Analysis of vegetation structural diversity by Burnaby's similarity index

The application of Burnaby's similarity index is discussed by using structural data from mediterranean vegetation. The index, suggested to compare objects described by characters measured on different scales (mixed data), was applied in a fuzzy theory context. Ordinations of vegetation releves and structural characters by joint plots have been obtained. These are very useful to map vegetation structural diversity in multidimensional spaces and to test the efficiency of an intuitive classification based on qualitative assessment.