Phytosociological classes of the western Transvaal grassland, South Africa

Abstract

A detailed syntaxonomical and synecological account of five newly described phytosociological classes of the western Transvaal, South Africa is given. Using a new large data set classification technique, a synoptic table was compiled from 1 025 releves, representing 114 plant communities. An objective classification technique (TWINSPAN) was used complementary to the Braun-Blanquet methodology. An ordination algorithm (DECORANA) was also applied to the synoptic data set. This indicates the floristic relationships among the classes while the vegetation gradient can be related to the habitat gradient.