Community dynamics of stabilized dune xerophytic shrubs

Geographical shifts in the successional dynamics of inland dune shrub communities

“…Dominant shrub communities growing on inland dune habitats of the Setúbal Peninsula‐Alentejo littoral region (Portugal) follow a clear compositional gradient, from Stauracanthus genistoides to Ulex australis ‐dominated scrubs (Chozas, Correia, et al, 2015; Neto, 2002) (Figure 1). In this relatively small region, both communities represent the extremes of a Mediterranean xerophytic shrub series driven by soil organic matter (Chozas, 2017; Chozas, Correia, et al, 2015). Therefore, in this work, we assess whether this local factor is consistently the main driver of the dynamics of these communities along their whole geographic gradient in SW Portugal, or alternatively, other additional factors acting at different scales also determine their dynamics.…”