Classification and Ordination : Symposium on Advances in Vegetation Science, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, May 1979

Eddy V AN DER MAAREL This volume is the first of two volumes covering the Sym­ computer programmes for the rapid clustering and ordina­ posium 'Advances in vegetation science', which was held at tion of very large sets of reI eves and for (subsequent) table Nijmegen, The Netherlands, from 15-19 May 1979. This rearrangement (this volume as well as the book Data­ symposium was organized on behalf of the Working Group Processing in Phytosociology contain various new pro­ for Data-Processing of the International Society for Vege­ grams). What we do not have is a manual in which the tation Science. After this group held its final meeting two apparently successful methods are compared and applied years earlier it decided to continue its activities, but within a to some data-sets. H. Lieth, editor-in-chief of a new Junk wider scope. Most members of the Group felt that the series 'Tasks for vegetation science' already suggested to original aim, i. e. the introduction of data-processing and produce such a manual in this series. multivariate methods for use in the systematic description The present volume contains the texts of the lectures and of plant communities, was more or less fulfilled. The book most of the poster demonstrations of the first three sessions Data -Processing in Phytosociology, largely based on papers of the Symposium, dealing with classification and ordina­ in Vegetatio, edited by E. van der Maarel, L. Orloci & S. Front Matter....Pages I-IX The Development of Numerical Classification and Ordination....Pages 1-9 Searching for a Model for Use in Vegetation Analysis....Pages 11-21 An Algorithm for Predictive Ordination....Pages 23-25 Vegetation Analysis and Order Invariant Gradient Models....Pages 27-34 Evaluation of Ordination Methods Through Simulated Coenoclines: Some Comments....Pages 35-41 On the Interpretability of Ordination Diagrams....Pages 43-45 Detrended Correspondence Analysis: An Improved Ordination Technique....Pages 47-58 Non-Centred Component Analysis of Vegetation Data: A Comparison of Orthogonal and Oblique Rotation....Pages 59-66 Some Applications of Principal Components Analysis in Vegetation: Ecological Research of Aquatic Communities....Pages 67-73 On Selecting Indirect Ordination Methods....Pages 75-84 Information Efficiency and Regional Constellation of Environmental Variables....Pages 85-91 A Syntactic Basis of Classification....Pages 93-98 The Minimisation of Random Events in the Search for Group Structure....Pages 99-101 Rapid Initial Clustering of Large Data Sets....Pages 103-111 Hierarchical Levels in Syntaxonomy Based on Information Functions....Pages 113-115 Numerical Approaches to Lake Classification with Special Reference to Macrophyte Communities....Pages 117-128 Preliminary Survey of the Peat-Bog Hummell Knowe Moss Using Various Numerical Methods....Pages 129-148 Classification and Ordination in the Indian Peaks Area, Colorado Rocky Mountains....Pages 149-163 Multivariate Analysis of Multispectral Remote Sensing Data on Grasslands from Different Soil Types....Pages 165-170 Ordination as a Tool for Analyzing Complex Data Sets....Pages 171-174 Management and Multivariate Analysis of Large Data Sets in Vegetation Research....Pages 175-180 Reflections on the Phytosociological Approach and the Epistemological Basis of Vegetation Science....Pages 181-185 Back Matter....Pages 187-188 Symposium on Advances in Vegetation Science, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, May 1979