Editing Ecological classification

'''Ecological classification''' or '''ecological typology''' is the classification of land or water into geographical units that represent variation in one or more [[ecology|ecological]] features. Traditional approaches focus on [[geology]], [[topography]], [[biogeography]], [[soil]]s, [[vegetation]], [[climate]] conditions, living species, [[habitat]]s, water resources, and sometimes also [[wikt:anthropic|anthropic]] factors.<ref name="IUCN GET 2.0">{{cite book |editor1-last=Keith |editor1-first=D.A. |editor2-last=Ferrer-Paris |editor2-first=J.R. |editor3-last=Nicholson |editor3-first=E. |editor4-last=Kingsford |editor4-first=R.T. |title=The IUCN Global Ecosystem Typology 2.0: Descriptive profiles for biomes and ecosystem functional groups |year=2020 |location=Gland, Switzerland |publisher=IUCN | doi=10.2305/IUCN.CH.2020.13.en | isbn= 978-2-8317-2077-7|s2cid=241360441 }}</ref> Most approaches pursue the cartographical delineation or [[regionalisation]] of distinct areas for mapping and planning.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kellogg|first=Charles|title=A Method for the Classification of Rural Lands for Assessment in Western North Dakota|journal=The Journal of Land & Public Utility Economics|date=February 1933|volume=9|issue=1|page=12|doi=10.2307/3138756|jstor=3138756}}</ref>

== Approaches to classifications==
Different approaches to ecological classifications have been developed in terrestrial, freshwater and marine disciplines. Traditionally these approaches have focused on biotic components ([[vegetation classification]]), abiotic components ([[Biophysical environment|environment]]al approaches) or implied ecological and [[evolution]]ary processes ([[Biogeography|biogeographical]] approaches). ''Ecosystem classifications'' are specific kinds of ecological classifications that consider all four elements of the definition of [[ecosystems]]: a [[biotic component]], an [[abiotic]] complex, the interactions between and within them, and the physical space they occupy ([[ecotope]]).<ref name="IUCN GET 2.0"/>

===Vegetation classification===
[[Vegetation]] is often used to classify terrestrial ecological units. Vegetation classification can be based on [[vegetation structure]] and [[flora|floristic composition]]. Classifications based entirely on vegetation structure overlap with [[land cover]] mapping categories.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Lex Comber|year=2005|url=https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/4655/1/13a.%20what_is_land_cover_Comber_Fisher_Wadsworth_EPB.pdf|title=What Is Land Cover?|journal=Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design|issue=32|pages=199–209|display-authors=etal|access-date=2020-12-16|archive-date=2018-11-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181103072506/https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/4655/1/13a.%20what_is_land_cover_Comber_Fisher_Wadsworth_EPB.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[List of national vegetation classification systems|Many schemes of vegetation classification]] are in use by the land, resource and environmental management agencies of different national and state jurisdictions. The International Vegetation Classification (IVC or EcoVeg) has been recently proposed but has not been yet widely adopted.<ref name="Faber-LangendoenKeeler-Wolf2014">{{cite journal|last1=Faber-Langendoen|first1=Don|last2=Keeler-Wolf|first2=Todd|last3=Meidinger|first3=Del|last4=Tart|first4=Dave|last5=Hoagland|first5=Bruce|last6=Josse|first6=Carmen|last7=Navarro|first7=Gonzalo|last8=Ponomarenko|first8=Serguei|last9=Saucier|first9=Jean-Pierre|last10=Weakley|first10=Alan|last11=Comer|first11=Patrick|title=EcoVeg: a new approach to vegetation description and classification|journal=Ecological Monographs|volume=84|issue=4|year=2014|pages=533–561|issn=0012-9615|doi=10.1890/13-2334.1|url=https://cdr.lib.unc.edu/downloads/wm117x404 }}</ref>

Vegetation classifications have limited use in aquatic systems, since only a handful of freshwater or marine habitats are  dominated by plants (e.g. [[kelp forest]]s or [[seagrass meadows]]). Also, some extreme terrestrial environments, like [[Subterranea (geography)|subterranean]] or [[cryosphere|cryogenic]] ecosystems, are not properly described in vegetation classifications.

