Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Impacts of water stress removal and disturbance regimes on Mediterranean dry grasslands diversity and succession

  • Published:
Plant Ecology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Our goal was to disentangle the effects of stress removal and disturbance on plant communities of a Mediterranean rangeland, La Crau (southeastern France). We compared undisturbed reference steppe vegetation with vegetation impacted by changes in land use such as earlier phases of cultivation (dating back 20 years) and/or current water infiltrations (revealed by the presence of Brachypodium phœnicoïdes), since the establishment of adjacent hay meadows. We considered plots with and without brambles (Rubus ulmifolius), an indigenous shrub species that had colonized the area after the land-use changes. We monitored the composition and measured the taxonomic richness and richness of functional groups, evenness and similarities of plant communities. The species richness of the undisturbed community was significantly higher than that of all disturbed plant communities. Although cultivation led to the dominance of ruderal species, the removal of water stress had a stronger negative impact, enabling the establishment of herbaceous competitor species such as B. phœnicoïdes. The dominance of this species resulted in a significant decline in species richness and evenness after water stress removal. The presence of brambles correlating with former cultivation and/or current water infiltration did not have a significant impact on plant species richness in the vicinity of bramble bushes, although it significantly modified the composition of the adjacent herbaceous vegetation. Our study highlights again the low resilience of Mediterranean dry grasslands after disturbance. While both the disturbance and the water stress removal resulted in changes within the plant community, our findings reveal a stronger impact of the water stress removal. Water infiltration led to decreased plant species richness and evenness because the greater availability of water favored competitor species over the stress-tolerant xeric species. Therefore, for restoring the original steppe species richness, the priority will be to control water infiltrations, even before any scrub-clearing is undertaken to control bramble colonization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aronson J, Floret C, Le Floc’h E, Ovalle C, Pontanier R (1995) Restauration et réhabilitation des écosystèmes dégradés en zones arides et semi-arides: le vocabulaire et les concepts. In: Congrès International sur la Restauration des Terres Dégradées, des Zones Arides et Semi Arides, Tunis (ed) L’homme peut-il refaire ce qu’il a défait?. J Libbey Eurotext, Montrouge, pp 11–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates DM, Sarkar D (2007) Lme4: linear mixed-effects models using S4 classes. R package version 0.99875-6

  • Bolòs O, Vigo J (2001) Flora dels Països Catalans. Monocotiledònies. Editorial Barcino, Barcelona

    Google Scholar 

  • Buisson E (2006) Ecological restoration of Mediterranean grasslands in Provence and California. PhD Thesis. Aix-Marseille University

  • Buisson E, Dutoit T (2006) Creation of the natural reserve of La Crau: implications for the creation and management of protected areas. J Environ Manage 80:318–326

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Buisson E, Dutoit T, Torre F, Römermann C, Poschlod P (2006) The implications of seed rain and seed bank patterns for plant succession at the edges of abandoned fields in Mediterranean landscapes. Agric Ecosyst Environ 115:6–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carmel Y, Kadmon R (1999) Effects of grazing and topography on long-term vegetation changes in a Mediterranean ecosystem in Israel. Plant Ecol 145:243–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapin FS, Zavaleta ES, Eviner VT, Naylor RL, Vitousek PM, Reynolds HL, Hooper DU, Lavorel S, Sala OE, Hobbie SE, Mack MC, Díaz S (2000) Consequences of changing biodiversity. Nature 405:234–242

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clements FF (1916) Plant succession: an analysis of the development of vegetation. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Coffin DP, Lauenroth WK (1994) Succesional dynamics of a semiarid grassland: effects of soil texture and disturbance size. Vegetatio 110:67–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Cortina J, Maestre FT, Vallejo R, Baeza MJ, Valdecanto A, Pérez-Devesa M (2006) Ecosystem structure, function, and restoration success: are they related? J Nat Conserv 14:152–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cristofoli S, Mahy G (2010) Restauration écologique: contexte, contraintes et indicateurs de suivi. Biotechnol Agron Soc Environ 14:203–211

    Google Scholar 

  • De La Fouchardière G (1959) Plantons des ronces. Rev For Fr 11:699–701

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Devaux J, Archiloque A, Borel L, Bourrelly M, Louis-Palluel J (1983) Notice de la carte phytoécologique de la Crau (Bouches du Rhône). Biol Écol Méditerr 10:5–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Domènech R, Vilà M (2008) Response of the invader Cortaderia selloana and two coexisting natives to competition and water stress. Biol Invasions 10:903–912

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutoit T, Alard D (1995) Permanent seed banks in chalk grassland under various management regimes: their role in the restoration of species-rich plant communities. Biodivers Conserv 4:939–950

