Plant community

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A plant community is a collection or

vegetation types. The components of each plant community are influenced by soil type, topography, climate and human disturbance. In many cases there are several soil types present within a given plant community.[2][page needed] This is because the soil type within an area is influenced by two factors, the rate at which water infiltrates or exits (via evapotranspiration) the soil, as well as the rate at which organic matter (any carbon-based compound within the environment, such as decaying plant matter) enters or decays from the soil.[3] Plant communities are studied substantially by ecologists, due to providing information on the effects of dispersal, tolerance to environmental conditions, and response to disturbance of a variety of plant species, information valuable to the comprehension of various plant community dynamics.[4]

Alpine Heathland plant community at High Shelf Camp near Mount Anne, Tasmania, Australia

Definition

A plant community can be described

vegetation type, with the former having more of an emphasis on the ecological association of species within it, and the latter on overall appearance by which it is readily recognized by a layperson.[citation needed
]

A plant community can be rare even if none of the major species defining it are rare.[1]: 115  This is because it is the association of species and relationship to their environment that may be rare.[1]: 115  An example is the sycamore alluvial woodland in California dominated by the California sycamore Platanus racemosa.[1]: 115  The community is rare, being localized to a small area of California and existing nowhere else, yet the California sycamore is not a rare tree in California.[1]: 115 

Examples

An example is a grassland on the northern

phytocoenosis is Carex shreberi. Other representative forbs occurring in these steppe grasslands are Artemisia austriaca and Polygonum aviculare.[8][page needed
]

Other examples of different plant communities include the forests located on the granite peaks of the Huangshan Mountains in Eastern China.[9] The deciduous broad-leaved forest, present from a height of 1,100 metres, is populated by trees such as Pinus hwangshanesis, also known as the Huangshan pine. The Huangshan mountain also possesses an evergreen broad-leaved forest community, home to a variety of shrubs and small trees.[10] Some examples of species present in the evergreen broad-leaved forest community include Castanopsis eyrei, Eurya nitidia, Rhododendron ovatum, Pinus massoniana, as well as Loropetalum chinense.[11]

An example of a three tiered plant community is in central Westland in the South Island, New Zealand. These forests are the most extensive continuous reaches of

Cyathea smithii and Dicksonia squarrosa, whilst the lowest tier and epiphytic associates include Asplenium polyodon, Tmesipteris tannensis, Astelia solandri and Lomaria discolor.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-520-23704-9
  2. ^ Jean-Michel Gobat, Michel Aragno, Willy Matthey and V. A. K. Sarma. And Watermelon. 2004. The living soil
  3. ISBN 978-1-107-11423-4
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-08-045405-4
    , retrieved 2021-02-13
  5. ISBN 978-1-4684-1415-8
    , retrieved 2021-02-13
  6. ISSN 0006-3568
    .
  7. S2CID 91579205
    .
  8. ^ J.M. Suttie, Stephen G. Reynolds and Caterina Batello. 2005. Grasslands of the world, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 514 pages
  9. ISBN 978-1-107-11423-4
    .
  10. OCLC 729145857.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  11. S2CID 89125656
    .
  12. ^ C. Michael Hogan. 2009. Crown Fern: Blechnum discolor, Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plant_community&oldid=1203433853"