Common data standards for recording relevés in field survey for vegetation classification

Abstract. In the framework of the European Vegetation Survey common data standards are proposed for recording phytosociological relevés for syntaxonomical classification. The authors wish to establish the notion that common data standards for recording phytosociological data can only be advantageous for advancing the credibility and application of vegetation science, and may stimulate other projects.     

Scrub communities along a climatic gradient in the southern Balkans: maquis,pseudomaquis and shibljak

The research deals with three scrub communities/formations in the southern Balkans, maquis, pseudomaquis and shibljak, and their changes along the main (macro)ecological gradient. We performed DCA analysis and, since the first axis correlates with climatic data, the projection of relevés on this axis was accepted as proxy for the (macro)ecological gradient, and the species turnover along this gradient was elaborated. Linear regression was used to test the turnover of life forms, chorotypes and the life strategy of species (syntaxonomical affiliation). It was found that life forms, except hemicryptophytes and nanophanerophytes, do not change significantly along the gradient change; most chorotypes change significantly; among species, life strategies (syntaxonomical affiliation), the proportion of species of deciduous and evergreen forests and scrub, as well as species of dry grassland, change significantly. The classification established three clusters, representing three formations and we tested differences among them. It was established that stenomediterranean and Eurasian species and species of perennial grasslands differentiate all three clusters and some groups only two of them. We found that discontinuous formations can be established along a continuous gradient. Communities were also classified within the present synsystematic system.     

On the terms in the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature

The most recent edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code) has superseded all previous editions. One of the notable changes in the Vienna Code is that it contains a glossary of nomenclatural terms defined and used in the Code. It has been made clear that the glossary of these terms is an integral part of the Code. This paper presents a Chinese translation of the definitions of the nomenclatural terms in the Code.     

International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature. 4th edition

The fourth edition of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature (ICPN) was prepared by the Steering Committee of the IAVS Working Group for Phytosociological Nomenclature (GPN). The edition consists of 14 Definitions, 7 Principles, 53 Articles, and 7 Appendices. When compared with the previous edition, the main amendments are: (a) the acceptance of electronic publications (Art. 1); (b) the introduction of binding decisions (Definition XIV, Principle II, Articles 1, 2b, 3c, 29b, 40, 42, 44, Appendices 6 and 7); (c) the mandatory use of the English or Latin terminology for syntaxonomic novelties (Definition II, Principle II, Articles 3d and 3i); (d) the introduction of autonyms for the main ranks when the corresponding secondary ranks are created (Articles 13b and 24); (e) the automatic correction of the taxon names (name-giving taxa) used in the names of syntaxa in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) (Article 44); (f) the possibility to mutate the name of a syntaxon in using other correct, alternative names for the name-giving taxa (Article 45); (g) the introduction of inadequate names, a new category of rejected names (Definition V, Articles 43 through 45); and (h) the introduction of a conserved type (Definition XIII, Article 53). The fourth edition of ICPN was approved by the GPN on 25 May 2019 and becomes effectively binding on 1 January 2021.     

High mountain psychro-xerophilous calcicolous pastures of the Iberian Peninsula:Minuartio-Poion ligulatae

A syntaxonomical review of theMinuartio-Poion ligulatae (Festuco hystricis-Ononidetea striatae) in the Iberian Peninsula, supported by numerical classification (complete linkage clustering) and ordination (correspondence analysis), is presented. Communities of psychro-xerophilous calcicolous plants occur in the high mountains and “parameras” of the south and central western Iberian Peninsula, areas which suffer from severe frosts. The data collected point to three large groups of communities: those of the chorological Carpetano-Ibérico-Leonesa Province; those of the Castellano-Maestrazgo-Manchega Province; and those of the Bética Province. Within the latter group, similarities and differences between the communities were analyzed and two new associations (Herniario boissieri-Festucetum hystricis andPimpinello gracilis-Festucetum nevadensis) were described. In addition, data clearly support the existence of a humidity-xericity gradient responsible for the distinction of the communities into different syntaxonomic units.     

Syntaxonomic analysis of theAndropogon-rich grasslands (Hyparrhenietalia hirtae) in the western Mediterranean region

Using the Braun-Blanquet approach, a syntaxonomical revision of the orderHyparrhenietalia hirtae in the western Mediterranean region was made. Various syntaxa were studied with relevés from the Iberian Peninsula, southern France, Sardinia, Sicily and adjacent islands, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and Morocco. One alliance (Hyparrhenion hirtae), 8 associations (one of them new:Lotononido lupinifoliae-Hyparrhenietum sinaicae) and several subassociations and variants were distinguished. A complete classification of theHyparrhenietalia hirtae in the studied area with ecological and biogeographical diagnoses is given.     

