Lesson 3: Species in the environmental complex

Some conclusions from Billings paper: Factors of a terrestrial plant
environment:
• Environment of a plant is holocoenotic (forms a complete system in
combination with the plant).
• For a given species, limiting factors can be different in different parts of
its range.
• The total environment is dynamic and varies both space and time.
• Vegetation can be used as an indicator of the total environment if the
tolerances of its characteristic species are known.