Short-Term Canopy and Long-Term Effects Soil of a Native Shrub Under Arid Bioclimate: A Case Study From Tunisia

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Abstract Interactions between plants (competition and facilitation) in terrestrial ecosystems include: (1) short-term effects primarily quantified with experimental removals; and (2) long-term effects primarily quantified with observational methods. This study, conducted in the National Park of Bou Hedma, examined (1) the relative contributions of short-term canopy and long-term soil effects of a shrub species in explaining differences in biomass, species diversity (richness) and species density of understory plants (i) between shrubs and open areas, (ii) between shrubs and removed shrubs; and (2) the role of grazing in driving changes in direction of short-term and long-term effects in shrub/understory species interactions.Differences in species richness, density and biomass of understorey communities between shrub removed and open areas were mostly due to long-term soil effects, whereas differences beneath shrubs and shrub removed were due to short-term canopy effects, in particular on soil water content.Our study provides the positive effect of savannas shrubs on the understorey vegetation biomass, species density and diversity in arid ecosystems. Additionally, grazing by large herbivores negatively influenced the dynamics of vegetation under an arid bioclimate.

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