Typology and ecology of Californian serpentine annual grasslands

Abstract. A first classification for serpentine annual grasslands distributed throughout northern and central California is proposed. This study has followed the Braun‐Blanquet phyto‐sociological system based on floristical, biogeographical and bioclimatic features of the sampled areas. Numerical analyses of classification and ordination were applied to the floristic relevés. Minimum Variance Clustering grouped relevés into basic classification units that allowed us to define low‐hierarchical syntaxonomical units (associations) and ‘communities’. A Principal Coordinate Analysis was used to extract those ecological parameters related to the axes that separate those classification units from the previous dendrogram. The results showed that differences in species composition was mainly due to a continentality gradient and the shady effect of an overstory vegetation. On the basis of both analyses we propose a first syntaxonomic scheme on ultramafic (mainly serpentine) annual plant communities of the biogeographical Californian Region that comprises four associations, two subassociations and some provisional communities.     

Current knowledge and phytosociological data on the high-altitude vegetation in the Western Carpathians — a review

Presented survey summarizes the results of the studies published predominantly after 2000, dealing with the plant communities around and above the timberline in (montane) subalpine to alpine (subnival) belt of the Western Carpathians. All of these communities underwent a critical syntaxonomical and nomenclatorical revision, hence the demonstrated overview of high-mountain vegetation of Western Carpathians (mostly from Slovakia, less from Poland border areas) represent the current state of knowledge. The high-altitude vegetation database, which is the part of Slovak National Vegetation Database, SNVD (), incorporated 8,160 published relevés on 15 May 2007 (of the total of 30,469 published relevés in the SNVD). Concerning the unpublished relevés, the individual authors have provided more than 18,400 of them to be stored in SNVD; 2,301 of all unpublished relevés could be assigned to high-altitude vegetation. Mountain and alpine vegetation is in SNVD presented by 15 classes; the most frequent class is Mulgedio-Aconitetea. With its quantity and also the quality of relevés, the high-altitude database, as well as the whole SNVD, represents the unique database within Slovakia, which provides information not only about the locality, floristic composition and variability of individual vegetation types, but also about several environmental variables such as inclination, aspect, geology or soil type, characteristic for individual relevés. Together with other Central European databases, SNVD takes up the leading position in Europe.     

Major plant communities of North America's most arid region: The San Felipe Desert,Baja California,México

Abstract

This vegetation study describes the landscape of the San Felipe Desert (Baja California, México) based on the phytosociological analysis of its major plant associations, as determined by the Braun-Blanquet method and supported by cluster analysis. Four geomorphological or phytotopographical units were identified in the landscape of the San Felipe Desert (salt marshes, playas or sandy flats, bajadas or alluvial fans, and malpaíses or badlands), each characterized by its own plant communities. Two communities and eleven associations were identified, four of which are described and typified for the first time: Atriplici linearis-Frankenietum palmeri, Parkinsonio microphyllae-Olneyetum tesotae, Errazurizio megacarpae-Ephedretum trifurcae and Pachycereo schottii-Prosopidetum torreyanae. Ecological, phytogeographical, bioclimatic, syntaxonomical and floristic data are provided for each of these new associations.     

新版国际植物命名法规(维也纳法规)中的主要变化

出版于2006年9月的最新版的《国际植物命名法规》,即维也纳法规（Vienna Code）,取代了圣路易斯法规（Saint Louis Code）而成为管理植物学（包括藻类学和真菌学）科学命名的唯一有效法规。本文报道了维也纳法规和圣路易斯法规之间的主要区别。这些区别包括两版法规在起始日期、有效发表、合格发表、化石植物、多型真菌、拼写和附录诸方面的不同。     

Main changes in the new edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature——the “Vienna Code”

The rules that govern scientific naming in botany (including phycology and mycology) are revised at Nomenclature Section meetings at successive International Botanical Congresses. The most recent edition of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (Vienna Code) embodies the decisions of the XVII International Botanical Congress held in Vienna in 2005 and supersedes the Saint Louis Code. This paper presents an account of the main differences between the two Codes, including those related with starting points, effective publication, valid publication, fossil plants, pleomorphic fungi, orthography, and the Appendices.     

