The First National Vegetation Inventory in Taiwan

This article describes the successful implementation and preliminary results of the first national vegetation inventory in Taiwan. This project which aimed to establish national criteria for vegetation classification, map island-wide forest vegetation at a scale of 1: 5000 and establish a vegetation data management system was launched in 2003. More than 3000 permanent plots (20 m×20 m) were set up throughout Taiwan, and 792 articles on vegetation of Taiwan were located to acquire vegetation data. Vegetation types were identified according to the physiognomic appearances in aerial photographs. The national vegetation classification system was constructed by referring to field observations, vegetation data, and currently available vegetation classification schemes. This project was finalized in 2008. Up to 67% of native vascular plant species in Taiwan were recorded, and 59% of the total area of Taiwan was mapped in this project. Preliminary vegetation analyses identified 9 major vegetation types and their diagnostic species, constant species and dominant species. The Taiwan Vegetation Information was established and has performed the functions of data management for the current project since 2003. The latest version of the Taiwan Vegetation Classification System was released in 2007. The achievement and experiences of the current project have paved the way for the successful implementation of subsequent large-scale surveys in Taiwan.