Academic literature on the topic 'Ecological vegetation classes'

As discussed in chapter 11, the general patterning of vegetation on serpentine up and down the western North American continent is relatively straightforward. However, many of the distinctive nuances relating to the structure and composition of the vegetation, particularly in comparison to adjacent nonserpentine vegetation have yet to be described. In this chapter we use vegetation as a tool to describe the variation of biotic diversity on serpentine throughout western North America. Vegetation is valuable in this regard because, by describing it, one assembles the information on all plants growing in different patterns in a landscape. This chapter expands on some of the concepts mentioned in chapter 11 and addresses some of the specific questions of interest to ecologists and biologists regarding the influence of serpentine on groups of plant species, using examples from western North America. Western North America provides an excellent template for understanding general questions about serpentine effects on species and vegetation. The broad latitudinal distribution and the local topographic and geologic diversity of serpentine exposures throughout this area produce an array of gradients of temperature, moisture, soil development, disturbance patterns, and day length to produce multiple ecological gradients operating at multiple scales. Also, within western North America a wide number of species from many different genera and families are influenced by serpentine. Vegetation classification is a tool used for several purposes, including efficient communication, data reduction and synthesis, interpretation, and land management and planning. Classifications provide one way of summarizing our knowledge of vegetation patterns. Although there are many different classification concepts, all classifications require the identification of a set of discrete vegetation classes. The fundamental unit of these discrete classes that is identifiable in the field is the stand. A stand is defined by two main unifying characteristics (CNPS 2003): 1. It has compositional integrity. Throughout the site, the combination of plant species is similar. The stand is differentiated from adjacent stands by a shift in plant species composition that may be abrupt or indistinct. That shift relates to a concomitant shift in certain ecological features such as temperature, moisture, or soil fertility that maintain control over the plant species composition.

Plant classification is quite complex and multilevel. All living organisms are divided into domains, kingdoms, types, classes, ranks, families, tribes, and species. This classification complexity is also reflected in the classification of biogeographic maps, which is much simpler. Based on floristic dependence, vegetation is grouped by connecting it into spatial (territorial) complexes. This paper presents the interfaces of mapping methods with taxonomic vegetation types at different hierarchical levels. At the same time, examples of vegetation mapping techniques from national and thematic atlases of different countries are presented in this article. UAV aerial photographs are widely used for local mapping of vegetation areas. The authors of this article propose a new methodology that can be used to assess the ecological condition of young trees and the volume of mature forest wood. The methodology is based on the separation of tree crown areas in UAV aerial photographs and photo color analysis. For automated area calculation of young trees, a PixRGB software has been developed to determine the area of pixels of the same color in aerial photographs. The software is based on the comparison of young tree crown area calculations in AutoCAD software and area measurements of individual color spectrum pixels. In the initial stage, aerial photographs are transformed to the exact size of the photographed area. Transformations were performed with an error of less than 2–3 cm. The transformation of the spectrum of aerial photographs allowed to concentrate the color of the image of young trees in a relatively narrow color range. Studies performed in 2019–2020 to assess the ecological condition of trees and the amount of wood using UAV INSPIRE 1 and PixRGB color analysis software showed the effectiveness of the applied methodology.

