Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere. The term vegetation does not, by itself, imply anything regarding species composition, life forms, structure, spatial extent, "naturalness", or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader than the term flora which refers exclusively to species composition. Perhaps the closest synonym is plant community, but vegeta ...

Including:

• Vegetation - Importance
• Vegetation - Classification
• Vegetation - Vegetation Structure
• Vegetation - Vegetation Processes
• Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics
• Vegetation - Spatial Dynamics
• Vegetation - Global Vegetation Patterns and Determinants
• Vegetation - Scientific Study
• Vegetation - History
• Vegetation - More Recent Concepts Theories and Approaches
• Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Read more here: » Vegetation: Encyclopedia - Vegetation

Vegetation scientists study the causes of the patterns and processes observed in vegetation at various scales of space and time. Of particular interest and importance are questions of the relative roles of climate, soil, topography, and history on vegetation characteristics, including both species composition and structure. Such questions are often large scale, and so cannot be addressed by experimentation in a meaningful way. Observational studies supplemented by knowledge of botany, paleobotany, ecology, soil science etc, are thus the rule in vegetation science. ...

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Vegetation, Vegetation - Importance, Vegetation - Classification, Vegetation - Vegetation Structure, Vegetation - Vegetation Processes, Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics, Vegetation - Spatial Dynamics, Vegetation - Global Vegetation Patterns and Determinants, Vegetation - Scientific Study, Vegetation - History, Vegetation - More Recent Concepts Theories and Approaches, Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Read more here: » Vegetation: Encyclopedia II - Vegetation - Scientific Study

Like all biological systems, plant communities are temporally and spatially dynamic; they change at all possible scales. Dynamism in vegetation is defined primarily as changes in either or both of species composition and vegetation structure. Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics. Temporally, a large number of processes or events can cause change, but for sake of simplicity they can be categorized roughly as either abrupt or gradual. Abrupt changes are generally referred to as disturbances; these include things l ...

See also:

Vegetation, Vegetation - Importance, Vegetation - Classification, Vegetation - Vegetation Structure, Vegetation - Vegetation Processes, Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics, Vegetation - Spatial Dynamics, Vegetation - Global Vegetation Patterns and Determinants, Vegetation - Scientific Study, Vegetation - History, Vegetation - More Recent Concepts Theories and Approaches, Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Read more here: » Vegetation: Encyclopedia II - Vegetation - Vegetation Processes

A primary characteristic of vegetation is its three-dimensional structure, sometimes referred to as its physiognomy, or architecture. Most people have an understanding of this idea through their familiarity with terms like "jungle", "woods", "prairie" or "meadow"; these terms conjure up a mental image of what such vegetation looks like. So, meadows are grassy and open, tropical rainforests are dense, tall, and dark, savannahs ...

See also:

Vegetation, Vegetation - Importance, Vegetation - Classification, Vegetation - Vegetation Structure, Vegetation - Vegetation Processes, Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics, Vegetation - Spatial Dynamics, Vegetation - Global Vegetation Patterns and Determinants, Vegetation - Scientific Study, Vegetation - History, Vegetation - More Recent Concepts Theories and Approaches, Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Read more here: » Vegetation: Encyclopedia II - Vegetation - Vegetation Structure

Much of the work on vegetation classification comes from European and North American ecologists, and they have fundamentally different approaches. In North America, vegetation types are based on a combination of the following criteria: climate pattern, plant habit, phenology and/or growth form, and dominant species. In the current US standard (adopted by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), and originally developed by UNESCO and The Nature Conservancy), the classification is hierarchical and incorporates the non-floristic criteria i ...

See also:

Vegetation, Vegetation - Importance, Vegetation - Classification, Vegetation - Vegetation Structure, Vegetation - Vegetation Processes, Vegetation - Temporal Dynamics, Vegetation - Spatial Dynamics, Vegetation - Global Vegetation Patterns and Determinants, Vegetation - Scientific Study, Vegetation - History, Vegetation - More Recent Concepts Theories and Approaches, Vegetation - References and Further Reading

Read more here: » Vegetation: Encyclopedia II - Vegetation - Classification