fication and recognition of plant communities is necessary to a properly 

 based science of vegetation, and Kucera (1973) feels that classification 

 is necessary and valuable to ecosystem interpretation, and that without 

 classification data become meaningless. 



Synthesis 



Many of the principal authors in the type-continuum controversy have 

 moderated their views and recognize that the contributions of both the pro- 

 ponets of classification and those who think that vegetational continua 

 need to be more explicitly acknowledged. 



Tansley (1920) notes that classification entails imposing the constructs 

 of human minds on nature and will not result in absolute accuracy, but he 

 thinks that fitting investigations into a systematic framework is indispen- 

 sable. He refutes any purely random explanation of vegetation, but he does 

 not wholly rule out the role of chance and individualistic plant-environment 

 relationships. 



Daubenmire (1965) does not deny the existence of continua, but notes that 

 some continua can form the basis for classification. (At the same time he 

 shows how the data supporting his view might be used by an opponent of class- 

 ifications to verify the continuum hypothesis.) He argues the existence of 

 "plateau-like areas exhibiting minor gradients separated by areas of steeper 

 gradients, with the plateau-like areas being of sufficient similarity to 

 warrent being designated as a type" and for the "sharpening of ecotones by 

 competitive elimination." Daubenmire advocates the system in which "the mere 

 indication of a position in the system automatically makes possible the max- 

 imum predictions about the unit." 



Anderson (1965) suggests that the appropriateness of classification depends 

 on the type, duration, scale, and intensity of trie selective processes that 

 have operated on the vegetation. Poore (1962) states that vegetational var- 

 iation is continuous, but in spite of this, well-marked communities are suf- 

 ficiently alike to be conveniently considered as members of a class. 



Goodall (1963) notes that the continuum concept and classification should 

 not be considered incompatible and irreconcilable. Because subdivision of a 

 continuous variable into classes involves a loss of information, he argues 

 for ordination first, and subsequent classification. Whittaker (1975) ad- 

 mits that classification of vegetation are often needed and states that there 

 is no real conflict between the principle that communities are generally, but 

 not universally, continuous with one another and classification. Even Mcintosh 

 (1967) admits the utility of classification for some purposes. 



MULTIVARIATE TECHNIQUES CONSIDERED 



The usefulness of multivariate is recognized in portraying the relation- 

 ships between communities, and the usefulness of classification in stratifying 

 and summarizing data, and in mapping vegetation and monitoring plant communities. 



no 



