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The whole and its parts: why and how to disentangle plant communities and synusiae in vegetation classification
Author(s) -
Berg Christian,
Ewald Jörg,
Hobohm Carsten,
Dengler Jürgen
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
applied vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.096
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1654-109X
pISSN - 1402-2001
DOI - 10.1111/avsc.12461
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , terminology , nomenclature , ruderal species , ecology , plant community , vascular plant , epiphyte , taxon , geography , vegetation classification , plant taxonomy , tree (set theory) , species name , vegetation types , taxonomy (biology) , biology , linguistics , habitat , mathematics , ecological succession , medicine , philosophy , pathology , systematics , species richness , mathematical analysis
Most plant communities consist of different structural and ecological subsets, ranging from cryptogams to different tree layers. The completeness and approach with which these subsets are sampled have implications for vegetation classification. Non‐vascular plants are often omitted or sometimes treated separately, referring to their assemblages as “synusiae” (e.g. epiphytes on bark, saxicolous species on rocks). The distinction of complete plant communities (phytocoenoses or holocoenoses) from their parts (synusiae or merocoenoses) is crucial to avoid logical problems and inconsistencies in the resulting classification systems. We here describe theoretical differences between the phytocoenosis as a whole and its parts, and outline consequences of this distinction for practice and terminology in vegetation classification. To implement a clearer separation, we call for modifications of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature and the EuroVegChecklist. We believe that these steps will make vegetation classification systems better applicable and raise recognition of the importance of non‐vascular plants in the vegetation as well as their interplay with vascular plants.