Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor public areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve

environmental, social-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes.[1] It involves the systematic investigation of

existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of
interventions that will produce the desired outcome. The scope of the profession includes: urban
design; site planning; stormwater management; town or urban
planning; environmental restoration; parks and recreation planning; visual resource management; green
infrastructure planning and provision; and private estate and residence landscape master planning and
design; all at varying scales of design, planning and management. A practitioner in the profession of
landscape architecture is called a landscape architect.

Definition[edit]
Landscape architecture is a multi-disciplinary field, incorporating aspects of: botany, horticulture, the fine
arts, architecture, industrial design, geology and the earth sciences, environmental
psychology, geography, and ecology. The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation
of public parks and parkways to site planning for campuses and corporate office parks, from the design of
residential estates to the design of civil infrastructure and the management of large wilderness areas
or reclamation of degraded landscapes such as mines or landfills. Landscape architects work on all types
of structures and external space - large or small, urban,suburban and rural, and with "hard" (built) and
"soft" (planted) materials, while integrating ecological sustainability. The most valuable contribution can
be made at the first stage of a project to generate ideas with technical understanding and creative flair for
the design, organization, and use of spaces. The landscape architect can conceive the overall concept
and prepare the master plan, from which detailed design drawings and technical specifications are
prepared. They can also review proposals to authorize and supervise contracts for the construction work.
Other skills include preparing design impact assessments, conducting environmental assessments and
audits, and serving as an expert witness at inquiries on land use issues.

In some states, provinces, municipalities, and jurisdictions, such as Ontario, Canada and Santa Barbara,
California, all designs for public space must be reviewed and approved by licensed landscape architects.

Fields of activity[edit]

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, established 1759

The Palm House built 1844–1848 by Richard Turner toDecimus Burton's designs
The variety of the professional tasks that landscape architects collaborate on is very broad, but some
examples of project types include:[2]

 The planning, form, scale and siting of new developments

 Civil design and public infrastructure
 Sustainable development
 Stormwater management including rain gardens, green roofs, groundwater recharge, and
treatment wetlands
 Campus and site design for public institutions and government facilities
 Parks, botanical gardens, arboretums, greenways, and nature preserves
 Recreation facilities; i.e.: playgrounds, golf courses, theme parks and sports facilities
 Housing areas, industrial parks and commercial developments
 Estate and residence landscape master planning and design
 Highways, transportation structures, bridges, and transit corridors
 Urban design, town and city squares, waterfronts, pedestrian schemes, and parking lots
 Large to small urban renewal planning and design
 Natural park, tourist destination, and recreating historical landscapes, and historic
garden appraisal and conservation studies
 Reservoirs, dams, power stations, reclamation of extractive industry applications or major
industrial projects and mitigation
 Environmental assessment and landscape assessment, planning advice and land management
proposals.
 Coastal and offshore developments and mitigation
 Ecological Design any aspect of design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by
integrating itself with natural processes and sustainability
Landscape managers use their knowledge of landscape processes to advise on the long-term care and
development of the landscape. They often work in forestry, nature conservation and agriculture.

Landscape scientists have specialist skills such as soil science, hydrology, geomorphology or botany that

they relate to the practical problems of landscape work. Their projects can range from site surveys to the
ecological assessment of broad areas for planning or management purposes. They may also report on
the impact of development or the importance of particular species in a given area.

Landscape planners are concerned with landscape planning for the location, scenic, ecological and
recreational aspects of urban, rural and coastal land use. Their work is embodied in written statements of
policy and strategy, and their remit includes master planning for new developments, landscape
evaluations and assessments, and preparing countryside management or policy plans. Some may also
apply an additional specialism such as landscape archaeology or law to the process of landscape
planning.

