Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS): Editors’ Choice of the second quarter of 2024

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Prepared by Jürgen Dengler (on behalf of the VCS Chief Editor)

Modelled current and future distribution of zonal vegetation types along a 1400 km transect in Namibia. Source: Naftal et al. (2024).

Vegetation Classification and Survey (VCS) has completed the second quarter of the 5th volume, containing in total five articles (see list below). Among these, the Chief Editors selected the contribution by Naftal et al. (2024) as the Editors’ Choice article. This research paper is part of the “African vegetation studies”, published in collaboration with IAVS’ Regional Section for Africa.

Leena Naftal and colleagues developed a numerical high-level classification of the (near) natural vegetation along a 1400 km long and 30 km wide transect in Namibia based on nearly 2,000 plots of 1,000 m2. They described the vegetation units and determined their diagnostic species. This alone would be a fantastic achievement in Africa, where modern broadscale vegetation classifications are very scarce. However, the authors did not stop at that point, but then used random forests to model the current distribution of these zonal vegetation types and project them into the future under different global change scenarios. They found that likely the Combretum collinum-Terminalia seriacea broad-leaved savannas will expand a lot, while several other zonal vegetation types might go extinct by 2080 under high CO2 emission paths. We, Chief Editors, find that this is a well-conducted study based on an enormous wealth of data that demonstrates how vegetation classification can contribute substantially to global change research.

All articles of Volume 5, 2nd quarter

  • Vynokurov, D., Aleksanyan, A., Becker, T., Biurrun, I. Borovyk, D., Fayvush, G., García-Mijangos, I., Magnes, M., Palpurina, S., Becker, U., Berastegi, A., Cykowska-Marzencka, B., Dembicz, I., Frank, D., Hilpold, A., Kirschner, P., Mayrhofer, H., Oganesian, M., Vasheniak, I. & Dengler, J. (2024) Dry grasslands and thorn-cushion communities of Armenia: a first syntaxonomic classification. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 39–73. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.119253
  • Skobel, N., Kozub, Ł., Dembicz, I., Boch, S., Bruun, H.H., Chusova, O., Golub, V., Helm, A., Iakushenko, D., Pawlikowski, P., Zaniewski, P. & Dengler, J. (2024) Nordic-Baltic Grassland Vegetation Database (NBGVD) – current state and future prospects. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 75–84. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.119968
  • El Zein, H., Chalak, L., Baydoun, S., Khater, C., Choueiter, D. & McKenna, M. (2024) Habitat characterization and mapping on the western slopes of Mount Hermon in Lebanon. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 85–107. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.106377
  • Nowak, A., Świerszcz, S., Naqinezhad, A., Nowak, S. & Nobis, M. (2024) The Pistacietea verae: a new class of open, deciduous woodlands in Middle and Southwestern Asia. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 109–126. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.104841
  • Naftal, L., De Cauwer, V. & Strohbach, B.J. (2024) Potential distribution of major plant units under climate change scenarios along an aridity gradient in Namibia. Vegetation Classification and Survey 5: 127–151. https://doi.org/10.3897/VCS.99050