Impact of enclosure on some of vital ecosystem attributes in El-Bayadh region, North-West Algerien steppe

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Impact of enclosure on some of vital ecosystem attributes in El-Bayadh region, North-West Algerien steppe

Salemkour Nora, Chaib Warda, Bettiche Farida, Fadlaoui Haroun
J. Bio. Env. Sci.20( 6), 28-44, June 2022.
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Abstract

Protection of degraded rangelands is widely considered to be the most effective and practical way to conserve plant diversity and maintain ecosystem composition and structure, for this purpose we carried out this study in the region of El-Bayadh, located in North–West Algerien steppe, aiming at assessing the effect of the enclosure technique on plant cover structure and productivity, in both enclosure (protected) and grazed rangelands. Several vital ecosystem attributes such as diversity, richness, total plant cover, perennial plant cover, annual plant cover, soil surface elements cover and pastoral value were compared between enclosure and grazed areas. The findings revealed considerable positive effects of protection on the scored parameters. However, the results emphasized a negative effect of enclosure on vegetation dynamics. This was observed by the occurrence of crusts on the soil surface which may constitute an obstacle to water infiltration and seeds germination, for this we suggest that this parameter be retained for the opening of these aminaged rangelands (enclosure) for grazing.

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