear rather than linear relationships for both richness and altitudinal ranges of the vascular Bora. Detailed information on altitudinal ranges and distribution of the alpine vegetation, vascular flora, life forms, and environments over the full range of the alpine zone on Mount Armstrong provides baseline records relevant to future assessments of probable effects of global climate changes. ISSN: 1523-0430 Record 71 of 86 Author(s): Bullock, SH Title: The vegetation of northwestern Baja California in the context of environmental instability Source: REVISTA CHILENA DE HISTORIA NATURAL, 72 (4): 501-516 DEC 1999 Author Keywords: mediterranean ecosystems; climate change; watershed management; phytogeography; perturbation Keywords Plus: COASTAL SAGE SCRUB; SOUTHERN-CALIFORNIA; CLIMATE-CHANGE; SHRUBLAND; FIRE; MODEL; ASSOCIATIONS; CONVERGENCE; RESISTANCE; RAINFALL Abstract: This brief review questions if the vegetation of northwestern Baja California is adapted to the present climate and how it may be affected by changes in herbivores, fire patterns and human uses of the land. Taking diverse perspectives with regard to time, space and discipline, it tries to indicate the importance of environmental instability for ecosystems of the region. Plant adaptations and vegetation physiognomy are not products of the Mediterranean-type climate. Plant associations probably have been and are transitory, and many characteristic species are widely distributed outside the Mediterranean climate. The vegetation is affected by fires, which are frequent and small compared to California, but little is known about the pattern or causes of fires and less about its impact on the flora and ecosystem functions Apparently the vegetation has suffered little from typical extensive land use systems, but the vegetation is less important economically for its products than for its role in the hydrological regime and erosion control. Serious conservation problems result from intensive development of relatively flat terrain, the coastal zone, areas near water sources, and possibly from fires. ISSN: 0716-078X Record 72 of 86 Author(s): Miyawaki, A Title: Restoration of urban green environments based on the theories of vegetation ecology Source: ECOLOGICAL ENGINEERING, 11 (1-4): 157-165 OCT 1998 Author Keywords: restoration; potential natural vegetation; multistratal forests; green environments; ecological scenario; ecotechnology Abstract: Modern cities and industrial areas are standardized, built of non-biological materials such as iron, cement and petrochemicals. The most desirable life for citizens should be both mentally and physically sound, which are the basis of existence for all lives. A multistratal forest is estimated to have 25-30 times the green surface area monostratal grass. With underground organic compounds, multistratal forests also contribute to the reduction of CO2. Building facilities can be completed in short term with economic backing. But it takes biological time to regenerate a multistratal forest using living green construction materials. It is urgent to start the restoration and reconstruction of native green environments immediately. To form green environments of multistructure using plants, it is necessary to systematize the data from field investigations and to follow the scientific scenario based on potential natural vegetation. We propose the restoration of native forests, which function as disaster-prevention and environmental-preservation forests in urban and pre-urban areas. Native forests grow well with no management. With the ecological technique 600 sites have been successfully revegetated in the Japanese Archipelago, in Malaysia, Melaka, Kuala Lumpur, and Bangkok in Southeast Asia, and in Belem, Brazil, and Concepcion, Chile in South America. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0925-8574 Record 73 of 86 Author(s): Salami, AT Title: Vegetation modification and man-induced environmental change in rural southwestern Nigeria Source: AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT, 70 (2-3): 159-167 OCT 1998 Author Keywords: change index; tropical rain forest; soil-vegetation system; peasant farmers; structural complexity; environmental management; anthropogenic pressure; ecological setting; declining floristic diversity; mono-culture; tree cover; climatic climax Abstract: The nature and pattern of vegetation modification and environmental change in the tropical rain forest of southwestern Nigeria were examined. The study considered some biotic and edaphic parameters in two different areas. The changes were determined by comparing these parameters, with those in a tract of mature forest. The results depict the extent to which the soil-vegetation system, in the area has been disrupted, by both regulations and the activities of peasant farmers. The activities of the farmers, have resulted in degradation of the structural complexity, of the vegetation and a deterioration of soil quality. The changes depicted in this study could only be said to be a temporary disruption, if the area is allowed sufficient time to recover. Alternative environmental management strategies are suggested. