Floristic Distribution According to the Edaphic Parameters of a Steppe Zone, Case of Study: The Nature Reserve “El-Mergueb” M’sila, Algeria

Abstract

The natural site of El-Mergueb, is one of the specific steppe ecosystem, that occupies an area of 16,481 ha; it is among the particular ecosystems in Algeria and is unique in northern Africa. It is located in the geographical limit of the Tell Atlas and the Saharan Atlas. It is at an altitude of 550 to 800 m, with a typically arid climate. The faunistic and floristic richness, quite specifically, contains species protected and classified in the IUCN: Chlamydotis and Gazella, as well as an autochthonous plant diversity: Stipa, Pistacia and Ziziphus. This study is based on the analysis of the vegetation by characterizing the associated soil type through the monitoring of the Eco-pedological relation during two seasons in three years: 2015−2016−2017. Nine soil profiles with a collection of twenty-one samples for each station of experimentation were collected. The results thus obtained showed that the content of the parameters analyzed is between low and average of the three stations. The average of the floristic analysis of the study area made it possible to define 34 botanical families spread over 69 botanical genus and 275 species. The analysis and the description of a natural space is important to establish a typology which is that is the basis for the development of management plans to conserve this category of protected areas. The FAC (Factorial Analysis of Correspondence) is relative to the individualization and the typology for three sequences, which corresponds to the groups (A), (B) and (C) also for the places in arid climate variants with very cold winters.

Keywords

• protected areas
• steppe soils
• anthropic pressure
• arid climate
• steppe vegetation