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dutoit T, Buisson E, Fadda S, Henry F, Coiffait-Gombault C, Jaunatre R, Alignan JF, Masson S, Bulot A (2013) The pseudo-steppe of La Crau (Southeastern France): origin, management and restoration of a Mediterranean rangeland. In: Traba J, Morales M (eds) Steppe ecosystems: biological diversity, management and restoration. Nova Publishers, Hauppauge, pp 287–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Fadda S, Henry F, Orgeas J, Ponel P, Buison E, Dutoit T (2008) Consequences of the cessation of 3000 years of grazing on dry Mediterranean grassland ground-active beetle assemblages. C R Biol 331:532–546

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fernández Alés R, Laffarga JM, Ortega F (1993) Strategies in Mediterranean grassland annuals in relation to stress and disturbance. J Veg Sci 4:313–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forey E, Dutoit T (2012) Vegetation, soils and seed banks of limestone grasslands are still impacted by former cultivation one century after abandonment. Commun Ecol 13:194–202

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gachet S, Véla E, Tatoni T (2005) BASECO: a floristic and ecological database of Mediterranean French flora. Biodiver Conserv 14:1023–1034

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaignard P (2003) Changement d’usage agricole et dynamique spatio-temporelle de la steppe de Crau (13) depuis 1955, secteurs de la ZPS (Zone de Protection Spéciale). Master’s thesis, Université Aix-Marseille III, Marseille

  • Gleason HA (1926) The individualistic concept of plant association. Bull Torrey Bot Club 53(1):7–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grime JP (1979) Plant strategies and vegetation processes. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Henry F, Talon B, Dutoit T (2010) The age and history of the French Mediterranean steppe revisited by soil wood charcoal analysis. Holocene 20:25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirst RA, Pywell RF, Marrs RH, Putwain PD (2003) The resistance of a chalk grassland to disturbance. J Appl Ecol 40:368–379

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holling CS (1973) Resilience and stability of ecological systems. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 4:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hothorn T, Bretz F, Westfall P (2008) Simultaneus inference in general parametric models. Biomed J 50(3):346–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Jaunatre R (2012) Dynamics and restoration of a Mediterranean steppe after changes in land-use (La Crau, Southern-France). PhD Thesis, Université d’Avignon et des Pays du Vaucluse, Avignon

  • Jaunatre R, Buisson E, Dutoit T (2012) First-year results of a multi-treatment steppe restoration experiment in La Crau (Provence, France). Plant Ecol Evol 145:13–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordano P (1984) Seed weight variation and differential avian dispersal in blackberries Rubus ulmifolius. Oikos 43:149–153

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S (1999) Ecological diversity and resilience of Mediterranean vegetation to disturbance. Divers Distrib 5:3–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lavorel S, McIntyre S, Grigulis K (1999) Plant response to disturbance in a Mediterranean grassland: how many functional groups? J Veg Sci 10:661–672

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Houérou HN (1981) Impact of man and his animals on mediterranean vegetation. In: Di Castri F, Goodal DW, Specht RL (eds) Mediterranean-type shrublands. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 479–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Mazzorali AC, Comparatore VM, Bedmar F (2011) Control of elm-leaf blackberry invasion in a natural reserve in Argentina. J Nat Conserv 19:185–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell SCL (2002) Photosynthetic characteristics of invasive and non-invasive species of Rubus (Rosaceae). Am J Bot 89:1431–1438

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McDowell S, Turner D (2002) Reproductive effort in invasive and non-invasive Rubus. Oecologia 133:102–111

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGregor BA (1996) Using goats for the control of blackberries in north-eastern Victoria. In: Eleventh Australian weeds conference proceedings, pp 312–324. R.C.H. Shepherd, Melbourne

  • Myers N, Mittermeier RA, Mittermeier CG, da Fonseca GAB, Kent J (2000) Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403:853–858

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Noy-Meir I, Gutman M, Kaplan Y (1989) Responses of Mediterranean grassland plants to grazing and protection. J Ecol 77:290–310

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oksanen J (2011) Multivariate analysis of ecological communities in R: vegan tutorial. Ecology 83:922

    Google Scholar 

  • Peco B, de Pablos I, Traba J, Levassor C (2005) The effect of grazing abandonment on species composition and functional traits: the case of Dehesa grasslands. Basic Appl Ecol 6:175–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peco B, Sánchez AM, Azcárate FM (2006) Abandonment in grazing systems: consequences for vegetation and soil. Agric Ecosyst Environ 113:284–294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pons A, Quézel P (1998) On the installation of the Mediterranean climate. Compt Rend Acad Sci Ser IIA 327:755–760