Green roof designers design extensive and intensive roof gardens for storm water management, evapo-

transpirative cooling, sustainable architecture, aesthetics, and habitat creation.[citation needed]

History of landscape architecture[edit]

Orangery at the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris

Main article:  History of landscape architecture

For the period before 1800, the history of landscape gardening (later called landscape architecture) is
largely that of master planning and garden designfor manor houses, palaces and royal properties,
religious complexes, and centers of government. An example is the extensive work by André Le
Nôtre atVaux-le-Vicomte and for King Louis XIV of France at the Palace of Versailles. The first person to
write of "making" a landscape was Joseph Addison in 1712. The term "landscape architecture" was
invented by Gilbert Laing Meason in 1828 and was first used as a professional title by Frederick Law
Olmsted in 1863. During the latter 19th century, the term "landscape architect" became used by
professional people who designed landscapes. This use of "landscape architect" became established
after Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and Beatrix Farrand with others founded the American Society of
Landscape Architects(ASLA) in 1899. IFLA was founded at Cambridge, England, in 1948 with Sir
Geoffrey Jellicoe as its first president, representing 15 countries from Europeand North America. Later, in
1978, IFLA's Headquarters were established in Versailles.[3][4][5]

Through the 19th century, urban planning became a more important need. The combination of the
tradition of landscape gardening and emerging city planning that gave Landscape Architecture its unique
focus to serve these needs. In the second half of the century,Frederick Law Olmsted completed a series
of parks which continue to have a huge influence on the practices of Landscape Architecture today.
Among these were Central Park in New York City, Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York and
Boston's Emerald Necklace park system. Jens Jensen designed sophisticated and naturalistic urban and
regional parks for Chicago, Illinois, and private estates for the Ford family including Fair
Lane and Gaukler Point. One of the original ten founding members of the American Society of Landscape
Architects (ASLA), and the only woman, was Beatrix Farrand. She was design consultant for over a
dozen universities including: Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey; Yale in New Haven, Connecticut; and
the Arnold Arboretum for Harvard in Boston,Massachusetts. Her numerous private estate projects include
the landmark Dumbarton Oaks in the Georgetown neighborhood ofWashington, D.C..[6] Since that time,
other architects —most notably Ruth Havey and Alden Hopkins—changed certain elements of the
Farrand design.

Landscape architecture continues to develop as a design discipline, and to respond to the various
movements in architecture and design throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Thomas Church was a
mid-century landscape architect significant in the profession. His book, Gardens Are For People, and
numerous campus master planning and residential design projects influenced environmental design in
California, and so the country. Roberto Burle Marx in Brazil combined the International style and native
Brazilian plants and culture for a new aesthetic. Innovation continues today solving challenging problems
with contemporary design solutions for master planning, landscapes, and gardens.

Ian McHarg[7] was emeritus professor of landscape architecture the founder of the Landscape Architecture
and Regional Planning Department at Penn and was known for introducing environmental concerns [8] in
landscape architecture. He was the author of such books as Design with Nature and To Heal the Earth an
important influence on the modern Landscape Architecture profession and land planning in particular.
With his book Design with Nature, he popularized a system of analyzing the layers of a site in order to
compile a complete understanding of the qualitative attributes of a place. This system became the
foundation of today's Geographic Information Systems (GIS). McHarg would give every qualitative aspect
of the site a layer, such as the history, hydrology, topography, vegetation, etc. GIS software is
ubiquitously used in the landscape architecture profession today to analyze materials in and on the
Earth's surface and is similarly used by Urban Planners, Geographers, Forestry and Natural Resources
professionals, etc.

Profession[edit]
In many countries, a professional institute, comprising members of the professional community, exists in
order to protect the standing of the profession and promote its interests, and sometimes also regulate the
practice of landscape architecture. The standard and strength of legal regulations governing landscape
architecture practice varies from nation to nation, with some requiring licensure in order to practice; and
some having little or no regulation. In North America and Europe, landscape architecture is a regulated
profession.[9]

Australia[edit]
The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) provides non statutory professional recognition for
landscape architects. Once recognized by (AILA),(AILA) landscape architects use the title 'Registered
Landscape Architect'. Across the eight states and territories within Australia, there is a mix of
requirements for landscape architects to be 'Registered',however it is not always a statutory requirement
to be registered with AILA to practice use the term "Landscape Architect".

Any regulations or requirements are state based, not national. The AILA's system of professional
recognition is a national system overseen by AILA's National Office in Canberra.Non (AILA)Landscape
Architects are professionals who are also paid to undertake a specialised set of tasks and to complete
them for a fee.

