Field Techniques - Definitions Unit 1

Vegetation science

The interdisciplinary study of all aspects of vegetation, including plant ecology, biogeography, and floristics.

Ecology

The study of how organisms interact with each other and their environment

Biome

A biogeographical unit characterized by its climate and organisms

Plant community

Groups of plant species growing in the same area. Can have a different specific definition if you listen to Clements or Gleason.

Climax theory

The arrival of a stable state in the community after ecological succession.

Ecological succession

The process by which communities replace (succeed) each other over time

Anton Kerner von Marilaun

Austrian Botanist (1831-1898), described what is known as succession.

Johannes Warming

Danish botanist (1841-1924), coined the term plant community and taught the first plant ecology course.

Henry C. Cowles

American ecologist (1869-1939), established the formal study of ecology in the US, studied chronosequence of ecological succession, founding member of ESA

Frederic E. Clements

American Ecologist (1874-1945), created the climax theory of vegetation, coined “climax community” and “pioneer species,” and developed the quadrat method of sampling vegetation.

Henry A. Gleason

American Botanist (1882-1975), questioend the use of association, proposed an individualist concept of plant communities in opposition to Clements