Early scrub development in De Westhoek coastal dunes (Belgium)

Coastal dunes in Northwestern Europe were subject to substantial scrub expansion during the past decades, a process often considered as a major problem for conservation management. This paper explores this process in De Westhoek nature reserve (Belgium), focussing on the three major constituents of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFolia geobotanica Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 315 - 332
Main Authors Provoost, Sam, Declerck, Leen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Dordrecht Springer Science + Business Media 01.12.2020
Springer Netherlands
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
age of soil
Aging
Belgium
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Conservation
conservation areas
Decay
Demography
Dominance
Dunes
Growth rings
Hippophae rhamnoides
landscapes
Life Sciences
Ligustrum vulgare
Nature reserves
Northern European region
Plant Ecology
Plant Sciences
Plant Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography
Relative abundance
Salix repens
Scrub
shrublands
Soil moisture
soil water
Species
Vegetation
Vegetation mapping
Woodlands
Belgium
Northern European region
Coastal dune
Scrub
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Summary:Coastal dunes in Northwestern Europe were subject to substantial scrub expansion during the past decades, a process often considered as a major problem for conservation management. This paper explores this process in De Westhoek nature reserve (Belgium), focussing on the three major constituents of the early scrub: Salix repens, Hippophae rhamnoides and Ligustrum vulgare. We study changes in dominance pattern between 1953 and 2010 based on vegetation maps and the demography of these species based on growth ring counting. We relate this data to the edaphic factors soil moisture and soil age. Early scrub development occurred in three phases: (1) rapid, mainly secondary scrub expansion after release of grazing pressure, (2) a main shift in relative abundance of the three main species, and (3) further succession into tall scrub and woodland along with local scrub decay. Edaphic factors play a major role in vegetation dynamics, but their relative importance diminishes along with landscape ageing. Simultaneously, the outcome of competitive interaction between scrub species, in which population demography plays a key role, gains importance. Primary and secondary scrub development seem
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ISSN:1211-9520
1874-9348
DOI:10.1007/s12224-020-09385-1