Some agencies require AILA professional recognition or registration as part of the pre-requisite for
contracts. Landscape architects within Australia find that some contracts and competitions require the
AILA recognition or 'registration' as the basis of demonstrating a professional status. To apply for AILA
Registration, an applicant usually needs to satisfy a number of pre-requisites, including: university
qualification, two years of practice and a record of Continuing Professional Practice. The application is in
two stages: (1) A minimum 12 months of mentoring and assessment (2) Oral assessment/interview.
Professional recognition includes a commitment to continue professional development. AILA Registered
Landscape Architects are required to report annually on their Continuing Professional Development.[10]
Canada[edit]
In Canada, landscape architecture, like law and medicine, is a self-regulating profession pursuant to
provincial statute. For example Ontario's profession is governed by the Ontario Association of Landscape
Architects pursuant to the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects Act. Landscape architects in
Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta must complete the specified components of L.A.R.E (Landscape
Architecture Registration Examination) as a prerequisite to full professional standing.

Provincial regulatory bodies are members of a national organization, the Canadian Society of Landscape
Architects / L'Association des Architectes Paysagistes du Canada (CSLA-AAPC), and individual
membership in the CSLA-AAPC is obtained through joining one of the provincial or territorial components.
[11]

Italy[edit]
AIAPP (Italian Association of Landscape Architecture) is the Italian association of professional landscape
architects formed in 1950 and is a member of IFLA and IFLA Europe (formerly known as EFLA). AIAPP is
in the process of contesting this new law which has given the Architects' Association the new title of
Architects, Landscape Architects, Planners and Conservationists whether or not they have had any
training or experience in any of these fields other than Architecture. At the same time, the existence of
AIAPP has been totally ignored in spite of its international recognition.[12] In Italy, there are several
different professions involved in landscape architecture:

 Architects
 Landscape designers
 Doctor landscape agronomists and Doctor landscape foresters, often called Landscape
agronomists.
 Agrarian Experts and Graduated Agrarian experts.
New Zealand[edit]
The New Zealand Institute of Landscape Architects (NZILA) is the professional body for Landscape
Architects in NZ www.nzila.co.nz.

In April 2013, NZILA jointly with AILA, will be hosting the 50th International Federation of Landscape
Architects (IFLA) World Congress in Auckland, New Zealand. The World Congress is an international
conference where Landscape Architects from all around the globe attend.

Within NZ, Members of NZILA when they achieve their professional standing, can use the title Registered
Landscape Architect NZILA.

NZILA provides accreditation review of education course providers and currently there are three
accredited Landscape Architecture course providers in New Zealand.

Republic of Ireland[edit]
The professional body in Ireland for landscape architects is the Irish Landscape Institute
(ILI) www.irishlandscapeinstitute.com. The ILI is an affiliate body to the European Federation for
Landscape Architecture (EFLA) and IFLA. The ILI was formed in 1993 to merge the disciplines of
landscape architecture and landscape horticulture. It continues to promote the profession by its
accreditation of the degree programme in Dublin, certification of Continuing Professional Development
(CPD) for landscape architects, administration of professional practice examinations, advice on
development of policy at national level and organisation of conferences, lectures and design awards. The
ILI is a member institute of the Urban Forum, representing professional bodies involved in urban spatial
disciplines of engineering, architecture, planning, quantity surveying and landscape architecture.

The profession has gained in status and numbers due to the construction boom of the past decade and
raising of standards of Irish design. There is still no registration of title in Ireland and the profession is
unregulated, but there is increasing awareness of the profession and of status of the ILI. Landscape
architects in Ireland work in private practice, public sector bodies at local government level and in some
bodies such transport and national heritage and in the academic sector. The demand for landscape
architects is often associated with strategic infrastructure projects due to Ireland's recent major
infrastructural investments. Landscape architects are employed in design of: green infrastructure, public
realm, institutional/medical/industrial campuses and settings, parks, play facilities, transport
(road/rail/cycle/port) corridors, retail complexes, residential estates (including plans for remediation of
now-abandoned housing 'ghost' estates), village improvements, accessibility audits, graveyard restoration
schemes, wind farms, wetland drainage systems and coastal zones. They are also significantly employed
in preparation/review of statutory impact assessment reports on landscape, visual and ecological impacts
of design proposals.