Ecosystem management, in the ideal sense, gives appropriate consideration to the complex and interdependent ecological and social systems that comprise forestlands. One prominent and growing arena where ecological and social systems interact is in the recreational use of wildlands. Recreational uses of forestlands are among an extensive array of commodities and amenities that are increasingly demanded of forest managers. An in-depth understanding of the relationships between recreational and other important uses is essential to effective ecosystem management. Within the human dimension of ecosystem management, recreation and amenity uses of forestlands and the associated benefits of those uses, constitute an important component of management decisions. Forestland recreation is a special form of leisure behavior not only because it takes place outdoors, but because it depends upon a “natural” setting. Particular environmental settings are crucial to the fulfillment of forest recreation goals, because the recreationist seeks meaningful and satisfying experiences rather than simply engagement in activities. Importantly, wildland recreation takes place in settings that result from management actions of one form or another, whether the management objective is recreation opportunity, wildlife habitat improvement, or timber production, among others. The recreation opportunity spectrum (ROS) provides a conceptual framework for relating opportunities for particular behaviors and experiences to specific settings. The ROS argues that recreator's pursuits of certain activities in specific settings reveals their demand for experiences that are satisfying and that may give long-term benefits. The ROS framework describes a spectrum of recreation opportunity classes that relate a range of recreation experiences to an array of possible settings and activities. Setting structure is composed of three components: an ecological component, a social component, and a managerial component. The ecological component comprises the physical-biological conditions of the setting. These are typically delineated by the relative remoteness of the setting, its size, and evidence of human impact (number and condition of trails, structures, or roads, alteration of vegetation, etc.). The social component is typically defined by the number of users at one time (density) in the setting, delineated by the number of encounters or sightings a recreation party has with others.

My involvement at the Niwot Ridge Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site began when I was an undergraduate summer research assistant, and it has extended through a postdoctoral fellowship, a tenured professorship, and now a leadership role in the program. I focus on alpine tundra plant diversity, plant–soil interactions, and how environmental changes may influence community dynamics over time and space. Cross-site synthesis work has been one of the most valuable experiences of my career, enabling me to ask more general questions and produce more influential work than I could have done with a focus at a single site. Such comparative research has allowed me to interact with a fabulous group of scientists that has strongly influenced my professional development. These scientists remain strong role models for me. My experiences in the LTER program have formed my model of education and training, emphasizing experimental and observational approaches, quantitative methods, and data management and sharing. I think it is the best way to approach the difficult and complex ecological questions facing our society today. My involvement in the LTER program started in college, when I decided to study for one semester at the University of Colorado. During that semester, I took a class from Marilyn Walker, who was part of the Niwot Ridge (NWT) LTER program. Marilyn’s class did not go to the tundra or even focus on alpine systems. However, when time came to figure out what to do over the summer, I asked her if I could be her research assistant. She gave me the chance to work at Niwot Ridge (Figure 29.1). I spent the summer before my senior year at 3,500-m elevation, recording point quadrat vegetation data in permanent plots. The snow was late to melt that year, so I spent much of June in the Institute of Alpine and Arctic Research’s loading dock, painting thick black stripes on 2.5-m long PVC poles to be used to measure snow depth. When snow melted enough to allow access on the entrance road, I went up to Niwot Ridge for the first time.

It is proposed to identify the hierarchy of federal districts in terms of ecological opportunities for consolidation of vegetation cover according to three classes of soil cover according to the UN classification (grass + shrub + trees) on the land territory of Russia by ranking the shares of vegetation cover and human-modified lands, as well as ecological coefficients. The total ecological coefficient is calculated by dividing the share of vegetation by the total share of anthropogenic land. The forest-agricultural coefficient is convenient as the ratio of the forest area to the arable land a

The ecological consolidation of vegetation according to three classes of the UN soil cover (grass + shrub + trees) is considered. The ecological coefficient is calculated by dividing the share of vegetation by the share of changed land. For the rating, the forest-agricultural coefficient is convenient as the ratio of forest area to arable land. The ecological principle of the consolidation of 13 types of land is proposed, which makes it possible to carry out the ecological consolidation of the vegetation cover and altered human land. According to these proposed criteria, the ranking of the sub

This study was conducted to inventory, classify, and map soils and vegetation within the ecosystems of Katmai National Park and Preserve (KATM) using an ecological land survey (ELS) approach. The ecosystem classes identified in the ELS effort were mapped across the park, using an archive of Geo-graphic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) datasets pertaining to land cover, topography, surficial geology, and glacial history. The description and mapping of the landform-vegetation-soil relationships identified in the ELS work provides tools to support the design and implementation of