The Relevance of Rest Periods in Rangeland Management for Plant Cover and Species Composition in Tataouine, Tunisia, Spring

Abstract

In southern Tunisia, rangelands are overexploited because the animal needs highly exceed plant production. For most of the skeletal desert soil, the overall vegetation covering oscillates between 1 and 10%; the perennial aerial biomass is lower than 100 kg of dry matter (DM)/ha/year. Being representative of different desert rangelands of Dhahar in southern Tunisia, Chenini is characterized by an arid Mediterranean bioclimate with a moderate winter. Rainfall is low and sporadic; the mean annual is estimated to be around 80 mm. Temperatures are generally cold in winter and hot in summer with a mean annual of about 20°C. The water balance is greatly affected by the low dense soil cover and exposition to winds. The local soils are predominantly not suitable for agricultural practices and have an exclusively pastoral vocation (skeletal soils). Despite the fragility of its potential, the region is overexploited by livestock during pluvial years. As a result, the spontaneous flora is found more degraded and its productive capacity reduced. The function starts by using a dataset were collected in April 2017 from 7 arid zones in southern Tunisia (Chenini community-Tataouine), which cover about 10600 ha including 5 private rangelands and one communal in addition to the continuously grazed site considered as control were retained for detailed monitoring-assessment study. We examined vegetation changes in the spatial and temporal patterns of community structure and rangeland function in response to the period of rest. This design will permit to appreciate the potential of regeneration and the persistence of plant species by monitoring the evolution of some descriptors (Plant cover: Percentage of the ground area covered by live aerial parts of plants). The state of the soil surface (wind veil, crust, stones, litter) is also studied in order to monitor and assess changes of soil structure.