Cover-weighted averaging of indicator values in vegetation analyses
Version of Record online: 24 FEB 2009
2004 IAVS - the International Association of Vegetation Science
Journal of Vegetation Science
Volume 15, Issue 5, pages 647–652, October 2004
How to Cite
Käfer, J. and Witte, J.-P. M. (2004), Cover-weighted averaging of indicator values in vegetation analyses. Journal of Vegetation Science, 15: 647–652. doi: 10.1111/j.1654-1103.2004.tb02306.x
- Issue online: 24 FEB 2009
- Version of Record online: 24 FEB 2009
- Received 20 February 2004; Accepted 17 April 2004
- Groundwater level;
- Indicator value;
- Permutation test;
- Weighted averaging
Question: How should species cover be weighted when calculating average indicator values of vegetation relevés?
Location: The Netherlands.
Method: Various weighting methods were statistically investigated with 188 relevés from The Netherlands for which accurate groundwater levels were available. For each method the correlation between average Ellenberg indicator value for moisture and mean spring groundwater level was calculated. A permutation test on correlation coefficients revealed whether differences between methods were significant or not.
Results: Optimization of a general weighting function did not produce a significantly higher correlation than disregarding cover and calculating the average as the arithmetical mean of indicator values. Giving a higher weight to species at both ends of the indicator scale and using indifferent species as indicators of mediocre conditions did improve the correlation significantly. Weighting species proportionate to their cover yielded a significantly lower correlation than the correlation obtained with the method that disregards cover. A significantly lower correlation was also established when taking into account the fact that cover is related to the growth strategy of species.