Abstract:

Effective temperature, measured by the sugar-inversion method at 113 measurement points from June to September, 1993, was studied in relation to the indication value of plant communities to habitat temperature in the hilly landscape of the Kraichgau area in Germany. The results show : 1) the average indication value of the plant community to temperature is positively correlated with temperature as measured by the sugar-inversion method; 2) the average indication value of plant community is able to distinguish temperature differences between habitats on northern and southern exposure slopes, but its sharpness varies among three different methods of calculation; further comparison among these three methods reveals that the average indication value calculated in light of the quadrat data from each community is most effective for indicating the temperature difference between different exposures; 3) the average indication value calculated in light of the transect survey is not effective enough to indicate the temperature differences both between different exposures and among different slope positions. The reason for this ineffectiveness is probably either the narrowness of the transect or the heavy human impact on the vegetation along this transect.