United Kingdom[edit]
The UK's professional body is the Landscape Institute (LI). It is a chartered body which accredits
landscape professionals and university courses. At present there are fifteen accredited programmes in
the UK. Membership of the LI is available to students, academics and prond there are over 3,000
professionally qualified members.

The Institute provides services to assist members including support and promotion of the work of
landscape architects; information and guidance to the public and industry about the specific expertise
offered by those in the profession; and training and educational advice to students and professionals
looking to build upon their experience.

In 2008, the LI launched a major recruitment drive entitled "I want to be a Landscape Architect" to
encourage the study of Landscape Architecture. The campaign aims to raise the profile of landscape
architecture and highlight its valuable role in building sustainable communities and fighting climate
change.[13]

United States[edit]
In the United States, Landscape Architecture is regulated by individual state governments. For a
landscape architect, obtaining licensure requires advanced education and work experience, plus passage
of the national examination. Several states require passage of a state exam as well. In the U.S. licensing
is overseen both at the state level, and nationally by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration
Boards (CLARB). Landscape architecture has been identified as an above-average growth profession by
the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and was listed in U.S. News & World Report's list of Best Jobs to Have
in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010.[14] The national trade association for U.S. landscape architects is
the American Society of Landscape Architects. The average salary for landscape architecture
professionals in the U.S. is $71,000.[15]
Motivation

We explored the man-made environment in assignment 4 and then arranged scenes

contrived especially for the photograph in assignment 5. It's time to return to one of
the richest sources of beauty for photography: nature, and particularly the natural
landscape.

The difference between a mundane landscape and a great landscape is often

composition. Pay attention to lines, framing, suggestive forms, diagonals, s-curves,
balance, rhythm and texture. Lighting will also play a large role in your photographs
this week. You will find that morning and evening lighting brings out rich colors and
delicate shadows in your photographic subjects, whereas mid-day lighting is generally
harsh and direct. For a more dramatic photograph try positioning yourself so that the
sun provides side-lighting, or even back-lighting. Getting the correct exposure is more
challenging in these situations, but the results are well worth it!

You might use this assignment as a reason to head up into the hills that run along the
peninsula. Skyline Drive is dotted with nature reserves where great landscape photos
can be taken. If you're feeling really adventurous, the Mecca of landscape
photography is only a five hour drive away (Yosemite).

Instructions

As usual, there are five requirements that you will meet by taking 5-10 photographs.
Below each one justify your choice of camera settings and comment on
compositional elements of your scene.

Before you begin, you'll find it helpful to read through the landscape examples in the
Ansel Adams chapter of your course reader: "Examples: The Making of 40
Photographs".

Requirements

 Requirement 1: Use an S-Curve

S-Curves can be used in photographs for a variety of purposes. They can lead
the viewer's eye to the subject, convey a sense of depth (eg a road winding into
the distance), or they can be flat compositional elements that create a balanced
scene. At least one of your photos this week should use an S-Curve for one of
these purposes. Describe in the comments what purpose the S-curve serves
 compositionally. Note that the S-curve we refer to here is not the same thing as
an S-curve you might use in a curves layer in Photoshop to enhance contrast.
 Requirement 2: Improve on Nature with Photoshop
For at least one of the landscape photos you take this week, touch it up in
Photoshop and make it even better. Make at least one local edit, like dehazing a
region with a judiciously painted on curves layer, or removing an eyesore with
the healing brush. Additionally, make at least one global edit, like color-
correcting or recropping and straightening the entire image. Post the before and
after photos to Picasa. The difference can and probably should be subtle, but
there should be a clear improvement.
 Requirement 3: Panorama
In assignment 4 you took an interior panorama, and had to be very careful to
rotate the camera about the center of the lens to avoid artifacts. This week take
an exterior panorama of a landscape. You'll find that landscape panoramas are
far more forgiving, as the scene is mostly far away so small movements of the
photographer do not materially change the point of view. It's easy to make a
boring landscape panorama that simply compresses multiple elements into the
frame. Find a subject wide enough to justify the use of this technique. Also, we
would like you to stitch the panorama yourself, so don't use the "panorama"
mode on your camera (if it has one) to fulfill this requirement.
 Requirement 4: Texture
Take at least one shot in which the main, or even sole compositional element is
a natural texture. Use a small aperture (large F-number) to get everything in
focus. Interesting natural textures include grass, rock, sand, and clouds. Use
Photoshop to take advantage of the full tonal range available to you, from black
to white. You'll find that textures under grazing light appear richer, which leads
us to the next requirement...
 Requirement 5: The Golden Hour
Landscape photography is best done in the golden hour. This is the hour after
dawn or the hour before sunset when the light is a rich golden color and strikes
the earth at a grazing angle, emphasizing details. At least one of your
photographs this week must be of a landscape taken during the golden hour.
Dawn is definitely preferable, as the air is much clearer, but if your sleep
schedule makes dawn either too late or too early, sunset is also acceptable.
Sunset is currently approximately 8pm, and dawn is approximately 6am. You
should thus be planning to take photos from 7-8pm, or 6-7am.