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. ISSN: 0167-8809 Record 74 of 86 Author(s): Stohlgren, TJ; Bachand, RR; Onami, Y; Binkley, D Title: Species-environment relationships and vegetation patterns: effects of spatial scale and tree life-stage Source: PLANT ECOLOGY, 135 (2): 215-228 APR 1998 Author Keywords: Colorado; Canonical correspondence analysis; Ecotones; Heterogeneous forest landscapes; Rocky Mountain National Park Keywords Plus: CANONICAL CORRESPONDENCE-ANALYSIS; SEQUOIA SEQUOIADENDRON-GIGANTEUM; COLORADO FRONT RANGE; NATIONAL-PARK; GRADIENT ANALYSIS; ENGELMANN SPRUCE; FOREST; CALIFORNIA; LANDSCAPE; ECOTONES Abstract: Do relationships between species and environmental gradients strengthen or weaken with tree life-stage (i.e., small seedlings, large seedlings, saplings, and mature trees)? Strengthened relationships may lead to distinct forest type boundaries, or weakening connections could lead to gradual ecotones and heterogeneous forest landscapes. We quantified the changes in forest dominance (basal area of tree species by life-stage) and environmental factors (elevation, slope, aspect, intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), summer soil moisture, and soil depth and texture) across 14 forest ecotones (n = 584, 10 m x 10 m plots) in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, U.S.A. Local, ecotone-specific species-environment relationships, based on multiple regression techniques, generally strengthened from the small seedling stage (multiple R-2 ranged from 0.00 to 0.26) to the tree stage (multiple R-2 ranged from 0.20 to 0.61). At the landscape scale, combined canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) among species and for all tree life-stages suggested that the seedlings of most species became established in lower-elevation, drier sites than where mature trees of the same species dominated. However, conflicting evidence showed that species-environment relationships may weaken with tree lifestage. Seedlings were only found in a subset of plots (habitats) occupied by mature trees of the same species. At the landscape scale, CCA results showed that speciesenvironment relationships weakened somewhat from the small seedling stage (86.4% of the variance explained by the first two axes) to the tree stage (76.6% of variance explained). The basal area of tree species co-occurring with Pinus contorta Doug. ex. Loud declined more gradually than P. contorta basal area declined across ecotones, resulting in less-distinct forest type boundaries. We conclude that broad, gradual ecotones and heterogeneous forest landscapes are created and maintained by: (1) sporadic establishment of seedlings in suboptimal habitats; (2) survivorship of saplings and mature trees in a wider range of environmental conditions than seedlings presently endure; and (3) the longevity of trees and persistence of tree species in a broad range of soils, climates, and disturbance regimes. ISSN: 1385-0237 Record 75 of 86 Author(s): Beerling, DJ; Woodward, FI; Lomas, M; Jenkins, AJ Title: Testing the responses of a dynamic global vegetation model to environmental change: a comparison of observations and predictions Source: GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, 6 (6): 439-450 NOV 1997 Author Keywords: boreal vegetation; global environmental change; hydrology; photosynthesis; vegetation models Keywords Plus: GAS-EXCHANGE RESPONSES; ATMOSPHERIC CO2; BOREAL VEGETATION; WHOLE-CATCHMENT; CARBON BALANCE; CLIMATE-CHANGE; ELEVATED CO2; FOREST; SCALE; TEMPERATURE Abstract: Dynamic global vegetation - biogeochemistry models are required to predict the likely responses of the terrestrial biosphere to anticipated future global environmental change and for improved representation of an active vegetation surface within general circulation models of the Earth's global climate system. Testing the predictions of such models is essential to their development prior to use in a predictive capacity. The climate change experiment (CLIMEX) has exposed an entire catchment of boreal vegetation to elevated CO2 (560 ppmv) and temperature (+3 degrees C in summer, +5 degrees C in winter) for the past three years and has a considerable archive of pre-and posttreatment measurements of both CO2 and water vapour fluxes of the