===Biogeographical approach===
The disciplines of [[phytogeography]] and [[biogeography]] study the geographic distribution of [[plant community|plant communities]] and [[fauna]]l communities. Common patterns of distribution of several [[taxonomy (general)|taxonomic]] groups are generalised into [[bioregion]]s, [[floristic province]]s or [[zoogeographic region]]s.<ref>Udvardy, M. D. F. (1975). ''A classification of the biogeographical provinces of the world''. IUCN Occasional Paper no. 18. Morges, Switzerland: IUCN, [https://portals.iucn.org/library/node/6582].</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pcap-sk.org/docs/6_skecositeguide/Ecoregions_and_Ecosites.pdf|title=Ecoregions and Ecosites|website=pcap-sk.org|access-date=10 April 2023}}</ref>

===Environmental approach===
[[Climate classification]]s are used in terrestrial disciplines due to the major influence of [[climate]] on biological life in a region. The most popular classification scheme is probably the [[Köppen climate classification]] scheme.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beck |first1=Hylke E. |last2=Zimmermann |first2=Niklaus E. |last3=McVicar |first3=Tim R. |last4=Vergopolan |first4=Noemi |last5=Berg |first5=Alexis |last6=Wood |first6=Eric F. |author6-link=Eric Franklin Wood |title=Present and future Köppen-Geiger climate classification maps at 1-km resolution |journal=Scientific Data |date=30 October 2018 |volume=5 |pages=180214 |doi=10.1038/sdata.2018.214 |pmid=30375988 |pmc=6207062 |language=en |issn=2052-4463|bibcode=2018NatSD...580214B }}</ref> Similarly [[Geology|geological]] and [[Pedology (soil study)|soil]] properties can affect terrestrial vegetation.

In marine disciplines, the [[Stratification (water)|stratification of water layers]] discriminate types based on the availability of light and nutrient, or changes in [[biogeochemical]] properties.<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Charles B.|title=Biological Oceanography|year=2004|publisher=Blackwell Publishing}}</ref>

===Ecosystem classifications===
[[File:Landscape and seascape relationships of ecosystem functional groups.webp|thumb|The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature|IUCN]] Global Ecosystem Typology<ref name="Keith2022"/>]]
American geographer [[Robert Bailey (geographer)|Robert Bailey]] defined a hierarchy of ecosystem units ranging from micro-ecosystems (individual homogeneous sites, in the order of {{convert|10|km2|0}} in area), through meso-ecosystems ([[landscape ecology|landscape mosaics]], in the order of {{convert|1000|km2|-2}}) to macro-ecosystems ([[ecoregions]], in the order of {{convert|100000|km2|-4}}).<ref name="BaileyBook">{{cite book|title=Ecosystem Geography|url=https://archive.org/details/ecosystemgeograp00bail_574|url-access=limited|last=Bailey|first=Robert G.|publisher=Springer|year=2009|isbn=978-0-387-89515-4|edition=Second|location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|Ch:2, p:25–28}}

Bailey outlined five different methods for identifying ecosystems: ''[[Holism|gestalt]]'' ("a whole that is not derived through considerable of its parts"), in which regions are recognized and boundaries drawn intuitively; a map overlay system where different layers like [[geology]], [[landform]]s and soil types are overlain to identify ecosystems; [[Cluster analysis|multivariate clustering]] of site attributes; [[digital image processing]] of [[remote sensing|remotely sensed]] data grouping areas based on their appearance or other [[Multispectral image|spectral]] properties; or by a "controlling factors method" where a subset of factors (like soils, climate, vegetation [[physiognomy]] or the [[species distribution|distribution]] of plant or animal species) are selected from a large array of possible ones are used to delineate ecosystems.<ref name="BaileyBook"/>{{rp|Ch:3, p:29–40}}

In contrast with Bailey's methodology, Puerto Rico ecologist [[Ariel Lugo]] and coauthors identified ten characteristics of an effective classification system. For example that it be based on [[georeference]]d, quantitative data; that it should minimize subjectivity and explicitly identify criteria and assumptions; that it should be structured around the factors that drive ecosystem processes; that it should reflect the hierarchical nature of ecosystems; that it should be flexible enough to conform to the various scales at which [[ecosystem management]] operates.<ref name="Lugo1999">{{cite journal|last=Lugo|first=A. E.|author2=S.L. Brown |author3=R. Dodson |author4=T.S. Smith |author5= H.H. Shugart |year=1999|title=The Holdridge life zones of the conterminous United States in relation to ecosystem mapping|journal=Journal of Biogeography|volume=26|pages=1025–1038|url=http://www.fs.fed.us/global/iitf/pubs/ja_iitf_1999_lugo002.pdf|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2699.1999.00329.x|issue=5|s2cid=11733879 }}</ref>

