Ordination of forest ecosystems using element concentrations of the solution phase and soil chemical depth gradients

Using data sets from 16 forest ecosystems the possibilities of an ordinatio n procedure with respect to matter budget parameters ae demonstrated. Princ ipal component analysis was selected as method of ordination. Ordination we re carried out separately for (i) depth gradients of base saturation for (i i) average element concentrations in the soil solution at two different dep ths, and (iii) for element concentrations in the bulk deposition and th thr oughfall. In the majority of cases the procedure yields plausible and inter pretable arrangements of the ecosystems along the first and the second prin cipal component axes. These two components contain over 80 percent of the t otal variance in the datasets. Compared to other methods of ecosystem chara cterization the ordination procedure is advantageous concerning practicabil ity and objectivity. It is suggested to apply the method to a larger set of forest ecosystems with the aim of grouping the systems according to their individual states. An additional application is the analysis of temporal ch anges as attempted in ecosystem monitoring.