vegetation, catchment runoff and soil nutrient status. These data have been used to test the predictions of the University of Sheffield dynamic global vegetation model (SDGVM) for the same site using historical records of climate as input. Comparisons of observations and predictions at the scale of individual leaves and whole ecosystems are generally favourable, increasing our confidence in the application of the model to forecasting the responses of the terrestrial biosphere to various global change scenarios. The SDGVM has been used to predict the future responses of the ecosystem at the site into the year 2003AD. The results indicate rather small changes in leaf area index and catchment runoff but quite large increases in net primary productivity. The model predictions are now open to testing further as the CO2 and temperature treatments continue in the CLIMEX greenhouse. ISSN: 0960-7447 Record 76 of 86 Author(s): Butzer, KW; Butzer, EK Title: The 'natural' vegetation of the Mexican Bajio: Archival documentation of a 16th-century savanna environment Source: QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL, 43-4: 161-172 1997 Keywords Plus: SOIL-EROSION; AMERICA; ECOLOGY; LAKE Abstract: Neo-ecologists make assumptions about a 'natural' or potential vegetation when they argue whether a particular landscape is in secondary and degraded condition. Similarly, paleoecologists attempt to infer a three-dimensional biotic mosaic from a core taken in a low-lying wetland. Yet with millennia of human disturbance, climatic fluctuation, biotic response to long-term climatic trends or catastrophic 'events', and coevolution between Holocene vegetation and human landuse,;natural ecosystems' have not been in equilibrium. While past vegetation changes can be traced, efforts to reconstruct potential vegetation are probably unrealistic. This paper assembles 16th century landscape descriptions of the Bajio of Central Mexico from archival repositories, to characterise the landscape at the time of Spanish intrusion. Attention is focused on five major landscape elements: (1) Riparian woodlands of mesquite, bald cypress and willow, with reed stands; (2) Level, vertisolic plains, with a low-tree savanna (mesquite acacia-grass); (3) Steeper piedmont plains with stony substrates, probably favoring xeric, thorn-bush associations; (4) Rough uplands with a mix of mesquite-acacia woodland, scrub oak, and them bush; and (5) Mountains dominated by live and deciduous oak woodlands. The biotic mosaic of the 16th century appears similar to that of the modern spontaneous vegetation in physiognomic terms, despite changes in structure. Areas of older indigenous settlement were affected by local vegetation disturbance, with partial deforestation near lakes Cuitzeo and Yuriria. While Spanish-Criollo intrusion (15401640) brought new, potentially destructive landuse methods, there is no evidence of additional landscape degradation in the Bajio until well into the 18th century. Dramatic changes in hydrology and riparian vegetation are quite recent. Archival documentation provides a complementary methodology to re-examine the interplay of edaphic variation, climate and cumulative land-use in understanding contemporary vegetation, and it can assist in converting proxy data into a three-dimensional landscape. (C) 1997 INQUA/Elsevier Science Ltd. ISSN: 1040-6182 Record 77 of 86 Author(s): Kobayashi, T; Hori, Y; Nomoto, N Title: Effects of trampling and vegetation removal on species diversity and microenvironment under different shade conditions Source: JOURNAL OF VEGETATION SCIENCE, 8 (6): 873-880 DEC 1997 Author Keywords: growth-form; humpbacked species diversity curve; intermediatedisturbance hypothesis; soil water potential; species richness; trampling tolerance Keywords Plus: FIELD PLANT COMMUNITY; SAND DUNE ECOSYSTEM; CORAL REEFS; DISTURBANCE; RESISTANCE; ORGANIZATION; GRASSLAND; FORESTS; GRASSES; TRACKS Abstract: The effects of disturbance by trampling and vegetation removal on herbaceous communities and heir microenvironments were examined at two sites with different levels of shade. The dominant species of the original vegetation were the perennial herb Artemisia princeps at the sunny site and the dwarf-bamboo Pleioblastus chino at the shady site. With no disturbance and marked dominance of these species, diversity was low. After vegetation removal there was a rapid recovery, leading to a more diverse vegetation with many more species, each with a lower dominance. Continuous trampling induced a short vegetation while the light intensity under the foliage was increased. At the sunny site, species richness was depressed by trampling because the soil water potential decreased markedly during summer and