On the delineation of tropical vegetation types with an emphasis on forest/savanna transitions

Background: There is no generally agreed classification schemefor the many different vegetation formation types occurring in the tropics. This hinders cross-continental comparisons and causes confusion as words such as ‘forest’ and ‘savanna’ have different meanings to different people. Tropical vegetationformations are therefore usually imprecisely and/or ambiguously defined in modelling, remote sensing and ecological studies. Aims: To integrate observed variations in tropical vegetationstructure and floristic composition into a single classification scheme. Methods: Using structural and floristic measurements made on three continents, discrete tropical vegetationgroupings were defined on the basis of overstorey and understorey structure and species compositions by using clustering techniques. Results: Twelve structural groupings were identified based on height and canopy cover of the dominant upper stratum and the extent of lower-strata woody shrub cover and grass cover. Structural classifications di...