Vegetation dynamics and plant species interactions under grazed and ungrazed conditions in a western European salt marsh

Abstract

Abstract Experiments in exclosures were conducted on a salt marsh in a macrotidal system in western France. The aim of this study was threefold: (1) to compare vegetation dynamics over a period of 8 years in grazed and ungrazed conditions (2) to investigate the response of annual species to grazing duration during seedling establishment (3) to test the effect of an increase in soil nitrogen availability after cessation of grazing on interactions between Suaeda maritima and Puccinellia maritima . In grazed conditions, during all the survey, vegetation was dominated by a short P. maritima sward with the annual Salicornia europaea in the lower and middle marshes. However, after cessation of grazing in 1994, a homogeneous matrix of the forb Halimione portulacoides , quickly replaced P. maritima in the well drained lower marsh. At the middle marsh level, fine sediment and poor drainage maintained P. maritima while the annual S. maritima which tolerates taller and denser vegetation replaced S. europaea. Elymus pungens cover was limited till 2000 but its rising in 2001 let expect its dominance in the future. While P. maritima abundance remained high, spring abundance of annual species such as S. europaea and S. maritima globally decreased with sheep grazing duration on the salt marsh between February and June. Experiments with monocultures of P. maritima and S. maritima demonstrated that nitrogen was a limiting factor on the salt marsh. In a mixed community, a moderate application of nitrogen (15 g N m –2 year –1 as NH 4 -NO 3 ) promoted growth of P. maritima and limited the biomass of S. maritima , but growth of the latter was enhanced by a high application of nitrogen (30 g N m –2 year –1 ). An increase in the abundance of annuals such as S. maritima on the salt marsh is discussed.