only the stress-tolerant annual Digital ia adscendens grew vigorously. Thus, the lowest species diversity was observed in the heavily trampled vegetation in late summer. At the shady site, soil water availability was not affected by trampling. This allowed the survival of many species and prevented a strong decline in diversity. The results suggest that the pattern of change in diversity in communities subjected to various disturbances, was always determined by the original environments. ISSN: 1100-9233 Record 78 of 86 Author(s): Rydgren, K Title: Vegetation-environment relationships of old-growth spruce forest vegetation in Ostmarka Nature Reserve, SE Norway, and comparison of three ordination methods Source: NORDIC JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 16 (4): 421-439 1996 Keywords Plus: CANONICAL CORRESPONDENCE-ANALYSIS; DETRENDED CORRESPONDENCE-ANALYSIS; HYLOCOMIUM-SPLENDENS; GRADIENT ANALYSIS; NORTHERN SWEDEN; ANNOTATED LIST; PUTTING THINGS; MICROCLIMATE; ADVANTAGES; COMPONENT Abstract: The relationship between vegetation and environmental variables has been studied in 100 sample plots, each 0.25 m(2), in old-growth spruce forest at Hogkollen, Ostmarka Nature Reserve, SE Norway. Each sample plot was supplied with measurements of 13 environmental and 5 biotic variables. Parallel application of three ordination techniques, PCA, DCA and LNMDS, resulted in different sample plot configurations. PCA performed. poorest due to strong influence of outliers and circumstantial evidence indicated better performance of LNMDS than DCA. Statistical analyses of the relationships between vegetation and ecological data revealed a parallel gradient in soil moisture (decreasing) and canopy closure (increasing) as the most important for differentiation of the vegetation. Species number and field layer cover decreased, while bottom layer cover increased, due to increasing cover of Dicranum majus, with decreasing soil moisture and increasing canopy closure. Constrained canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to partition the variation of the species sample plot matrix into spatial, environmental and unexplained variation, and combinations. The fraction of unexplained variation was high (80.9%), most likely due to small sample plot size and short gradient lengths. Most of the explained variation was attributable to environmental factors alone (54.5%). Only 6.3% was shared between environmental and spatial variation, which indicated minor importance of broad-scale and geographically structured environmental variation. Strictly spatial variation constituted 39.3%. However, the spatially structured environmental variation was low, so the causes of spatial variation were likely not to be found among the measured environmental variables. ISSN: 0107-055X Record 79 of 86 Author(s): Leathwick, JR; Rogers, GM Title: Modelling relationships between environment and canopy composition in secondary vegetation in central North Island, New Zealand Source: NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, 20 (2): 147-161 1996 Author Keywords: secondary succession; disturbance; environmental factors; classification; plant community analysis; Generalised Additive Models Keywords Plus: SERAL TUSSOCK GRASSLANDS; SUCCESSION; DISTURBANCE; DERIVATION; ECOLOGY; FIELD Abstract: Relationships between composition of secondary vegetation and environment were studied in central North Island, New Zealand. A classification procedure was used to identify broad compositional groups which included forest, broadleaved scrub, shrub-fernland, sclerophyllous scrub and shrubland, and tussockshrubland. Generalised additive models (GAMs) were used to examine relationships between species' distributions and mean annual temperature and rainfall, stand age, distance from intact forest, slope, topography, and drainage. There were marked differences in the environmental relationships of individual species. We conclude that temperature and rainfall have a dominant role in determining succession after disturbance at a regional scale, but distance from intact forest, topography, slope and solar radiation, become important at local scales. Variation unaccounted for by these environmental factors is most likely linked to historical factors such as variation in disturbance and/or grazing and browsing regimes. Intervention by managers will probably be required in the future if the current diversity of secondary vegetation in central North Island is to be maintained. ISSN: 0110-6465 Record 80 of 86 Author(s): Parker, KC; Bendix, J Title: Landscape-scale geomorphic influences on vegetation patterns in four environments Source: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, 17 (2): 113-141 MAR-APR 