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An Extension of the Concept of Importance Value in Analyzing Forest Communities
Author(s) -
Skeen James N.
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.2307/1935356
Subject(s) - dominance (genetics) , biomass (ecology) , relative value , ecology , canopy , relative density , frequency , efficiency , relative species abundance , geography , environmental science , biology , mathematics , statistics , economics , chemistry , biochemistry , organic chemistry , finance , gene , sintering , estimator , abundance (ecology)
Importance values (IV = relative dominance + relative density + relative frequency) were determined for the 12 major canopy species of a mesic north—slope forest in East Tennessee. In addition a fourth term, relative biomass (= above—ground dry weight of a species relative to total stand biomass) was formulated. Comparison of differences between classically determined IV's to IV's containing the relative biomass term indicates that the latter may reflect subtle differences not apparent if biomass is not considered