Plant community succession in a coastal wetland after abandonment of cultivation: the example of the Rhone delta
✍ Scribed by F. Mesléard; P. Grillas; J. Lepart
- Publisher
- Springer Netherlands
- Year
- 1991
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 695 KB
- Volume
- 94
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1385-0237
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✦ Synopsis
A synchronous study was carried out of' plant succession in land abandoned after cultivation in the Camargue (southern France) in relation to the main biotic and abiotic environmental factors. Correlations between environmental factors and species abundance were established using Canonical correspondence analysis. The most strongly correlated variables were those of the water regime. Abandonment of cultivation does not always imply abandonment of management, but a change in land use. Water level management (flooding in winter, or in sunamer, irrigation) creates and maintains communities suitable for grazing. In the absence of water level management, the soils become saline and stable plant communities similar to those present under natural conditions quickly develop. The salt generally limits the installation of woody plants ; only Phillyrea angustifolia can develop and then only when the water stable is quite deep. It appears that the forest stage can only be reached in the proximity of riverine gallery forest and irrigation canals where Populus alba is dominant.