1996 Author Keywords: plant geography; landscape ecology; vegetation patterns; alluvial fans; riparian environments; landslides; glaciated landscapes Keywords Plus: NORTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN; SONORAN DESERT BAJADA; UPPER GREAT-LAKES; RIVER FLOODPLAIN; NATIONAL-PARK; MOJAVE DESERT; RIPARIAN VEGETATION; DISTURBANCE HISTORY; SOUTHERN WISCONSIN; FOREST SUCCESSION Abstract: This paper reviews and synthesizes research about geomorphic influences on vegetation patterns apparent at the landscape scala After an overview of the effects that landforms and geomorphic processes have on plant distributions, these relationships are discussed in more detail for each of four distinct physical settings: temperate riparian environments, slopes affected by landslides and other forms of mass movement, desert alluvial fans, and nonmountainous glaciated landscapes. These four landscapes were selected because they encompass a broad range of temporal and spatial scales at which the geomorphic processes most strongly linked with vegetation patterns operate; furthermore, they collectively illustrate some of the more prominent themes in recent research on this topic. Finally, we identify four topics that particularly merit future research on geomorphic-biogeographic interactions: (1) feedback between vegetation and landforms, (2) distinctions between landform characteristics and the associated geomorphic processes as controls of vegetation patterns, (3) the influence of scale on landform-vegetation relationships, and (4) geographic variation in those relationships. ISSN: 0272-3646 Record 81 of 86 Author(s): Cowell, CM Title: Fire in the environment: The ecological, atmospheric, and climatic importance of vegetation fires - Crutzen,PJ, Goldammer,JG Source: ANNALS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN GEOGRAPHERS, 86 (2): 349-350 JUN 1996 Author Keywords: atmospheric chemistry; fire science; global change; human impacts; vegetation fire ISSN: 0004-5608 Record 82 of 86 Author(s): Turner, GW; Ruffio, RMC; Roberts, MW Title: Extent and environmental significance of vegetation clearance in the NymageeCargelligo area, Western New South Wales Source: AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHER, 27 (1): 87-100 MAY 1996 Author Keywords: vegetation clearance; environmental degradation; land units; land-use planning; remote sensing; GIS; Western Division; New South Wales Abstract: There has been considerable recent concern over the amount of vegetation clearance and associated environmental degradation risk in the Western Division of New South Wales. An integrated remote sensing/GIS approach was used to provide information required to address this issue. The extent and nature of recent vegetation clearance was quantified to give a basic indication of the prevailing land condition in a study area in the central-eastern portion of the Western Division. Between 1973 and 1991 there was an increase of 86 per cent in the extent of cleared landscapes. Further interpretation of this indicator with respect to the study period identified spatial and temporal trends critical to understanding the significance of observed environmental change. Change has not been uniform, with environments covering the red-earth lands fringing the Lachlan River floodplain particularly impacted. The nature of changes was quantified with respect to various land units. The suitability of the approach for providing decision support for environmental management at ecosystem level, and the review of land-use planning and environment protection strategies, is discussed. ISSN: 0004-9182 Record 83 of 86 Author(s): Angiel, M Title: Studies of the effect of simulated acid rain on the ecological equilibrium of the soil system .2. Soil as a physical environment; Fluctuations of water resources in soil during the vegetation period Source: ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT, 41 (1): 15-37 MAY 1996 Keywords Plus: DECOMPOSITION; RESPIRATION Abstract: During the vegetation periods of the years 1988 and 1989, within studies performed at Dziekanow Lesny near Warsaw, the temporal variation of humidity and water resources in the upper soil layer (loamy sand) was determined. Two experimental plots were observed: one subject to natural precipitation and the other watered with natural + simulated precipitation (8.4 mm weekly). In the vegetation period of a year which had a dry spring and autumn and wet summer (1988), neither of the experimental plots showed overdrying of the upper 10 cm soil layer. During 96% of the time, at both experimental plots, water accessible to plants and gravitation water was found. On the other hand, in the vegetation period of a year with a wet spring