Upload your photos and add comments.

Upload your photos using the Picasa account you created in the first week to a public
Picasa album titled "CS178 Assignment 6 - Landscape and Nature" and submit your
assignment on Vela.

As a reminder, we will penalize photographs with insufficient comments, and you

should in your peer reviews. You should write at least two paragraphs below each of
your photos explaining how you arranged the scene, how you took the photo, what
relevant camera settings you used and why, any image processing done to the
photograph afterwards.

What is architecture?

Architecture (Latin architectura, from the Greek ἀρχιτέκτων – arkhitekton, from ἀρχι- "chief"

andτέκτων "builder, carpenter, mason") is both the process and product of planning, designing,
andconstruction, usually of buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the material
form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as works of art. Historical civilizations are
often identified with their surviving architectural achievements.

"Architecture" can mean:

 A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures.

 The art and science of designing and erecting buildings and other physical structures.
 The style and method of design and construction of buildings and other physical structures.
 The practice of the architect, where architecture means the offering or rendering of professional
services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, or built environments.[1]
 The design activity of the architect, from the macro-level (urban design, landscape architecture)
to the micro-level (construction details and furniture).
 The term "architecture" has been adopted to describe the activity of designing any kind of system,
and is commonly used in describing information technology.
In relation to buildings, architecture has to do with the planning, designing and constructing form, space
and ambience that reflect functional, technical, social, environmental, and aesthetic considerations. It
requires the creative manipulation and coordination of material, technology, light and shadow.
Architecture also encompasses the pragmatic aspects of realizing buildings and structures, including
scheduling, cost estimating and construction administration. As documentation produced by architects,
typically drawings, plans and technical specifications, architecture defines the structure and/or behavior of
a building or any other kind of system that is to be or has been constructed.

Combining arts and sciences, the transcendentally beautiful and the completely
pragmatic, architecture is an all-encompassing art. Architects determine the spaces
we inhabit, and in doing so, control the way we perceive this guide. In this brief
introduction to architecture resources, we quickly examine the history and concept
of architecture, and point the reader to resources on the web for further
investigation and inquiry.
Like so many common terms, “architecture” has conflicting meanings. On one level,
it can be used to refer to any built environment, or any structure. Some thinkers
would claim that any structure can be classed as “architecture.” Others would claim
that “architecture” refers to buildings constructed with artistic intent and style with
the help of architects, and that other structures are, at best, relegated to
“vernacular architecture.” For the purposes of this guide, we’re going to take a highly
inclusive view of architecture, perceiving it as all built structures in an open
environment that are not explicitly referred to as “sculpture” or something of that
nature. We’ll leave it to the reader to make discernments as he or she sees fit.

 Topography, the study of the current terrain features of a region and the graphic representation of
the landform on a map
 Inverted topography, landscape features that have reversed their elevation relative to
other features
 Karst topography, a three-dimensional landscape shaped by the dissolution of a soluble
layer or layers of bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite
 Ocean surface topography, the difference between the surface of the ocean and the
geoid
 Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, a research effort that obtained digital elevation
models on a near-global scale from 56 °S to 60 °N, to generate the most complete high-
resolution digital topographic database of Earth to date
 Topographic maps
 Topographic prominence, a concept used in the categorization of hills and mountains,
also known as peaks
 Topography as the study of place, distinguished from the above by focusing not on the
physical shape of the surface, but on all details that distinguish a place. Includes both textual and
graphic descriptions.

