Edmund Russow an authority on Sphagnaceae (sphagnum mosses) and remembered for his research in plant anatomy and histology, in particular studies of the plant family Marsileaceae (aquatic and semi-aquatic ferns). The plant genus "Russowia" is named in his honor, as is "Sphagnum russowii" (Russow's sphagnum). Edmund Russow Edmund August Friedrich Russow (24 February 1841 – 11 April 1897) was a Baltic German biologist born in Tallinn (), in present-day Estonia. Son of a military engineer, Edmund Russow studied at the Universities of Tartu () and Berlin. In 1867 he became an associate professor at Dorpat, where from 1874 to 1897, he served
Plant cover Plant cover The abundances of plant species are often measured by plant cover, which is the relative area covered by different plant species in a small plot. Plant cover is not biased by the size and distributions of individuals, and is an important and often measured characteristic of the composition of plant communities. Plant cover data may be used to classify the studied plant community into a vegetation type, to test different ecological hypothesis on plant abundance, and in gradient studies, where the effects of different environmental gradients on the abundance of specific plant species are investigated. The most common