Representation (ecology)

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Representation is one of the criteria that should serve as the basis for the designation of protected areas in nature conservation . (Other criteria are, for example, "rarity", "endangerment", "diversity".) The underlying idea is that all aspects of natural diversity should also be represented and mapped within the protected areas in order to be able to preserve the entire diversity. In the Federal Nature Conservation Act , Paragraph 1 "Objectives of nature conservation and landscape management" states that "communities and biotopes with their structural and geographical peculiarities are to be preserved in a representative distribution ".

Requirements and application

Recording and evaluation of habitats found on a variety of scales instead, focusing on different spatial scales relate. In order to establish a comprehensive representation, each area must be both geographically delimited and enclosed according to its biological properties. The evaluation of representation presupposes (according to Usher / Erz 1994) :

  1. a hierarchical division of the area into ecological units (according to prevailing vegetation etc.)
  2. a definition of the essential characteristics of the units
  3. a method for assigning areas to this unit (real delimitation by height gradients , usage limits (e.g. for agricultural areas) etc.)
  4. a procedure for evaluating representation

On the continental level, more extensive geographical mapping units are usually formed. At regional and local level, gradients of the variations of environmental factors (water availability, temperature, light, etc.) are the most commonly used classification. Direct gradient analysis is a simple graphical technique for examining the small-scale variability of multiple features. It is mostly applied using statistical methods.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Usher, Erz (1994): Capturing and evaluating in nature conservation , p. 48 UTB