Water

Water
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"H2O" and "HOH" redirect here. For other uses, see  H2O (disambiguation) and HOH (disambiguation).

This article is about general aspects of water. For a detailed discussion of its chemical properties,
see  Properties of water. For other uses, see Water (disambiguation).
Water in three states: liquid, solid (ice), and water vapor(cloud) in the air. Clouds are accumulations of water
droplets, condensed from vapor-saturated air.

Water is a chemical compound with the chemical formula H

2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected bycovalent bonds. Water is

a liquid at standard ambient temperature and pressure, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice,
and gaseousstate (water vapor or steam). Water also exists in a liquid crystal state nearhydrophilic surfaces.[1][2]

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface,[3] and is vital for all known forms oflife.[4] On Earth, 96.5% of the
planet's water is found in oceans, 1.7% in groundwater, 1.7% in glaciers and the ice caps of Antarctica and
Greenland, a small fraction in other large water bodies, and 0.001% in the air as vapor,clouds (formed of solid
and liquid water particles suspended in air), andprecipitation.[5][6] Only 2.5% of the Earth's water is freshwater,
and 98.8% of that water is in ice and groundwater. Less than 0.3% of all freshwater is in rivers, lakes, and the
atmosphere, and an even smaller amount of the Earth's freshwater (0.003%) is contained within biological
bodies and manufactured products.[5]

Water on Earth moves continually through the water

cycle of evaporation and transpiration (evapotranspiration), condensation,precipitation, and runoff, usually
reaching the sea. Evaporation and transpiration contribute to the precipitation over land.

Safe drinking water is essential to humans and other lifeforms even though it provides

no calories or organic nutrients. Access to safe drinking water has improved over the last decades in almost
every part of the world, but approximately one billion people still lack access to safe water and over 2.5 billion
lack access to adequate sanitation.[7] There is a clear correlation between access to safe water and GDP per
capita.[8] However, some observers have estimated that by 2025 more than half of the world population will be
facing water-based vulnerability.[9] A recent report (November 2009) suggests that by 2030, in some developing
regions of the world, water demand will exceed supply by 50%.[10] Water plays an important role in the world
economy, as it functions as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical substances and facilitates industrial cooling
and transportation. Approximately 70% of the fresh water used by humans goes to agriculture.[11]

Vegetation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the medical term, see Vegetation (pathology).

Vegetation is a very general term for the plant life; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a
general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other
specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader than the term flora which refers exclusively to
species composition. Perhaps the closest synonym is plant community, butvegetation can, and often does,
refer to a wider range of spatial scales than that term does, including scales as large as the global. Primeval
redwood forests, coastal mangrove stands, sphagnum bogs, desert soil crusts, roadside weed patches, wheat
fields, cultivated gardens and lawns; all are encompassed by the term vegetation.

Contents
  [hide] 

1 Classification

2 Dynamics

o 2.1 Temporal

dynamics

o 2.2 Spatial

dynamics

3 See also

4 References and further

reading

5 External links

o 5.1 Classification

o 5.2 Mapping-

related

o 5.3 Climate

diagrams
Classification [edit]

  Mediterranean   Grass savanna

  Tundra
  Monsoon forest   Tree savanna
  Taiga
  Desert   Tropical and subtropical dry forest
  Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest
  Xeric shrubland   Tropical rainforest
  Temperate steppe
  Dry steppe   Alpine tundra
  Subtropical moist forest
  Semidesert   Montane forests

Much of the work on vegetation classification comes from European and North American ecologists, and they
have fundamentally different approaches. In North America, vegetation types are based on a combination of
the following criteria: climate pattern, plant habit, phenology and/or growth form, and dominant species. In
the current US standard (adopted by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC), and originally
developed by UNESCO and The Nature Conservancy), the classification is hierarchical and incorporates the
non-floristic criteria into the upper (most general) five levels and limited floristic criteria only into the lower (most
specific) two levels. In Europe, classification often relies much more heavily, sometimes entirely, on floristic
(species) composition alone, without explicit reference to climate, phenoloogy or growth forms. It often
emphasizes indicator or diagnostic species which may distinguish one classification from another.

