Data Analysis in Vegetation Ecology

About this book

Evolving from years of teaching experience by one of the top experts in vegetation ecology, Data Analysis in Vegetation Ecology aims to explain the background and basics of mathematical (mainly multivariate) analysis of vegetation data. The book lays out the basic operations involved in the analysis, the underlying hypotheses, aims and points of views. It conveys the message that each step in the calculations has a specific, straightforward meaning and that patterns and processes known by ecologists often find their counterpart in mathematical operations and functions.

The first chapters introduce the elementary concepts and operations and relate them to real-world phenomena and problems. Later chapters concentrate on combinations of methods to reveal surprising features in data sets. Showing how to find patterns in time series, how to generate simple dynamic models, how to reveal spatial patterns and related occurrence probability maps.

Contents

Preface
List of Figures
List of Tables

1 Introduction
2 Patterns in Vegetation Ecology
3 Transformation
4 Multivariate Comparison
5 Ordination
6 Classification
7 Joining Ecological Patterns
8 Static Explanatory Modelling
9 Assessing Vegetation Change in Time
10 Dynamic Modelling
11 Large Data Sets: Wetland Patterns
12 Swiss Forests: A Case Study

Appendix A On using software
A.1 Spreadsheets
A.2 Databases
A.3 Software for multivariate analysis

Appendix B Data Sets Used

References
Index

Customer Reviews