Early scrub development in De Westhoek coastal dunes (Belgium)

• Published in: Folia geobotanica Vol. 55; no. 4; pp. 315 - 332
• Main Authors: Provoost, Sam, Declerck, Leen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• 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
• DOI: 10.1007/s12224-020-09385-1
• ISSN: 1211-9520

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