In the FGDC standard, the hierarchy levels, from most general to most specific, are: system, class, subclass,
group, formation, alliance, and association. The lowest level, or association, is thus the most precisely defined,
and incorporates the names of the dominant one to three (usually two) species of the type. An example of a
vegetation type defined at the level of class might be "Forest, canopy cover > 60%"; at the level of a formation
as "Winter-rain, broad-leaved, evergreen, sclerophyllous, closed-canopy forest"; at the level of alliance as
"Arbutus menziesii forest"; and at the level of association as "Arbutus menziesii-Lithocarpus densiflora forest",
referring to Pacific madrone-tanoak forests which occur in California and Oregon, USA. In practice, the levels of
the alliance and/or association are the most often used, particularly in vegetation mapping, just as the Latin
binomial is most often used in discussing particular species in axonomy and in general communication.

Victoria in Australia classifies its vegetation by Ecological Vegetation Class.

Dynamics [edit]

Like all biological systems, plant communities are temporally and spatially dynamic; they change at all possible
scales. Dynamism in vegetation is defined primarily as changes in species composition and/or vegetation
structure.

Temporal dynamics [edit]
Temporally, a large number of processes or events can cause change, but for sake of simplicity they can be
categorized roughly as either abrupt or gradual. Abrupt changes are generally referred to as disturbances;
these include things like wildfires, high winds,landslides, floods, avalanches and the like. Their causes are
usually external (exogenous) to the community—they are natural processes occurring (mostly) independently
of the natural processes of the community (such as germination, growth, death, etc.). Such events can change
vegetation structure and composition very quickly and for long time periods, and they can do so over large
areas. Very few ecosystems are without some type of disturbance as a regular and recurring part of the long
term system dynamic. Fire and wind disturbances are particularly common throughout many vegetation types
worldwide. Fire is particularly potent because of its ability to destroy not only living plants, but also the seeds,
spores, and living meristems representing the potential next generation, and because of fire's impact on fauna
populations, soil characteristics and other ecosystem elements and processes (for further discussion of this
topic see fire ecology).

Temporal change at a slower pace is ubiquitous; it comprises the field of ecological succession. Succession is
the relatively gradual change in structure and taxonomic composition that arises as the vegetation itself
modifies various environmental variables over time, including light, water and nutrient levels. These
modifications change the suite of species most adapted to grow, survive and reproduce in an area, causing
floristic changes. These floristic changes contribute to structural changes that are inherent in plant growth even
in the absence of species changes (especially where plants have a large maximum size, i.e. trees), causing
slow and broadly predictable changes in the vegetation. Succession can be interrupted at any time by
disturbance, setting the system either back to a previous state, or off on another trajectory altogether. Because
of this, successional processes may or may not lead to some static, final state. Moreover, accurately predicting
the characteristics of such a state, even if it does arise, is not always possible. In short, vegetative communities
are subject to many variables that together set limits on the predictability of future conditions.

Spatial dynamics [edit]
A coastal dune grassland on the Pacific Coast, USA

As a general rule, the larger an area under consideration, the more likely the vegetation will be heterogeneous
across it. Two main factors are at work. First, the temporal dynamics of disturbance and succession are
increasingly unlikely to be insynchrony across any area as the size of that area increases. That is, different
areas will be at different developmental stages due to different local histories, particularly their times since last
major disturbance. This fact interacts with inherent environmental variability (e.g. in soils, climate, topography,
etc.), which is also a function of area. Environmental variability constrains the suite of species that can occupy
a given area, and the two factors together interact to create a mosaic of vegetation conditions across the
landscape. Only in agricultural or horticultural systems does vegetation ever approach perfect uniformity. In
natural systems, there is always heterogeneity, although its scale and intensity will vary widely. A
natural grassland may be homogeneous when compared to the same area of partially burned forest, but highly
diverse and heterogeneous when compared to the wheat field next to it.