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.
The new edition of the ICPN will become effectively binding on 1 January 2021. It consists of 14 Definitions, 7 Principles, 53 Articles, and 7 Appendices. Some Articles bring important amendments, among which the acceptance of electronic publications or the possibility to request a binding decision on controversial cases.
The destruction of soil and vegetation caused by mining, if not prevented through careful planning, is usually extreme, as the original ecosystems have been grossly disturbed or buried in the mining ...process. A radical reconstruction is therefore necessary. In nature, this happens through the well-known processes of primary succession, without human intervention. In the interests of the economy and the preservation of our natural resources, reclamation should try to involve the same processes. When planning reclamation, it is crucial to clearly define goals, objectives and success criteria to allow for systematic reclamation. The need for methods to assess the effectiveness in achieving environmental and social goals is increasing, especially if agricultural land is to be restored. Over time, reclamation goals may need to be modified depending on the direction of the reclamation succession. The reclamation of mined areas requires the application of monitoring tools to understand the achievement of potential success. This problem can be solved by studying the biodiversity of plant communities and soil factors of mining areas as habitats in industrialized post-mining landscapes. Thus, the reclamation of territories disturbed by industrial activities is planned with the need to correct the trajectory of the restoration process, so it requires indicators that can be used to monitor the success of the planned process. The article tests the following hypotheses: 1) the dynamics of the reclamation process can be monitored using the indices of naturalness and hemeroby; 2) at the initial stages of reclamation, the hemeroby index has an advantage due to its greater sensitivity in this range of anthropogenic transformation levels. The plant community formed as a result of spontaneous growth of the reclamation sites was represented by 70 species of vascular plants. The projective vegetation cover was 22.0 ± 0.30%. In one test plot, 8.4 ± 0.1 plant species were found. The analysis of the synoptic phytosociological table revealed that the vegetation cover of the reclamation site was represented by nine associations from the vegetation classes Artemisietea vulgaris and Stellarietea mediae. The hemeroby of the communities averaged 85.0 ± 0.22. The lowest level of hemeroby was found within the Cirsio-Lactucetum serriolae association. The average level of hemeroby was found for the associations Medicagini lupulinae-Agropyretum repentis, Ambrosio artemisiifoliae-Cirsietum setosi and Carduo acanthoidis-Onopordetum acanthi. The highest level of hemeroby was found for the associations Agropyretum repentis and Convolvulo arvensis-Agropyretum repentis. The highest level of hemeroby was observed in those plant communities formed on lithozems on the red-brown clays, and the lowest formed on the pedozems. A negative correlation was found between hemeroby and naturalness for all lithozems. No statistically significant correlation was found for pedozems. For the classification of associations, environmental factors such as salt content in the soil solution, nitrogen content, ombroclimate, light regime, and naturalness are of greatest importance. The traditional application of the hemeroby scale is to assess the level of anthropogenic transformation of an ecosystem, i.e. to quantify how far the ecosystem has deviated from its natural state. In our study, we use the hemeroby index to observe how the plant community returns to its natural state, which can be considered as a marker of the effectiveness of the reclamation process. This approach allows us to contrast the indicators of naturalness and hemeroby, which are formally symmetrical: the higher the hemeroby, the lower the naturalness should be. In a wide range of levels of anthropogenic pressure, this pattern is certainly true. The peculiarity of the naturalness index is that it is more sensitive in the range of anthropogenic transformation that occurs at the initial stages of deviation of the natural community from the natural state at low levels of anthropogenic impact. In turn, the hemeroby index is more sensitive to changes in the community under conditions of a high level of anthropogenic transformation.
Aims
Vegetation classification consistent with the Braun‐Blanquet approach is widely used in Europe for applied vegetation science, conservation planning and land management. During the long history ...of syntaxonomy, many concepts and names of vegetation units have been proposed, but there has been no single classification system integrating these units. Here we (1) present a comprehensive, hierarchical, syntaxonomic system of alliances, orders and classes of Braun‐Blanquet syntaxonomy for vascular plant, bryophyte and lichen, and algal communities of Europe; (2) briefly characterize in ecological and geographic terms accepted syntaxonomic concepts; (3) link available synonyms to these accepted concepts; and (4) provide a list of diagnostic species for all classes.
