Improvement of association-analysis classification by Braun-Blanquet technique

Abstract

Normal association-analysis was carried out on data collected in the Jack Scott Nature Reserve in the Central Bankenveld of the Transvaal. As the method was found inadequate for obtaining optimal definition and arrangement of plant communities, it was supplemented by the Braun-Blanquet Table Method, which served as a substitute for inverse and nodal analyses. This led to a better understanding of the vegetation of the Reserve. Because association-analysis is strictly hierarchical, presentation of inter-group relationships and interpretation of vegetation-habitat relationships are limited. It is argued that the monothetic character of normal and inverse association-analyses is a further limitation and although this is com­pensated for by nodal-analysis, valuable information is discarded as peripheral in the latter process.