Average Seasonal Phytomass: A Temporally Independent Index of Herbaceous Plant Dominance

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Vegetatio

Publication Date

1984

Volume

57

Issue

2/3

Abstract

Diversity, similarity and dominance in plant communities are usually assessed from data collected at a single date. Herbaceous species have differing periods of growth, making phytomass or cover-weighted indices of diversity, similarity or dominance highly dependent on the timing of data collection. A new way of mathematically expressing residence time is presented. Average seasonal phytomass values can be used to better express dominance throughout a growing season. A similar approach could be used for cover or any other dynamic property of plant growth. These values could then be used in dominance-weighted indices of community similarity and diversity.

Comments

Originally published by Springer. Publisher's PDF available through remote link via JSTOR.

First Page

137

Last Page

141

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