Multivariante analyses of vegetation in the saline plain of lower-Cheliff, Algeria

Abstract EN

The plain of Lower-Cheliff is among the largest saline plains of Northwestern Algeria, located between 35.750° - 36.125°N of latitude and 0.5° -1°E of longitude.

It is characterized by a semi-arid climate and reduced number of little studied vegetal species.

The study of this vegetation in relation to environmental variables shows that the vegetation distribution in this plain is closely related to both altitude and electrical conductivity.

Redundancy analysis (RDA) revealed that these two variables are opposed on the first canonical axis.

Separation of relevés into similar groups according to their contribution and their coordinates on the first two axes of RDA provided 4 vegetation units, each one composed of several diagnostic species with a highly significant fidelity value according to Fisher test.

The kriging revealed a close relationship between these vegetation units and salinity.