Vegetation classification at the association level under the China Vegetation Classification System: an example of six Stipa steppe formations in China  

作　　者：Changcheng Liu Thomas RWentworth Xianguo Qiao Ke Guo Dongjie Hou 

机构地区：[1]State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change,Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100093,China [2]Department of Plant and Microbial Biology,North Carolina State University,Box 7612,Raleigh,NC 27695-7612,USA [3]University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China

出　　处：《Journal of Plant Ecology》2019年第6期1009-1024,共16页植物生态学报（英文版）

基　　金：The work was supported by‘Strategic Priority Research Program’of the Chinese Academy of Sciences[XDA19050402];National Key Basic Research Programs of China[2015FY210200,2016YFC0502602];National Natural Science Foundation of China[41373081];This work was also supported by the China Scholarship Council[201604910318].

摘　　要：Aims The latest China Vegetation Classification System(China-VCS)for natural/semi-natural vegetation has eight hierarchical levels:Association<Association-group<Subformation<Formation<Formation-group<Vegetation-subtype<Vegetation-type<Vegetation-type-group.The classification is based on dominant species and their growth forms and has been completed at the formation level.The principal challenge today in Chinese vegetation classification is to develop the China-VCS at levels below the formation in a way that is consistent with current international standards.We explored the following question:how can existing vegetation plot data help develop the China-VCS and improve its compatibility with other international classification systems?Methods We compiled 401 plots having plant cover and/or aboveground biomass measurements collected in six Stipa steppe formations and divided them into those with cover data(299 plots)and/or biomass data(283 plots).We applied a combination of hierarchical clustering and ordination to partition the cover and biomass data sets into formations and constituent associations.We then used supervised noise clustering to improve the classification and to identify the core plots representing each association.Diagnostic species were also identified at both association and formation levels.Finally,we compared the classification results based on cover and biomass data sets and combined these results into a comprehensive classification framework for the six formations.Important Findings Our results using cover data were comparable with those using biomass data at both formation and association levels.Three Stipa formations were classified into associations based on cover data,two based on biomass data and one based on both biomass and cover data.Twenty-seven associations were defined and proposed within the six formations,using cover or biomass data as consistent classification sections(CCSs).Both dominant species in the dominant stratum and diagnostic species from multiple strata of the core plots

关 键 词：association China Vegetation Classification System consistent classification section cluster analysis ORDINATION Stipa steppe 

分 类 号：Q94[生物学—植物学]