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyneri A, Pascal G, Battaglini LM (1994) Comparison between sheep and goats grazing behavior in native lows mountains pasture. In: Gordon IJ, Rubino R (eds) Grazing behaviour of goats and sheeps. CIHEAM-IAMZ, Zaragoza, pp 107–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Römermann C, Bernhardt M, Dutoit T, Poschlod P, Rolando C (2004) Historical cultivation in the Crau: the potential of characteristic coussous species to re-establish after abandonment. Ecol Mediterr 30:47–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Römermann C, Dutoit T, Poschlod P, Buisson E (2005) Influence of former cultivation on the unique Mediterranean steppe of France and consequences for conservation management. Biol Conserv 12:21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossignol N, Chadoeuf L, Carrèreand P, Dumont B (2011) A hierarchical model for analysing the stability of vegetation patterns created by grazing in temperate pastures. Appl Veg Sci 14:189–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sala OE, Oesterheld M, León RJC, Soriano A (1986) Grazing effects upon plant community structure in sub humid grasslands of Argentina. Vegetatio 67:27–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott AJ, Morgan JW (2011) Recovery of soil and vegetation in semi-arid Australian old fields. J Arid Environ. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2011.08.014

    Google Scholar 

  • SER (2004) The SER international primer on ecological restoration. http://www.ser.org/resources/resources-detail-view/ser-international-primer-on-ecological-restoration. Society for Ecological Restoration International Science & Policy Working (version 2)

  • Suding KN, Gross KL, Houseman GR (2004) Alternative states and positive feedbacks in restoration ecology. Trends Ecol Evol 19:46–53

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • R Development Core Team (2008) R: a language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna. http://www.R-project.org

  • Temperton VM, Hobbs RJ, Nuttle T, Halle S (2004) Assembly rules and restoration ecology: bridging the gap between theory and practice. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • Ter Braak CJF (1986) Canonical correspondence analysis: a new eigenvector technique for multivariate direct gradient analysis. Ecology 67:1167–1179

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tonioli M, Escarré J, Speranzá M (2001) Facilitation and competition affecting the regeneration of Quercus pubescens Willd. Ecoscience 8(3):381–391

    Google Scholar 

  • Uytvanck JV, Maes D, Vandenhaute D, Hoffmann M (2008) Restoration of woodpasture on former agricultural land: the importance of safe sites and time gaps before grazing for tree seedlings. Biol Conserv 141:78–88

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wehrlen L (1985) La ronce (Rubus fruticosus L. agg) en forêt. Revue For Fr 37(4):288–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White PS, Jentsch A (2004) Disturbance, succession, and community assembly in terrestrial plant community. In: Temperton VM, Hobbs RJ, Nuttle T, Halle S (eds) Assembly rules and restoration ecology. Island Press, Washington, DC

    Google Scholar 

  • White PS, Pickett STA (1985) Natural disturbance and patch dynamics: an introduction. In: White PS, Pickett STA (eds) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams K, Westrick LJ, Williams BJ (2006) Effects of blackeberry (Rubus discolour) invasion on oak population dynamics in a California savanna. For Ecol Manag 228:187–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We warmly thank Daniel Pavon for his help surveying vegetation and identifying plants, and the Nature Reserve of ‘Coussouls de Crau’ for giving us access to study sites and financial support. This study was also supported by a French Ministry of Education and Research Doctoral scholarship. Thanks to Marjorie Sweetko and Paul Michael for correcting the English of the revised version.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UMR IMBE, CNRS IRD, Aix-Marseille Université et Université d’Avignon, IUT, Site Agroparc, BP 1207, 84911, Avignon Cedex 9, France

    Solène Masson, Matthieu Gauvain, François Mesléard & Thierry Dutoit

  2. Centre de Recherche de la Tour du Valat, Le Sambuc, 13200, Arles, France

    François Mesléard

Authors
  1. Solène Masson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Matthieu Gauvain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. François Mesléard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Thierry Dutoit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Solène Masson.

Additional information

Communicated by Devan Allen McGranahan.

Electronic supplementary material

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Fig. 7.

Fig. 7
figure 7

Geographical position and map of La Crau with the nine study sites represented by: crosses for Fallow and Infiltrations sites, squares for Infiltrations sites and triangles for fallow sites (see Table 1 for abbreviations)

Full size image

Appendix 2

See Table 3.

Table 3 Main characteristics of the nine study sites in the plain of La Crau, southeastern France: abbreviation; GPS position; treatment applied at each site (F, I and FI)
Full size table

Appendix 3

See Table 4.

Table 4 Taxa recorded in 9 study sites in the La Crau steppe (south-eastern France)
Full size table

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Masson, S., Gauvain, M., Mesléard, F. et al. Impacts of water stress removal and disturbance regimes on Mediterranean dry grasslands diversity and succession. Plant Ecol 216, 1351–1369 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0513-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-015-0513-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation