TOUR DU VALAT

A research centre for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands




Revue : Botany

Post-disturbance dynamics of plant communities in a Mediterranean temporary pool (Western Morocco): Effects of disturbance size.

Auteurs

SAHIB N., RHAZI L. & GRILLAS P.

Résumé

Mediterranean temporary pools are frequently visited habitats where domestic livestock and wild herbivores generate numerous physical soil disturbances. Using two sizes of experimental plots (large, 1.20 m _ 1.20 m; small, 0.3 m _ 0.3 m), the effects of soil disturbances on vegetation dynamics and the vertical distribution of seeds were studied in one Moroccan temporary pool. Results show a very rapid regeneration of temporary wetland vegetation in disturbed plots. The speed of regeneration depends on the size of disturbance and hydrology. There was an almost complete return of vegetation to the reference state in the small disturbed plots by the end of the 1st year. This fast restoration was mainly due to seed banks, which play a key role in the resilience of pools to the different sizes of disturbances frequently generated by herbivores, but also to lateral colonization by perennials.

Référence complète bibliographique

SAHIB N., RHAZI L. & GRILLAS P., 2011. Post-disturbance dynamics of plant communities in a Mediterranean temporary pool (Western Morocco): Effects of disturbance size. Botany 89 p105-118

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