Recognition and proposal on the vegetation classification system of China

Abstract

An encyclopedia of Chinese vegetation is going to be compiled as a series of books, and comments are sought to revise the "Vegetation Classification System of China"(VCSC).These require several key decisions. First,the principle of VCSC proposed by Vegetation of China (1980) that "the higher rank of classification unit would be based on the physiognomy of vegetation, while the middle and lower rank emphasized on species composition and community structure" should be maintained because it is corresponding with the current trends of international vegetation classifications. Second, VCSC should classify Chinese vegetation to be compatible with global vegetation classification, so that the terms and concepts will be widely accepted internationally.Third,"Associa-tion", a fundamental classification unit described by the series of books of Chinese vegetation, should be defined and used consistently,so that misunderstandings between northern and southern associations can be avoided. Fourth, the hierarchy in the classification of vegetation generally should be rigid, but different ranks remain open and flexible, i.e.,upper-level units can be supplemented to meet future needs. A draft of the VCSC (from class to vegetation type) is proposed in this paper.