Vegetation classification

Classification schemes

Following, some important classification schemes.

Köppen (1884)

Although this scheme is in fact of a climate classification, it has a deep relationship with vegetation studies:

Class A
Class B
- Desert (BWh, BWk)
- Semi-arid (BSh, BSk)
Class C
Class D
- Humid continental (Dfa, Dwa, Dfb, Dwb, Dsa, Dsb)
- Subarctic (Dfc, Dwc, Dfd, Dwd, Dsc, Dsd)
Class E
- Tundra (ET)
- Ice cap (EF)
- Alpine (ET, EF)

Wagner & von Sydow (1888)

Wagner & von Sydow (1888) scheme: Vegetationsgürtel (vegetation belts):

Tundren (tundra)
Hochgebirgsflora (mountain flora)
Vegetationsarme Gebiete (Wüsten) (vegetation poor areas [deserts])
der gemässigten zone (the temperate zone)
- Grasland (prairie)
- Vorherrschend Nadelwald (mainly coniferous forest)
- Wald (Laub und Nadelwald) und Kulturland (forest [deciduous and coniferous forest] and cultivated land)
in tropischen und subtropischen Gebieten (in tropical and subtropical areas)
- Grasland (prairie)
- Wald und Kulturland (forest and cultivated land)
- Urwald (jungle)

Warming (1895, 1909)

Warming (1895, 1909) oecological classes:

A. The soil (in the widest sense) is very wet, and the abundant water is available to the plant (at least in Class 1), the formations are therefore more or less hydrophilous:
- Class 1. Hydrophytes (of formations in water).
- Class 2. Helophytes (of formations in marsh).
B. The soil is physiologically dry, i. e. contains water which is available to the plant only to a slight extent; the formations are therefore essentially composed of xerophilous species:
- Class 3. Oxylophytes (of formations on sour (acid) soil).
- Class 4. Psychrophytes (of formations on cold soil).
- Class 5. Halophytes (of formations on saline soil).
C. The soil is physically dry, and its slight power of retaining water determines the vegetation, the climate being of secondary import; the formations are therefore likewise xerophilous:
- Class 6. Lithophytes (of formations on rocks).
- Class 7. Psammophytes (of formations on sand and gravel).
- Class 8. Chersophytes (of formations on waste land).
D. The climate is very dry and decides the character of the vegetation; the properties of the soil are dominated by climate; the formations are also xerophilous:
- Class 9. Eremophytes (of formations on desert and steppe).
- Class 10. Psilophytes (of formations on savannah).
- Class 11. Sclerophyllous formations (bush and forest).
E. The soil is physically or physically dry:
- Class 12. Coniferous formations (forest).
F. Soil and climate favour the development of mesophilous formations:
- Class 13. Mesophytes.

Warming's types of formations:

1. Microphyte-formation
2. Moss-formation
3. Herb-formation
4. Dwarf-shrub formations and undershrub-formations
5. Bush-wood or shrub-wood
6. Forest
- High forest
- Underwood
- Forest-floor vegetation
Other
- Simple formations
- Compound formations
- Mixed formations
- Secondary formations
- Sub-formations

Schimper (1898, 1903)

Schimper (1898, 1903) climatic chief formation types:

Woodland, forest, bushwood, shrubwood
Grassland, meadow (hygrophilous or tropophilous), steppe (xerophilous), savannah (xerophilous grassland containing isolated trees)
Desert (dry or cold)

Schimper formation types across the zones and regions

Tropical zone formations
- Climatic formations
  - Tropical districts constantly moist
    - Rain-forest
  - Tropical districts with pronounced dry seasons
    - Woodland formations (monsoon-forest, savannah-forest, thorn-forest)
    - Grassland formations
  - Tropical deserts
- Edaphic formations
  - In Tropical Inland Country
  - In Tropical Sea-shore
Temperate zone formations
- Climatic formations
  - Warm temperate belts
    - Subtropical districts
    - Constantly moist districts (without a dry season)
    - Moist summer districts
    - Moist winter districts
  - Cold temperate belts
  - Temperate deserts
- Edaphic formations
  - Littoral Formations
  - Heath
  - Moors
Arctic zone formations
- Tundra, moss-tundra, lichen-tundra, moors, oases
Mountain climate formations (basal region, montane region, alpine region)
- In the tropics
- In the temperate zones
Aquatic vegetation
- Marine vegetation
- Freshwater vegetation

Schimper & Faber (1935)

Formation-types:

1. Tropical rainforest
2. Subtropical rainforest
3. Monsoon forest
4. Temperate rainforest
5. Summer-green deciduous forest
6. Needle-leaf forest
7. Evergreen hardwood forest
8. Savanna woodland
9. Thorn forest and scrub
10. Savanna
11. Steppe and semidesert
12. Heath
13. Dry desert
14. Tundra and cold woodland
15. Cold desert

Walter & Lieth (1960–1967)

The eponymously named Heinrich Walter classification scheme considers the seasonality of temperature and precipitation. The system, also assessing precipitation and temperature, finds nine major global vegetation types or biomes. The boundaries of each biome correlate to the conditions of moisture and cold stress that are strong determinants of plant form, and therefore the vegetation that defines the region. Extreme conditions, such as flooding in a swamp, can create different kinds of communities within the same biome.

Ellenberg & Mueller-Dombois (1967)

Ellenberg and Mueller-Dombois (1967) scheme:

Formation-class I. Closed forests
Formation-class II. Woodlands
Formation-class III. Fourrés (shrublands or thickets)
Formation-class IV. Dwarf-scrub and related communities
Formation-class V. Terrestrial herbaceous communities
Formation-class VI. Deserts and other scarcely vegetated areas
Formation-class VII. Aquatic plant formations

Oliveira-Filho (2009, 2015)

A vegetation classification with six main criteria ("hierarchical attributes", with exemplified categories applicable mainly to Neotropical region):

A. Basic vegetation physiognomies
- 1. Forest physiognomies
- 2. Shrubland physiognomies
- 3. Savanna physiognomies
- 4. Grassland physiognomies
- 5. Man-made physiognomies
B. Climatic regime
- Maritime
- Semi-arid
- Seasonal
- Rain
- Cloud
C. Leaf flush regime
- Evergreen
- Semideciduous
- Deciduous
- Alternate
- Ephemeral
D. Thermal realm
- Tropical
- Subtropical, etc.
E. Elevation range
- Coastal
- Lower plains
- Upper plains
- Lower highlands
- Upper highlands
- Montane
F. Substrate
- Shallow soils
- Deep soils
- Soily
- Sandy
- Gravelly
- Rocky
- Dystrophic
- Mesotrophic
- Eutrophic
- Ridge
- Slope
- Thalweg
- Riverine
- Floodplain
- Marshy
- Swampy

Other

Other important schemes: Grisebach (1872), Tansley and Chipp (1926), Rübel (1930), Burtt Davy (1938), Beard (1944, 1955), André Aubréville (1956, 1957), Trochain (1955, 1957), Dansereau (1958), Küchler (1967), Webb and Tracey (1975).

In the sixties, A. W. Kuchler coordinated an extensive review of vegetation maps from all the continents, compiling the terminology used for the types of vegetation.

The Braun-Blanquet method focuses on the composition of plant species within a community. It examines which species grow together, looking at patterns and differences in species groups across different areas. This method uses data collected from specific plots to compare the plant communities and understand how these patterns are influenced by environmental factors.