Table of Contents
Contributors xi
Preface xv
1 Vegetation Ecology: Historical Notes and Outline 1
Eddy van der Maarel and Janet Franklin
1.1 Vegetation ecology at the community level 1
1.2 Internal organization of plant communities 14
1.3 Structure and function in plant communities and ecosystems 17
1.4 Human impact on plant communities 20
1.5 Vegetation ecology at regional to global scales 22
1.6 Epilogue 24
2 Classifi cation of Natural and Semi-natural Vegetation 28
Robert K. Peet and David W. Roberts
2.1 Introduction 28
2.2 Classifi cation frameworks: history and function 30
2.3 Components of vegetation classifi cation 33
2.4 Project planning and data acquisition 35
2.5 Data preparation and integration 40
2.6 Community entitation 42
2.7 Cluster assessment 52
2.8 Community characterization 54
2.9 Community determination 58
2.10 Classifi cation integration 60
2.11 Documentation 63
2.12 Future directions and challenges 64
3 Vegetation and Environment: Discontinuities and Continuities 71
Mike P. Austin
3.1 Introduction 71
3.2 Early history 72
3.3 Development of numerical methods 74
3.4 Current theory: continuum and community 78
3.5 Current indirect ordination methods 86
3.6 Species distribution modelling or direct gradient analysis 93
3.7 Synthesis 101
4 Vegetation Dynamics 107
Steward T.A. Pickett, Mary L. Cadenasso and Scott J. Meiners
4.1 Introduction 107
4.2 The causes of vegetation dynamics 108
4.3 Succession in action: interaction of causes in different places 114
4.4 Common characteristics across successions 131
4.5 Summary 134
5 Clonality in the Plant Community 141
Brita M. Svensson, Hakan Rydin and Bengt A. Carlsson
5.1 Modularity and clonality 141
5.2 Where do we fi nd clonal plants? 145
5.3 Habitat exploitation by clonal growth 148
5.4 Transfer of resources and division of labour 151
5.5 Competition and co-existence in clonal plants 153
5.6 Clonality and herbivory 158
6 Seed Ecology and Assembly Rules in Plant Communities 164
Peter Poschlod, Mehdi Abedi, Maik Bartelheimer, Juliane Drobnik, Sergey Rosbakh and Arne Saatkamp
6.1 Ecological aspects of diaspore regeneration 164
6.2 Brief historical review 166
6.3 Dispersal 167
6.4 Soil seed bank persistence 177
6.5 Germination and establishment 180
6.6 Ecological databases on seed ecological traits 186
6.7 Seed ecological spectra of plant communities 186
6.8 Seed ecological traits as limiting factors for plant species occurrence and assembly 187
6.9 Seed ecological traits and species co-existence in plant communities 191
7 Species Interactions Structuring Plant Communities 203
Jelte van Andel
7.1 Introduction 203
7.2 Types of interaction 204
7.3 Competition 205
7.4 Allelopathy 211
7.5 Parasitism 212
7.6 Facilitation 215
7.7 Mutualism 218
7.8 Complex species interactions affecting community structure 221
7.9 Assembly rules 225
8 Terrestrial Plant-Herbivore Interactions: Integrating Across Multiple Determinants and Trophic Levels 233
Mahesh Sankaran and Samuel J. McNaughton
8.1 Herbivory: pattern and process 233
8.2 Coping with herbivory 241
8.3 The continuum from symbiotic to parasitic 247
8.4 Community level effects of herbivory 250
8.5 Integrating herbivory with ecosystem ecology 255
9 Interactions Between Higher Plants and Soil-dwelling Organisms 260
Thomas W. Kuyper and Ron G.M. de Goede
9.1 Introduction 260
9.2 Ecologically important biota in the rhizosphere 261
9.3 The soil community as cause and consequence of plant community composition 263
9.4 Specifi city and selectivity 265
9.5 Feedback mechanisms 268
9.6 Soil communities and invasive plants 274
9.7 Mutualistic root symbioses and nutrient partitioning in plant communities 275
9.8 Mycorrhizal networks counteracting plant competition? 278
9.9 Pathogenic soil organisms and nutrient dynamics 279
9.10 After description 279
10 Vegetation and Ecosystem 285
Christoph Leuschner
10.1 The ecosystem concept 285
10.2 The nature of ecosystems 287
10.3 Energy fl ow and trophic structure 289
10.4 Biogeochemical cycles 299
11 Diversity and Ecosystem Function 308
Jan Leps
11.1 Introduction 308
11.2 Measurement of species diversity 309
11.3 Determinants of species diversity in the plant community 315
11.4 Patterns of species richness along gradients 319
11.5 Stability 324
11.6 On the causal relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning 329
12 Plant Functional Types and Traits at the Community, Ecosystem and World Level 347
Andrew N. Gillison
12.1 The quest for a functional paradigm 347
12.2 Form and function: evolution of the 'functional' concept in plant ecology 348
12.3 The development of functional typology 348
12.4 Plant strategies, trade-offs and functional types 355
12.5 The mass ratio hypothesis 361
12.6 Functional diversity and complexity 362
12.7 Moving to a trait-based ecology – response and effect traits 363
12.8 Plant functional types and traits as bioindicators 370
12.9 Environmental monitoring 372
12.10 Trait-based climate modelling 374
12.11 Scaling across community, ecosystem and world level 376
12.12 Discussion 377
13 Plant Invasions and Invasibility of Plant Communities 387
Marcel Rejmanek, David M. Richardson and Petr Pysek
13.1 Introduction 387
13.2 Defi nitions and major patterns 388
13.3 Invasibility of plant communities 393
13.4 Habitat compatibility 401
13.5 Propagule pressure and residence time 402
13.6 What are the attributes of successful invaders? 404
13.7 Impact of invasive plants, justifi cation and prospects of eradication projects 413
14 Vegetation Conservation, Management and Restoration 425
Jan P. Bakker
14.1 Introduction 425
14.2 From agricultural exploitation to nature conservation 427
14.3 Vegetation management in relation to a hierarchy of environmental processes 430
14.4 Laissez-faire and the wilderness concept 430
14.5 Management and restoration imply setting targets 433
14.6 Setting targets implies monitoring 437
14.7 Effects of management and restoration practices 438
14.8 Constraints in management and restoration 444
14.9 Strategies in management and restoration 447
15 Vegetation Types and Their Broad-scale Distribution 455
Elgene O. Box and Kazue Fujiwara
15.1 Introduction: vegetation and plant community 455
15.2 Form and function, in plants and vegetation 456
15.3 Vegetation types 464
15.4 Distribution of the main world vegetation types 466
15.5 Regional vegetation 469
15.6 Vegetation modelling and mapping at broad scales 472
15.7 Vegetation and global change 479
16 Mapping Vegetation from Landscape to Regional Scales 486
Janet Franklin
16.1 Introduction 486
16.2 Scale and vegetation mapping 489
16.3 Data for vegetation mapping 490
16.4 Methods for vegetation mapping 495
16.5 Examples of recent vegetation maps illustrating their different uses 500
16.6 Dynamic vegetation mapping 501
16.7 Future of vegetation mapping research and practice 502
17 Vegetation Ecology and Global Change 509
Brian Huntley and Robert Baxter
17.1 Introduction 509
17.2 Vegetation and climatic change 510
17.3 Confounding effects of other aspects of global change 518
17.4 Conclusions 525
References 527
Index 531
