New similarity indices for the assignment of relevés to vegetation units of an existing phytosociological classification
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2005 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Plant Ecology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | http://www.sci.muni.cz/botany/juice.htm |
| Field | Botany |
| Keywords | Computerised matching; Constant species; Diagnostic species; Expert system; Fidelity; Similarity; Synoptic table; Vegetation classification. |
| Description | Every proposed vegetation classification is sooner or later confronted with an accumulation of new data, which has to be assigned to existing vegetation units. Indices similarity between new relevés (vegetation plots) and constancy columns of vegetation units is a suitable for assigning the relevés to these units. This paper compares several similarity indices using simulated data sets of which the relevés include in the species composition either randomly distributed or diagnostic species. Traditional indices, based only on species composition, and similarity indices, which include species fidelity, differ. However, both types of indices failed in some situations and thus are not reliable methods of additional relevé assignment. Therefore a combined Frequency-Positive Fidelity Index is proposed. This new index includes compositional similarity and retains the advantages and lacks the disadvantages of tested indices. Procedures for calculating of all these indices are available in the JUICE program (http://www.sci.muni.cz/botany/juice.htm). |
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