A phytosociological study of the vegetation in the Ny-Ålesund area, Spitsbergen

Abstract

This paper was undertaken to classify and describe the vegetation of the Ny-Ålesund area in Spitsbergen using the method of the Z-M school of phytosociology. The investigations were carried out at 55 stands which were located in an area ranging from the coast to the mountain regions in and around Ny-Ålesund. The vegetation investigated was classified according to the fidelity of species and the species combination. The term "association" was adopted as the fundamental unit of the vegetation with the exception of the provisional vegetation unit treated as the community. Moreover, associations were subdivided into subassociations according to the scale of the floristic variation. On the basis of the data obtained from 55 stands in the Ny-Ålesund area, the following vegetation units were classified : 1. Saxifragetum cernuae KOBAYASHI 1994 prov. : a. Subass. of typicum, b. Subass. of Orthothecium chryseum, c. Subass. of Leptobryum pyriforme, d. Subass. of Cetraria delisei. 2. Dryadetum minoris HADAC 1946em. KOBAYASHI 1994 : a. Subass. of Racomitrium lanuginosum, b. Subass. of Lecanora epibryon. 3. Xanthoria elegans community. They belong to some higher units left to be investigated in the future. Each of the vegetation units classified is described with an association table showing the floristic composition and data about growing habitats. Their distribution is made clear by showing the actual localities of each association on the map. The interrelations among six associations and one community classified were examined on the basis of the similarity index (P. JACCARD, Bull. Soc. Vaudoise Sci. Nat., 37,547,1901).