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Effects of soil erosion on the floristic composition of plant communities on marl in northeast Spain
Author(s) -
GuerreroCampo Joaquín,
MontserratMartí Gabriel
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of vegetation science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1654-1103
pISSN - 1100-9233
DOI - 10.2307/3236625
Subject(s) - edaphic , marl , vegetation (pathology) , floristics , erosion , ecology , plant cover , environmental science , vegetation cover , geography , species richness , soil science , geology , biology , soil water , land use , structural basin , geomorphology , medicine , pathology
Abstract. This study explored the validity of three responses of vegetation to increased soil erosion: reduction of vegetation cover, number of species and reduced substitution of species. 201 relevés, including edaphic and geomorphological data, were surveyed in the intensely eroded Eocene marls of the Prepyrenees (NE Spain). Changes in plant species’ presence in relevés from different degradation stages were compared. The level of vegetation degradation was defined as the total phanerogam cover which, in the studied area, was correlated to the degree of soil erosion. The considered trends were validated. Reduction of phanerogam cover and species number were gradual from low to high‐eroded areas. Vegetation degradation explained 48% of the species number variance. In the later stages of degradation a significant substitution of species was not observed, only a lower frequency of occurrence of several species that appeared in the whole set of relevés. Through the process of degradation, 47% of species displayed significantly reduced frequencies as degradation increased, none showed a significant increase in frequency. It is concluded that there are no characteristic species in these plant communities that survive in the severely eroded marls. Among the few species that had increased in frequency, most only colonised favourable micro‐environments.