Classification and Ordination of Seral Plant Communities

Abstract

A conceptual model of secondary succession was tested with data from disturbed vegetation in the Agropyron/Poa habitat type using a combination of classification and ordination techniques. Individual stands were classified into communities by an agglomerative method. Results of the Bray-Curtis polar ordination using three endpoint selection methods supported the validity of the model. The model is visualized as a solid cone in which all of the plant communities included in a habitat type are positioned relative to their degree of disturbance, inferring their probably secondary successional pattern within habitat types.