Syntaxonomical analysis of beech woods in the Apennines (Italy) using the program package IAHOPA

IAHOPA, an overlay program package performing intersection analysis and information analysis has been applied to a large data set of relevés of beech woods in the Apennines (Italy) completed by several authors following the Braun Blanquet approach. The results have been treated by several numerical methods testing classification efficiency and predictivity. Ecological indicator values have been used to test for predictivity. The classification proposed by Gentile has been confirmed in its main lines. However 2 new associations (Polysticho-Fagetum and Digitali-Fagetum) and 12 new subassociations are described. Furthermore the Veronico-Fagetum Montacchini 1972 has been recognized also for the Apennines. The clusters corresponding to the association level could be classified in two main alliances: Geranio nodosi-Fagion and Geranio striati-Fagion as suggested by Gentile, however their syntaxonomical justification should be based on numerical comparisons of the data from the entire area of European beech woods.     

The first valid publication of the Linnaean Mnium triquetrum (Musci) and other new names for mosses proposed by N. Jolyclerc

A brief biographical sketch of Nicolas-Marie-Thérèse Jolyclerc (1746–1817), the French naturalist and adherent of C. Linnaeus, is presented. The publication history of his Système sexuel des végétaux, the first French version of the Linnaean sexual system of the plants is outlined. Apart from the well-known editions of this work of 1797, 1798 and 1810, a neglected edition of 1803 is described, and it is shown that this is not a pirated edition as has been suggested. A list of fourteen new combinations in mosses proposed by N. Jolyclerc in the 1803 edition of Système sexuel des végétaux is presented and some names are briefly annotated. Additionally, it is shown that Mnium triquetrum, basionym of the well-known moss species Meesia triquetra, was validly published for the first time by N. Jolyclerc in 1803, not by H. E. Richter in 1839 as is commonly accepted. Accordingly, the correct author citation for Meesia triquetra should be ‘(L. ex Jolycl.) Ångstr.’, not ‘(L. ex Richt.) Ångstr.’ The lectotype of Mnium triquetrum L. ex Jolycl. is selected from the Linnaean herbarium (LINN).     

Introduction to General and Generalized Linear Models by MADSEN,H. and TYREGOD,P.

Introduction to General and Generalized Linear Models (H. Madsen and P. Tyregod) Clarice Demétrio Sample Sizes for Clinical Trials (S. A. Julious) Janet Wittes Learning and Inference in Computational Systems Biology. (N. D. Lawrence, M. Girolami, M. Rattray and G. Sanguinetti) Ernst Wit Brief Reports by the Editor Applied Probability, 2nd edition. (K. Lange) Regression Estimators: A Comparative Study, 2nd edition. (M. H. J. Gruber) Common Statistical Methods for Clinical Research with SAS Examples, 3rd edition. (G. A. Walker and J. Shostak)     

Zoological nomenclature in the century of extinctions: priority vs. ‘usage’

Our epoch is a crucial one for scientific knowledge of the organisms that live on our planet. The combination of the biodiversity crisis and the taxonomic gap results in taxonomic urgency. In this context, great attention should be paid to the nomenclatural rules helping taxonomists in their urgent task, rather than diverting their time and energy to secondary questions or debates. In zoology, the new criterion of ‘prevailing usage’, introduced in the 1999 edition of the Code of nomenclature to ‘protect’ some nomina, raises four kinds of problems: (1) it weakens the binding value and strength of the Code, thus indirectly bringing support to the development of alternative nomenclatural systems; (2) it encourages personal debates among taxonomists, giving undue importance to the ‘argument of authority’ in nomenclatural decisions; (3) it sends a wrong message to non-taxonomists as regards completion of the taxonomic work; (4) it acts as a threat against natural history museums, in devaluing onomatophores (type specimens), the conservation of which is one of their major ‘visible’ functions. In conclusion, it is suggested that ‘protection’ of some nomina ‘threatened’ by rules of the Code should be limited strictly to nomina well-known outside the small world of systematics. This would require new rules for the Code to clearly define categories of usage on the basis of objective criteria.     

Der Apophytisierungsprozess und die Apophytengesellschaften derGalio-Urticetea mit einigen Beispielen aus der südwestlichen Umgebung von Praha

The author analyses the process of apophytisation in the perennial nitrophilous species of the classGalio-Urticetea. By means of the deductive method, the syntaxonomical position of communities with the same dominant or subdominant species is evaluated in a sequence from autochthonous (natural) through natural-like to purely anthropogenic (allochthonous) phytocenoses.