The [[IUCN|International Union for The Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN) developed a global ecosystem [[Typology (statistics)|typology]] that conforms to the definition of ecosystems as ecological units that comprise a [[biotic component]], an [[abiotic]] complex, the interactions between and within them, and occupy a finite physical space or [[ecotope]]. This typology is based on six design principles: representation of [[ecological process]]es, representation of [[biota (ecology)|biota]], conceptual consistency throughout the [[biosphere]], scalable structure, spatially explicit units, parsimony and utility. This approach has led to a dual representation of ecosystem functionality and composition within a flexible hierarchical structure that can be built from a top-down approach (subdivision of upper units by function) and a bottom-up approach (representation of compositional variation within functional units).<ref name="Keith2022">{{cite journal |last1=Keith |first1=David A. |last2=Ferrer-Paris |first2=José R. |last3=Nicholson |first3=Emily |last4=Bishop |first4=Melanie J. |last5=Polidoro |first5=Beth A. |last6=Ramirez-Llodra |first6=Eva |last7=Tozer |first7=Mark G. |last8=Nel |first8=Jeanne L. |last9=Mac Nally |first9=Ralph |last10=Gregr |first10=Edward J. |last11=Watermeyer |first11=Kate E. |last12=Essl |first12=Franz |last13=Faber-Langendoen |first13=Don |last14=Franklin |first14=Janet |last15=Lehmann |first15=Caroline E. R. |last16=Etter |first16=Andrés |last17=Roux |first17=Dirk J. |last18=Stark |first18=Jonathan S. |last19=Rowland |first19=Jessica A. |last20=Brummitt |first20=Neil A. |last21=Fernandez-Arcaya |first21=Ulla C. |last22=Suthers |first22=Iain M. |last23=Wiser |first23=Susan K. |last24=Donohue |first24=Ian |last25=Jackson |first25=Leland J. |last26=Pennington |first26=R. Toby |last27=Iliffe |first27=Thomas M. |last28=Gerovasileiou |first28=Vasilis |last29=Giller |first29=Paul |last30=Robson |first30=Belinda J. |last31=Pettorelli |first31=Nathalie |last32=Andrade |first32=Angela |last33=Lindgaard |first33=Arild |last34=Tahvanainen |first34=Teemu |last35=Terauds |first35=Aleks |last36=Chadwick |first36=Michael A. |last37=Murray |first37=Nicholas J. |last38=Moat |first38=Justin |last39=Pliscoff |first39=Patricio |last40=Zager |first40=Irene |last41=Kingsford |first41=Richard T. |title=A function-based typology for Earth's ecosystems |journal=Nature |date=12 October 2022 |volume=610 |issue=7932 |pages=513–518 |doi=10.1038/s41586-022-05318-4|pmid=36224387 |pmc=9581774 |bibcode=2022Natur.610..513K }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Land use]]
*[[Landscape ecology]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*Gregorich, E. G., and et al. "Soil and Environmental Science Dictionary." ''Canadian ecological land classification system'', pp 111 (2001). Canadian Society of Soil Science. CRC Press LLC. {{ISBN|0-8493-3115-3}}.
*Klijn, F., and H. A. Udo De Haes. 1994. "A hierarchical approach to ecosystems and its implications for ecological land classification." In: Landscape Ecology vol. 9 no. 2 pp 89–104 (1994).  The Hague, SPB Academic Publishing bv.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061001180834/http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/ecology/ecoregions/index.html Example of ecological land classification in British Columbia (Canada)]
*[http://ecosim.ca/projects.html EcoSim Software Inc ELC eTool]
*[https://sites.google.com/site/vegclassmethods/concepts International Association for Vegetation Scientists (IAVS) – Vegetation Classification Methods]

{{Biomes}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecological Land Classification}}
[[Category:Biogeography|.Land]]
[[Category:Ecoregions|.Land]]
[[Category:Ecosystems|.Land]]
[[Category:Ecology terminology]]
[[Category:Environmental terminology]]
[[Category:Habitat]]
[[Category:Geographic classifications]]