Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands

Arid steppes, with scattered vegetation, are commonly qualified as degraded ecosystems. Their natural vegetation cover is affected by both abiotic stresses and human activities and, therefore, suitable managements are needed for their sustainability. This study was carried out in the mountain rangel...

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Autores principales: Msadek, Jamila, Tlili, Abderrazak, Moumni, Marwa, Louhaichi, Mounir, Tarhouni, Mohamed
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: Elsevier 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125550
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author Msadek, Jamila
Tlili, Abderrazak
Moumni, Marwa
Louhaichi, Mounir
Tarhouni, Mohamed
author_browse Louhaichi, Mounir
Moumni, Marwa
Msadek, Jamila
Tarhouni, Mohamed
Tlili, Abderrazak
author_facet Msadek, Jamila
Tlili, Abderrazak
Moumni, Marwa
Louhaichi, Mounir
Tarhouni, Mohamed
author_sort Msadek, Jamila
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Arid steppes, with scattered vegetation, are commonly qualified as degraded ecosystems. Their natural vegetation cover is affected by both abiotic stresses and human activities and, therefore, suitable managements are needed for their sustainability. This study was carried out in the mountain rangeland chain of Matmata (southern dryland of Tunisia) during the springs of 2 rainy yr, 2019 and 2020. Our aims were to evaluate the impact of three grazing regimes (grazing exclusion [over 42 ys; 1978−2020]; seasonal [protected in spring and summer and grazed in autumn and winter, since the 1960s]; and continuous grazing [control; grazed over time]) on the cover of some plant life forms (Raunkiaer, Noy-Meir, and Grime types), under various conditions (sites, aspects, and elevations). To achieve this goal, the pseudoreplicated-nested design was applied, taking into account the site locations (grazing regimes), aspects (exposure to sunlight), and elevations. The cover of the retained plant life forms was measured using the quadrat point method. The main results showed that plant life forms are strongly affected by the grazing regime since the chamephytes (Ch_R), arido-active (AA_NM), and competitive stress-tolerant species (CS_G) are higher under seasonal grazing than control. All these species are qualified as less resistant to grazing. However, arido-passive (AP_NM), ruderal stress-tolerant (RS_G), and therophytes (Th_R) seem to be more resistant to grazing. Studying the impact of grazing management on the plant life form types provides useful information to find the most adapted species for rangeland sustainability all around the world.
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spelling CGSpace1255502026-01-14T02:11:46Z Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands Msadek, Jamila Tlili, Abderrazak Moumni, Marwa Louhaichi, Mounir Tarhouni, Mohamed adaptation drylands grazing management plants goal 13 climate action goal 15 life on land climate adaptation and mitigation mountain ecosystems Arid steppes, with scattered vegetation, are commonly qualified as degraded ecosystems. Their natural vegetation cover is affected by both abiotic stresses and human activities and, therefore, suitable managements are needed for their sustainability. This study was carried out in the mountain rangeland chain of Matmata (southern dryland of Tunisia) during the springs of 2 rainy yr, 2019 and 2020. Our aims were to evaluate the impact of three grazing regimes (grazing exclusion [over 42 ys; 1978−2020]; seasonal [protected in spring and summer and grazed in autumn and winter, since the 1960s]; and continuous grazing [control; grazed over time]) on the cover of some plant life forms (Raunkiaer, Noy-Meir, and Grime types), under various conditions (sites, aspects, and elevations). To achieve this goal, the pseudoreplicated-nested design was applied, taking into account the site locations (grazing regimes), aspects (exposure to sunlight), and elevations. The cover of the retained plant life forms was measured using the quadrat point method. The main results showed that plant life forms are strongly affected by the grazing regime since the chamephytes (Ch_R), arido-active (AA_NM), and competitive stress-tolerant species (CS_G) are higher under seasonal grazing than control. All these species are qualified as less resistant to grazing. However, arido-passive (AP_NM), ruderal stress-tolerant (RS_G), and therophytes (Th_R) seem to be more resistant to grazing. Studying the impact of grazing management on the plant life form types provides useful information to find the most adapted species for rangeland sustainability all around the world. 2022-07-01 2022-11-21T20:23:09Z 2022-11-21T20:23:09Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125550 en Open Access application/pdf Elsevier Jamila Msadek, Abderrazak Tlili, Marwa Moumni, Mounir Louhaichi, Mohamed Tarhouni. (1/7/2022). Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands. Rangeland Ecology & Management, 83, pp. 10-19.
spellingShingle adaptation
drylands
grazing management
plants
goal 13 climate action
goal 15 life on land
climate adaptation and mitigation
mountain ecosystems
Msadek, Jamila
Tlili, Abderrazak
Moumni, Marwa
Louhaichi, Mounir
Tarhouni, Mohamed
Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title_full Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title_fullStr Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title_full_unstemmed Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title_short Impact of Grazing Regimes, Landscape Aspect, and Elevation on Plant Life Form Types in Managed Arid Montane Rangelands
title_sort impact of grazing regimes landscape aspect and elevation on plant life form types in managed arid montane rangelands
topic adaptation
drylands
grazing management
plants
goal 13 climate action
goal 15 life on land
climate adaptation and mitigation
mountain ecosystems
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/125550
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