Location
European mainland, Greenland, Arctic archipelagos (including Iceland, Svalbard, Novaya Zemlya), Canary Islands, Madeira, Azores, Caucasus, Cyprus.
Methods
We evaluated approximately 10 000 bibliographic sources to create a comprehensive list of previously proposed syntaxonomic units. These units were evaluated by experts for their floristic and ecological distinctness, clarity of geographic distribution and compliance with the nomenclature code. Accepted units were compiled into three systems of classes, orders and alliances (EuroVegChecklist, EVC) for communities dominated by vascular plants (EVC1), bryophytes and lichens (EVC2) and algae (EVC3).
Results
EVC1 includes 109 classes, 300 orders and 1108 alliances; EVC2 includes 27 classes, 53 orders and 137 alliances, and EVC3 includes 13 classes, 24 orders and 53 alliances. In total 13 448 taxa were assigned as indicator species to classes of EVC1, 2087 to classes of EVC2 and 368 to classes of EVC3. Accepted syntaxonomic concepts are summarized in a series of appendices, and detailed information on each is accessible through the software tool EuroVegBrowser.
Conclusions
This paper features the first comprehensive and critical account of European syntaxa and synthesizes more than 100 yr of classification effort by European phytosociologists. It aims to document and stabilize the concepts and nomenclature of syntaxa for practical uses, such as calibration of habitat classification used by the European Union, standardization of terminology for environmental assessment, management and conservation of nature areas, landscape planning and education. The presented classification systems provide a baseline for future development and revision of European syntaxonomy.
This is the first comprehensive and critical account of the hierarchical syntaxonomic system of communities of vascular plants, bryophytes, lichens, and algae in Europe, synthesizing more than 100 years of research in classification of vegetation. It aims at documenting standardization of concepts and terminology of syntaxa and informing calibration of habitat classifications for environmental assessment, nature management, conservation, landscape planning, and education.
The Romuleion , the only alliance of the order Poetalia bulbosae (class Poetea bulbosae ) found on the Balkan Peninsula, represents Mediterranean perennial and ephemeral pastures. It has been found ...in several Balkan countries, from Greece to the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Croatia and Bulgaria. However, a revision of its nomenclature according to the fourth edition of the International Code of Phytosociological Nomenclature shows that the name of the alliance was not validly published. In this paper we therefore describe the new alliance Romuleion graecae , together with the new association Plantagini lagopodis - Poetum bulbosae .
This study provides a first step toward the knowledge of the alien-dominated and co-dominated plant communities present in Italy. The first ever checklist of the alien phytocoenoses described or ...reported in literature for the Italian territory has been compiled, produced by data-mining in national and local thematic literature. The resulting vegetation-type draft-list has been checked in the light of the most recent syntaxonomic documentation and updated with regards to syntaxonomy and nomenclature, with special reference to the frame proposed in the Italian Vegetation Prodrome. The list includes 27 vascular and one bryophyte vegetation classes, hosting 194 low rank alien-dominated
syntaxa
. The different vegetation types detected for each syntaxonomic class and macro-vegetation group, defined by physiognomical and ecological attributes, are discussed.
The syntaxonomic analysis of pine forests with
Acer negundo
occurring on fluvio-glacial sandy deposits of Altai Krai (South-East Siberia) was made based on 93 releves. It was established that
Acer ...negundo
takes a different phytocenotic part in 2 associations, 2 variants, and 6 no-ranked communities of 4 classes and 4 orders according to the Braun-Blanquet approach. The method of detrended correspondence analysis (DCA coordination) implemented in the DECORANA software package was used to confirm the ecological and floristic integrity of the identified vegetation units. New data on the spatial syntaxa distributions depend on the complex humidity gradient, soil fertility, and anthropogenic factors.
Acer negundo
is most abundant and common in the communities of the Brachypodio-Betuletea pendulae class, which are characterized by habitats with moderate moistening and greater soil fertility. In the spatial series considered, according to the soil fertility and humidity gradients, we observe an increase in
Acer negundo
in the Vicia sylvatica - Pinus sylvestris community and an increase in the activity of mesophytes and mesohygrophytes that are more demanding to soil fertility.
PDF
