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The concept of potential natural vegetation: an epitaph?
Author(s) -
Chiarucci Alessandro,
Araújo Miguel B.,
Decocq Guillaume,
Beierkuhnlein Carl,
FernándezPalacios José María
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2010.01218.x
Subject(s) - acknowledgement , natural (archaeology) , vegetation (pathology) , term (time) , predictive power , intervention (counseling) , epitaph , environmental ethics , environmental resource management , ecology , epistemology , computer science , geography , environmental science , history , psychology , philosophy , biology , archaeology , medicine , ancient history , pathology , physics , computer security , quantum mechanics , psychiatry
We discuss the usefulness of the concept of Potential Natural Vegetation (PNV), which describes the expected state of mature vegetation in the absence of human intervention. We argue that it is impossible to model PNV because of (i) the methodological problems associated to its definition and (ii) the issues related to the ecosystems dynamics.We conclude that the approach to characterizing PNV is unrealistic and provides scenarios with limited predictive power. In places with a long‐term human history, interpretations of PNV need to be very cautious, and explicit acknowledgement made of the limitations inherent in available data.