Vegetation, the plant content of an area, is a fundamental component of the natural environment on the land surface of the earth. It converts energy into food and is therefore at the base of the food chain, making vegetation a key link in natural ecosystems integrating climate, soil, and living organisms. By identifying and analyzing distinct frontiers both in vegetation formation and in world flora, this book confirms that a set of formation types and distinctive floristic realms exist. This makes possible for the first time rigorous definitions for formation types and for specific floristic realms. More important than the clarification of boundaries is the examination of causative factors which is facilitated by the demonstration of distinct categories. Thus, probable causes for the origin of distinct vegetation formation types and floristic realms are offered in this book. Such a fresh examination of the regionalization of vegetation of the world scale helps to put world vegetation mapping on a more satisfactory scientific basis, a goal of major significance to geographers. Environmentalists and ecologists will be especially interested in the research finding that the same vegetation structure recurs again and again among unrelated assemblages of plants in remote parts of the wold. verifying the fact that vegetation formations are distinct kinds of ecological systems.

This book should be of interest to ecologists and plant scientists.

The book is concerned principally with geobotanical mapping. Geobotany is a broad science that deals with the study of species and of vegetation communities in relation to the environment; it includes other, perhaps more familiar sciences, such as plant geography, plant ecology, and chorology, and phytosociology (plant sociology). Geobotanical cartography is a field of thematic cartography that deals with the interpretation and representation, in the form of maps, of those spatial and temporal phenomena that pertain to flora, vegetation, vegetated landscapes, vegetation zones, and phytogeographical units. The production of a geobotanical map represents the last stage in a cognitive process that begins with observations in the field and continues with the collection of sample data, interpretation of the phenomena observed, and their appropriate cartographic representation; geobotanical cartography is closely tied to the concepts and scope of geobotany in general

A. W. KOCHLER The intimate intercourse between two or more 2. vegetation maps are scientific tools for ana fields of knowledge often bears interesting and lyzing the environment and the relation valuable fruit. Vegetation maps are such fruit, ships between vegetation and the site on resulting from the union of botany and geogra which it occurs. This helps to explain the phy. The work of botanists can be comprehen distribution of plant communities on the sive only if it includes a consideration of plants basis of the physical and chemical features in space, i. e. in different types of landscapes. At of the landscape. On the other hand, plant this point, the work of geographers becomes communities allow conclusions on the natu important through their development of maps re of the environment; as tools to determine and to analyze distribu 3. vegetation maps are valuable standards of tions in space. Our highly developed knowledge reference for observing and measuring of vegetation is matched by the refinement of changes in the vegetation, their direction cartographic techniques, and maps can now be and their speed, i. e. the rate of change. This is important because the character ofvegeta made that will show the extent and geographical distribution of vegetation anywhere on the sur tion is dynamic and is increasingly affected face of our planet with a remarkable degree of by man; accuracy. 4.

Vegetation Ecology is a comprehensive account of plantcommunities and their environments. Written by leading experts intheir field from four continents, this up-to-date, innovativetext: covers the composition, structure, ecology, diversity,distribution and dynamics of plant communities, with an emphasis onfunctional adaptations to the abiotic and biotic processesgoverning plant communities; reviews the modern developments in vegetation ecology in ahistorical perspective; presents a coherent view on vegetation ecology whileintegrating population ecology, dispersal biology, bioticinteractions, herbivory, interactions with soil organisms andecosystem ecology; and tackles applied aspects of vegetation ecology, notably naturemanagement, restoration ecology and global change studies. Aimed at advanced undergraduates, graduates and researchers inplant ecology, geography, forestry and nature conservation,Vegetation Ecology takes an integrated, multi-disciplinaryapproach and will be welcomed as an essential reference for plantecologists the world over.

Brings together plant ecophysiology, remote sensing and modelling of vegetation and landscape function for advanced students and researchers.

A marvelously illustrated look at the world’s diverse forests and their ecosystems The earth’s forests are havens of nature supporting a diversity of life. Shaped by climate and geography, these vast and dynamic wooded spaces offer unique ecosystems that shelter complex and interdependent webs of flora, fungi, and animals. The World Atlas of Trees and Forests offers a beautiful introduction to what forests are, how they work, how they grow, and how we map, assess, and conserve them. Provides the most wide-ranging coverage of the world’s forests availableTakes readers beneath the breathtaking variety of wooded canopies that span the globeProfiles a wealth of tree species, with enlightening and entertaining natural-history highlights along the wayFeatures stunning color photos, maps, and graphicsDraws on the latest cutting-edge research and technology, including satellite imagery