and autumn and a dry summer, water conditions were different; accessible water and gravitation water occurred at the experimental plot, alimented with natural precipitation during 80% of the time, and at the plot watered with natural + simulated precipitation only during 57% of the time. In the case of rain deficit, small artificial watering in the summer had enhanced evaporation and decreased the water content in the nearsurface soil layer. ISSN: 0167-6369 Record 84 of 86 Author(s): Supuka, J Title: Settlement environmental conditions and evaluation of their impact on urban vegetation Source: EKOLOGIA-BRATISLAVA, 15 (1): 37-46 1996 Abstract: The anthropic activity in settlements causes abnormal emission of heterogeneous matter. It has multielemental influence on urban ecosystems including urban vegetation too. Biographical situation of the settlement environment is conditioned by the following determinants: representation of landscape elements, metabolic imputs and outputs in the anthropic activity of settlement, changed abiotic conditions of environment, the change of biotic environmental components. The geographical and immission climate of towns and the changed characteristics of urban soils cause different forms and levels of damage to the urban vegetation: on the plant community, on the population and on the individuals level. The negative influence of changed town conditions may be evaluated according to damage symptoms of assimilative organs, generative organs, growth shape deformation and overall physiological weakening symptoms. Record 85 of 86 Author(s): Franklin, J Title: Predictive vegetation mapping: Geographic modelling of biospatial patterns in relation to environmental gradients Source: PROGRESS IN PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, 19 (4): 474-499 DEC 1995 Author Keywords: niche; gradient model; vegetation map; geographic information system; remote sensing; digital terrain data; habitat model Keywords Plus: DIGITAL TERRAIN DATA; THEMATIC MAPPER DATA; REMOTELY SENSED DATA; INFORMATION-SYSTEM; CONTINUUM CONCEPT; LANDSAT MSS; TOPOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION; FOREST CLASSIFICATION; PLANT-DISTRIBUTION; NEURAL NETWORKS Abstract: Predictive vegetation mapping can be defined as predicting the geographic distribution of the vegetation composition across a landscape from mapped environmental variables. Computerized predictive vegetation mapping is made possible by the availability of digital maps of topography and other environmental variables such as soils, geology and climate variables, and geographic information system software for manipulating these data. Especially important to predictive vegetation mapping are interpolated climatic variables related to physiological tolerances, and topographic variables, derived from digital elevation grids, related to site energy and moisture balance. Predictive vegetation mapping is founded in ecological niche theory and gradient analysis, and driven by the need to map vegetation patterns over large areas for resource conservation planning, and to predict the effects of environmental change on vegetation distributions. Predictive vegetation mapping has advanced over the past two decades especially in conjunction with the development of remote sensing-based vegetation mapping and digital geographic information analysis. A number of statistical and, more recently, machine-learning methods have been used to develop and implement predictive vegetation models. ISSN: 0309-1333 Record 86 of 86 Author(s): DEVILLEZ, F; DURAN, V; RENSON, Y Title: ESTIMATION OF ECOLOGICAL VALUE OF THE VEGETATION OF FORESTS AND HEDGES - APPLICATION TO ENVIRONMENT IMPACT STUDIES Source: BELGIAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, 128 (1): 95-105 1995 Abstract: Environmental impact assessments on most of the important building and development projects have been set up due to the law. Therefore, one needs to install methods to quantify effects of the project on the environment. On a first stage, it is interesting to know the quality of the present stade of woods and hedges. The example mentioned here concerns the effects of T.G.V. plans between the French border and the town of Ath. A method of assessment of ecological value of woods and hedges has been worked out. First of all, maps and aerial photographies have been used to identify and locate each vegetation unit. After that, a ground survey allows to give a score on the structure, the development of each layer, the species diversity, the species integration and artificiality. A global score is attributed to each community. By comparing them, it is possible to delimit the areas which should be first protected. ISSN: 0037-9557
