Fernando Gopar-Merino, Alejandro Velazquez, A. González-Pérez, Sara del Río, Jean-François Mas, Á. Penas
{"title":"A coupled cartographic approach between bioclimatology and vegetation formations of Mexico","authors":"Fernando Gopar-Merino, Alejandro Velazquez, A. González-Pérez, Sara del Río, Jean-François Mas, Á. Penas","doi":"10.3897/vcs.120442","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vcs.120442","url":null,"abstract":"Aims: The task of classifying and naming Mexican vegetation types has been undertaken by previous botanists, ecologists, and mapping agencies. However, discrepancies remain due to the lack of criteria and joint efforts from a geographical and botanical perspective. We aim to unravel the complex interactions between climate and vegetation in Mexico using climatic data and advanced mapping techniques, display in maps the transition from land cover to vegetation maps and couple geobotanical and bioclimatological approaches to provide a sound, unified system for identifying Mexican bioclimatic physiognomic patterns. Methods: Bioclimatic mapping was developed from the Digital Climatic Atlas of Mexico data source. In addition, land cover and vegetation data were obtained from the National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico regrouped as described by the Standardized Hierarchical Vegetation Classification. These data were analysed via standard map crossing technics using geographic information systems. Results and conclusions: The results revealed five ombrotypes and five thermotypes, leading to the identification of 13 different bioclimatic classes, which, when combined with physiognomic types, led us to recognize 11 forests, 3 shrublands and 3 herbaceous formations (at a scale of 1:4,000,000). The core outcome is a detailed bioclimatic/physiognomic vegetation map including forests, shrublands and areas dominated by Herbaceous/Non-Vascular formations. The map highlights the critical importance of harmonising methodologies to ensure comprehensive and accurate insights into Mexico’s bioclimatic diversity.\u0000 Taxonomic reference: Villaseñor et al. (2005).\u0000 Syntaxonomic reference: Velázquez et al. (2021).\u0000 Abbreviations: INEGI = Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía; SECLAVEMEX = Standardized Hierarchical Vegetation Classification; WBCS = Worldwide Bioclimatic Classification System.","PeriodicalId":481288,"journal":{"name":"Vegetation Classification and Survey","volume":"58 s208","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141682109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
D. Vynokurov, Alla Aleksanyan, Thomas Becker, I. Biurrun, Dariia Borovyk, G. Fayvush, I. García‐Mijangos, M. Magnes, Salza Palpurina, Ute Becker, A. Berastegi, B. Cykowska-Marzencka, I. Dembicz, D. Frank, A. Hilpold, P. Kirschner, Helmut Mayrhofer, Marine Oganesian, Iuliia Vasheniak, J. Dengler
{"title":"Dry grasslands and thorn-cushion communities of Armenia: a first syntaxonomic classification","authors":"D. Vynokurov, Alla Aleksanyan, Thomas Becker, I. Biurrun, Dariia Borovyk, G. Fayvush, I. García‐Mijangos, M. Magnes, Salza Palpurina, Ute Becker, A. Berastegi, B. Cykowska-Marzencka, I. Dembicz, D. Frank, A. Hilpold, P. Kirschner, Helmut Mayrhofer, Marine Oganesian, Iuliia Vasheniak, J. Dengler","doi":"10.3897/vcs.119253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3897/vcs.119253","url":null,"abstract":"Aim: To provide the first syntaxonomic, plot-based classification of the dry grasslands and thorn-cushion communities in Armenia. Study area: Armenia. Methods: We sampled 111 vegetation plots (10 m2) and recorded environmental and structural parameters. We collected additional 487 relevés from surrounding countries for a broad-scale comparison. We used modified TWINSPAN to derive a syntaxonomic classification system, whose units were then compared among each other regarding species composition, structure, site conditions and distribution. Results: The classification of Armenian vegetation plots resulted in a 12-cluster solution. Unsupervised classification of the broad-scale dataset yielded five main groups, which were used for the high-level syntaxonomic assignments of the Armenian data. We assigned about half of the plots of the Armenian dataset to the Festuco-Brometea, while the remaining represented a potential new class, preliminarily called “Ziziphora tenuior-Stipa arabica grasslands”. Most of the syntaxa below class level are new to science, therefore we provide formal descriptions of three orders (Plantagini atratae-Bromopsietalia variegatae, Onobrychido transcaucasicae-Stipetalia pulcherrimae, Cousinio brachypterae-Stipetalia arabicae), four alliances (Acantholimono caryophyllacei-Stipion holosericeae, Artemision fragrantis, Onobrychido michauxii-Stipion capillatae, Onobrychido transcaucasicae-Stipion pulcherrimae) and six associations. We found significant differences in the topographic, climatic and soil characteristics, and structural parameters, species life forms and distribution range types between the grassland types at different syntaxonomic levels. The mean species richness was 47.3 (vascular plants: 46.8, bryophytes: 0.4, lichens: 0.1). Conclusions: We found remarkable differences of the Armenian dry grasslands from the previously known units and described most of the higher syntaxa and all the associations as new to science. Our study provides arguments for a potential new class of Ziziphora tenuior-Stipa arabica grasslands separate both from the Euro-Siberian Festuco-Brometea and the Anatolian Astragalo-Brometea. Finally, we found plot scale richness of vascular plants clearly above the Palaearctic average of dry grasslands and that of non-vascular plants clearly below, which calls for further biodiversity analyses.\u0000 Taxonomic reference: Euro+Med (2023) for vascular plants, Hodgetts et al. (2020) for bryophytes, Nimis et al. (2018) for lichens except for Xanthoparmelia camtschadalis (Ach.) Hale.\u0000 Abbreviations: EDGG = Eurasian Dry Grassland Group; DCA = detrended correspondence analysis; ICPN = International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature (Theurillat et al. 2021); TWINSPAN = two-way indicator species analysis.","PeriodicalId":481288,"journal":{"name":"Vegetation Classification and Survey","volume":" 43","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140995884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}