ECOGRAMS FOR PHYTOSOCIOLOGICAL TABLES BASED ON ELLENBERG

Abstract

Description of the method to obtain ecograms, which can be calculated from normal phytosociological tables, plotting average values of Ellenberg’s Zeigewerte on 6 axes corresponding to diagonals of a hexagon. The ecogram is the ecological fingerprint of the association. With adequate software the ecogram can be obtained automatically. It makes possible the immediate comparison among different communities. Ecograms give the synecological characterization of associations and can be used for detecting ecological gradients and the delimitation of higher syntaxa. A first example consisting of a selected group of 33 forest communities from Italy is discussed.