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BEN # 228
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No. 228 July 31, 1999
aceska@victoria.tc.ca Victoria, B.C.
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Dr. A. Ceska, P.O.Box 8546, Victoria, B.C. Canada V8W 3S2
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REJMANEK'S PROPOSAL TO SIMPLIFY PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE
From: Adolf Ceska <aceska@victoria.tc.ca>
The Code of phytosociological nomenclature (Barkman et al.
1986), Article 10, presents the rules for forming names of
associations and other syntaxa (alliances, orders and classes):
"The name of an association of a syntaxon of higher rank is
formed from the validly published scientific name(s) of one or
two of the plant species or infraspecific taxa mentioned in the
original diagnosis. This proceeds in such a way that a definite
termination indicating the rank is added to the stem of the
generic name ...
When such a syntaxon is named after two plant taxa then, if they
belong to different genera, the termination which indicates the
rank is appended to the stem only; a connecting vowel is ap-
pended to the stem of the first generic name (the connecting
vowel may be missing; see Appendix). When epithets occur, they
must be in the genitive, if they are declinable."
Don't despair! If you cannot understand the English version of
the Code, read the German version: it is considered to be the
"decisive" one.
After you sort out all the genitives and connecting vowels (the
Appendix to the Code is a great help, but you will still need a
good knowledge of Latin and some Greek), you may come up with
names similar to those used by Peinado et al. [see BEN # 213]:
Ledo decumbentis-Piceion marianae
Piceetum glauco-marianae
Larici laricinae-Piceetum marianae
Rubo chamaemori-Piceetum marianae
Boschniakio rossicae-Alnetum crispae
When I showed one European system of community classification to
my able assistant, she immediately noticed "Poo compressae-
Tussilaginetum", and I could not convince her that "Poo" refers
to Poa. She insisted on its more vernacular meaning.
My friend Prof. Marcel Rejmanek teaches plant ecology at the
University of California in Davis, and for several years has
been trying to explain the rules of naming plant associations as
described in the Code. Year after year, his explanations of
connecting vowels and genitives of nouns and declinable adjec-
tives fell on deaf ears.
In his article Rejmanek (1997) wrote: "Two or three generations
back, it was correct to assume that all people in academia had a
reasonable background in, and passion for, Latin. This is no
more a valid assumption. ... in this case strict adherence to a
complicated Latin nomenclature detracts from the otherwise
extremely useful procedures of the Zurich-Montpellier School. It
makes for a sort of priesthood which does not encourage its
adoption beyond the circle of chosen people. This is why vegeta-
tion scientists in many countries are inventing independent,
endemic approaches, often ignoring the Zurich-Montpellier School
entirely."
How can we simplify phytosociological nomenclature? Rejmanek
(1997) proposes using one or two plain Latin plant names (con-
nected by a dash) and an abbreviation to indicate the rank of a
syntaxon. In order to facilitate meaningful alphabetic ordering
of syntaxa, the name of a dominant species should be the first
one.
The example of system by Peinado et al. in this transcription
would become:
AL: Picea mariana - Ledum decumbens
A: Picea glauca - Picea mariana
A: Picea mariana - Larix laricina
A: Picea mariana - Rubus chamaemorus
A: Alnus crispa - Boschniakia rossica
This form of naming plant associations and other syntaxa has
been actually used in older papers of Zurich-Montpelier School.
The Code considers them as "orthographic variants" and considers
them validly published, but only if they were published before
January 1, 1979. According to the Code, they have to be cor-
rected to the regular (i.e., more complicated) form.
Rejmanek gave several examples where authors opted for a simple
combination of Latin names of plant species for plant associa-
tions and higher syntaxa. He cited Klinka et al. (1996) [see BEN
# 151] as the best example of this approach. A simple change of
the Code would greatly simplify phytosociological nomenclature
and I would not have to argue with Samantha over "Poo" any more.
That example would become
A: Tussilago farfara - Poa compressa
References:
Barkman, J.J., J. Moravec & S. Rauschert. 1986. Code of
phytosociological nomenclature. 2nd edition. Vegetatio 67:
145-195.
Klinka, K., H. Qian, J. Pojar & D.V. Meidinger. 1996. Class-
ification of natural forest communities of coastal British
Columbia. Vegetatio 125: 149-168.
Rejmanek, M. 1997. Towards simplification of phytosociological
nomenclature. Folia Geobot. Phytotax. 32: 419-420.
P.S. I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR YOUR COMMENTS on the Code and on
Marcel Rejmanek's proposal. - Adolf Ceska
ENLICHENMENT WORKSHOP III: CLADONIA AND CLADINA
From: Patrick Williston <patrickw@interchange.ubc.ca>
Date: Sept 24-26 1999
Location: Edgewood Blue, Clearwater, British Columbia, Canada
Instructor: Trevor Goward
Cost: $60 CDN
Maximum enrollment: 13
This is the third in a series of workshops in which Trevor
Goward shares his knowledge of lichens. The workshops include
lectures, laboratory study, and field work, and are intended to
provide participants with a basic working knowledge of lichen
taxonomy, ecology, and indicator value. They are held twice
yearly in the Upper Clearwater Valley, near beautiful Wells Gray
Provincial Park.
Participants are encouraged to bring warm clothing, rain gear,
sturdy footwear, a handlens, personal lichen collections, and a
copy of Trevor's latest book "The Lichens of British Columbia:
Illustrated Keys. Part II -- Fruticose Species" - available
after early September from Crown Publications:
http://www.crownpub.bc.ca . Lodges, hotels, B&B's, and camping
facilities are available.
For information about how to register, contact:
Patrick Williston
patrickw@interchange.ubc.ca
H: (604)-737-9889
W: UBC Herbarium (604)-822-3344
MUTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL DATA - TWO COURSES
From: Jan (Suspa) Leps <suspa@tix.bf.jcu.cz>
Introductory and advanced courses
January 2000, Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
We are offering two one-week-long intensive courses for students
and researchers interested in use of ordination methods in
ecological research. On both courses, there is sufficient time
for theory and practice, using the CANOCO for Windows version
4.0 package. Check the following URL for more details:
http://regent.bf.jcu.cz/course.htm
Petr Smilauer
Faculty of Biological Sciences
Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic
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