Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39045499›Full record

ReviewEcology and evolution2024

Discriminating woody species assemblages from National Forest Inventory data based on phylogeny in Georgia.

Alexander Wellenbeck, Lutz Fehrmann, Hannes Feilhauer, Sebastian Schmidtlein, Bernhard Misof, Nils Hein

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Ecology and evolution, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Alexander WellenbeckSystematic Zoology University of Bonn Bonn Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7007-3922
Lutz FehrmannForest Inventory and Remote Sensing University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany.
Hannes FeilhauerRemote Sensing Centre for Earth System Research (RSC4Earth) Leipzig University Leipzig Germany.
Sebastian SchmidtleinInstitute of Geography and Geoecology Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) Karlsruhe Germany.
Bernhard MisofSystematic Zoology University of Bonn Bonn Germany.
Nils HeinLeibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) Museum Koenig Bonn Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5172-8531

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Classifications of forest vegetation types and characterization of related species assemblages are important analytical tools for mapping and diversity monitoring of forest communities. The discrimination of forest communities is often based on β-diversity, which can be quantified via numerous indices to derive compositional dissimilarity between samples. This study aims to evaluate the applicability of unsupervised classification for National Forest Inventory data from Georgia by comparing two cluster hierarchies. We calculated the mean basal area per hectare for each woody species across 1059 plot observations and quantified interspecies distances for all 87 species. Following an unspuervised cluster analysis, we compared the results derived from the species-neutral dissimilarity (Bray-Curtis) with those based on the Discriminating Avalanche dissimilarity, which incorporates interspecies phylogenetic variation. Incorporating genetic variation in the dissimilarity quantification resulted in a more nuanced discrimination of woody species assemblages and increased cluster coherence. Favorable statistics include the total number of clusters (23 vs. 20), mean distance within clusters (0.773 vs. 0.343), and within sum of squares (344.13 vs. 112.92). Clusters derived from dissimilarities that account for genetic variation showed a more robust alignment with biogeographical units, such as elevation and known habitats. We demonstrate that the applicability of unsupervised classification of species assemblages to large-scale forest inventory data strongly depends on the underlying quantification of dissimilarity. Our results indicate that by incorporating phylogenetic variation, a more precise classification aligned with biogeographic units is attained. This supports the concept that the genetic signal of species assemblages reflects biogeographical patterns and facilitates more precise analyses for mapping, monitoring, and management of forest diversity.

Indexed as

beta diversitycommunity discriminationdissimilaritydiversity monitoringGeorgiaNational Forest Inventoryphylogenyunsupervised clustering

Identifiers

PMID39045499
PMCPMC11264350

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.