Successional patterns on tropical inselbergs: a case study on the Nouragues inselberg (French Guiana)
2009
Sarthou, Corinne | Kounda-Kiki, Charlotte | Vaçulik, Anne | Mora, Philippe | Ponge, Jean-François | Mécanismes adaptatifs : des organismes aux communautés (MAOAC) ; Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Biogéochimie et écologie des milieux continentaux (Bioemco) ; École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL) ; Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-AgroParisTech-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
International audience
Mostrar más [+] Menos [-]Inglés. A number of plant communities have been described on tropical inselbergs, known as hot spots of plant and animal biodiversity. However, few studies tried to question what drives seral processes in these harsh environments, submitted to natural hazards (violent storms, intense runoff and lightning strikes) which may destroy the vegetation cover and its accumulated organic matter. We analysed quantitative data from the granitic Nouragues inselberg (French Guiana) in order to discern how successional processes featured their variety. We showed that the transition from herbaceous carpets (bromeliaceous mats and grassy meadows) to woody vegetation (shrub thickets) was not conditioned by slope, but was truly successional. We also showed that there was a cycle of change in shrub thickets, reinitiated by the destruction of scrub vegetation by fire (lightnings), wood-destroying fungi and termites.
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