Abstract Contrary to a widely held view of transitional (intermediate) objects as being “noise” in a research process, the idea that transitional objects are essential elements of classifications, regionalizations, periodizations and other structural schemes is substantiated. The methodological basis for these propositions is provided by the concepts of descriptive and fuzzy sets and its underlying multi-valued (fuzzy) logic. It is shown that there are several variants for the representation of transitional classes, regions and periods, and some of them allow avoiding “fragmentation” and an excessive increase in the number of transitional elements. It is emphasized that any variants of representation of transitional classes, regions or periods are only the formal (methodological) techniques which serve as a tool that allows more appropriately reflecting the structure of a single object or a set of objects. It is this principle that should determine selection of a particular variant of separation of transitional elements in structural schemes. It is noted that the concepts of the transitional class and the structure of the class lie at the intersection of classification and ordination approaches and allow developing ordination-classification schemes that combine the features of hierarchical classification and ordination. The concepts of transitional elements allowed suggesting new solutions to a number of problems. Communities of dwarf pine ( Pinus pumila ) are referred to a special class of formations: “hypoarctic krummholz”. Three separate class formations of open woodland communities (woodlandtundra, woodland-meadow and woodland-bog) are identified. Macrocomplexes that include the mountain tundra, subgoletz (subalpine) and, partially, boreal-forest belts of vegetation were referred to a separate goletz (alpine) boreal-forest class. For the subgoletz belt, on the one hand, its independence as the belt of rank II, and, on the other, its transitional nature between goletz and boreal-forest belts of rank I are confirmed. Such solutions allow representing not only the transitional nature of the objects in question but also their uniqueness at a certain taxonomic level.

中文翻译：

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地理和生态中层次分类、区域化和分期的过渡对象

摘要 与广泛持有的将过渡（中间）对象视为研究过程中的“噪音”的观点相反，过渡对象是分类、区域化、分期和其他结构方案的基本要素的观点得到证实。这些命题的方法论基础是由描述性和模糊集的概念及其潜在的多值（模糊）逻辑提供的。结果表明，过渡类、区域和时期的表示有几种变体，其中一些可以避免“碎片化”和过渡元素数量的过度增加。需要强调的是，过渡类表示的任何变体，区域或时期只是形式（方法论）技术，它们作为一种工具，可以更恰当地反映单个对象或一组对象的结构。正是这一原则决定了结构方案中过渡元素分离的特定变体的选择。值得注意的是，过渡类的概念和类的结构位于分类和排序方法的交叉点，允许开发结合层次分类和排序特征的排序分类方案。过渡元素的概念允许为许多问题提出新的解决方案。矮松（Pinus pumila）群落被称为一类特殊的地层：“hypoarctic krummholz”。确定了开放林地群落（林地苔原、林地-草甸和林地-沼泽）的三个独立的类形成。包括山地苔原、亚高山（亚高山）和部分北方森林植被带在内的大型复合体被称为单独的戈利茨（高山）北方森林类别。对于 subgoletz 带，一方面，它作为 II 级带的独立性，另一方面，它在 goletz 和 I 级北方森林带之间的过渡性质得到证实。此类解决方案不仅可以表示所讨论对象的过渡性质，还可以表示它们在某个分类学级别上的独特性。北方森林植被带被称为单独的戈莱茨（高山）北方森林类别。对于 subgoletz 带，一方面，它作为 II 级带的独立性，另一方面，它在 goletz 和 I 级北方森林带之间的过渡性质得到证实。这样的解决方案不仅可以表示所讨论对象的过渡性质，还可以表示它们在某个分类学级别上的独特性。北方森林植被带被称为单独的戈莱茨（高山）北方森林类别。对于 subgoletz 带，一方面，它作为 II 级带的独立性，另一方面，它在 goletz 和 I 级北方森林带之间的过渡性质得到证实。此类解决方案不仅可以表示所讨论对象的过渡性质，还可以表示它们在某个分类学级别上的独特性。