Book reviews (continued) zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA I stood by the Braun Blanquet (Zurich-Montpellier) school. Most of the papers present a synopsis of higher syntaxa (classes, orders, alliances) in the classification of vegetation in Europe. According to Rodwell et al., who wrote the introduction to this work, the main interest of such cont ri butions lies in the fact that they provide necessary structure for the multitude of more detailed studies that abound in the literature. In the first paper, Mucina presents a repertoire of class- es of vegetation in Europe, indicating the correct names accord- ing to the nomenclatural Code for phytosociology (Barkman et al. 1986). A list of synonyms and the list of characteristic species is also given. The working committee on the classification of European vegetation has adopted this repertoire as the frame- work for establishing a system of alliances. One of the first attempts in this regard is presented in the book by Valachovic et al. who make a tentative classification of the orders and alliances of the class Thlaspieta rotundifolii. Another group of papers comes from European coun- tries such as Great Britain, the former Soviet Union, Scandinavia and Greece where there is less research going on in phytosociol- ogy, or where different methods have been employed. Diekman, for instance, talks of the problems of classification of alliances in Sweden. Dimopoulos et al. present a study of the vegetation of rock barrens in Greece. A third group consists of studies from countries with a long history of phytosociologcal research. Here the great quanti- ty of disparate infomation that has accumulated is in need of rev- sion and harmonisation to bring it up to date with current nomen- clature and syntaxonomy. Examples of this were presented by Carni who studied the vegetation of forest edges in Slovenia, by Chytry on the thermophile Oak forests of the Czek Republic, by Punz & Mucina ón the vegetation on metaliferous soils of the Eastern Alpes, by Loidi et al. on the barrens of northern Spain, and by Grebner on the calcareous turf-meadows of the North- eastern Alpes Of particular interest to Canadian readers are the class- es of vegetation that also pertain to North America. This con- cerns mostly special vegetation types such as aquatic vegetation (Lemnetea, Ruppietea, Zosteretea), bogs (Oxycocco- Sphagnetea), coastal vegetation (Cakiletea, Ammophiletea), arc- tic-alpine vegetation (Loiseleurio-Vaccinietea, Salicetea herbaceae, Juncetea trifidi), but also synanthropic vegetation (Epilobietea angustifolii), and boreal forests (Vaccinio-Piceetea). As for the situation in Québec, the numerous studies in phytoso- ciology that have been done here should be synthesized and brought into accordance with the nomenclature of the Code as has been done with the forest vegetation of the Eastern Townships by Ansseau & Grandtner (1986, 1988). The similiar- ity with problems in Europe is quite obvious in view of the fact that most of the phytosociological work done in Québec has been done using the Braun-Blanquet method. In this sense, this book could be very useful. The cost of 300 Swedish Crowns is, how- ever, quite prohibative. Translation, Stuart Hay, IRBV, Universtité de Montréal *************** Plant Functional Types: their relevance to ecosystems properties and global change (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme Book Se ri es 1) by T.M. Smith, H.H. Shugart & F.I. Woodward Camb ri dge University Press New York, 1997 [US $ 80,00 (hardback) US $ 44,95 (paperback)] It is human nature to classify. Linnaeus, for example, provided us with the highly efficient binomial system. Using this universally accepted system of organisation we know that there are approximately 260,000 plant species on Earth. Yet, species are going extinct, mainly due to human-induced habitat destruc- tion, apparently at a higher rate than at any time in the geologi- cal record. We are also not sure what affect global climate change will have on future plant distribution patters, and result- ing ecosystem properties. Therefore, 260,000 becomes a prohib- itive number when it comes to investigating the environmental and biotic effects facing each and every plant. We do not have the time or money to conduct demographic, autecological studies on every plant species. The challenge facing ecologists then is to simplify the problem by effectively grouping plants into broad categories (functional types), which would allow for the devel- opment of predictive models. This book is therefore a much needed compilation, with the objective of introducing the con- cept of functional types and illustrating a number of different approaches. Plant Functional Types is 369 pages long, includes eighteen chapters and is broken down into five parts: (1) history; (2) theory; (3) local application; (4) global application; and, (5) consequences and limitations. The wide variety of opinions expressed in this book reflects some of the confusion and dis- agreement surrounding the issue of plant functional types. Some researchers (e.g. Shugart, Ch2; Woodward and Kelly, Ch3; Walker, Ch5; Scholes et al., Ch13) advocate a top-down, envi- ronment-driven approach to functional grouping. The sort of information required is the range of plants along environmental gradients. Other researchers (e.g. Gitay and Noble, Chl; Westoby and Leishman, Ch6; Grime et al. Chl; Bond, Ch9) pre- CBA / ABC Bulletin 31(4) November / novembre 1998 65