Multivariate Methods in Plant Ecology: VI. Comparison of Information-Analysis and Association-Analysis

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Abstract
The agglomerative-polythetic method of information-analysis and the divisive-monothetic method of association-analysis are compared as regards their theoretical properties and their empirical behavior with vegetational data. The question of appropriate stopping-rules for both analyzes is explored, and evidence is presented in favor of the adoption of a non-probabilistic rule based on degree of heterogeneity of the groupings. Both theoretical considerations and empirical evidence suggest that information-analysis gives generally more acceptable results than association-analysis, though the latter method could be the more appropriate for large-scale vegetation survey if computer facilities are restricted.