Impact of Livestock Exclusion on Sidi Toui National Park Vegetation Communities, Tunisia

Abstract

The restoration technique importance resides on the assessment of its impact on biodiversity. This assessment is possible by the use of some environmental indicators extracted from a diachronic study of land cover changes in protected areas. Our study is

Assessment of long-term protection on the aboveground biomass and organic carbon content using two non-destructive techniques: case of the Sidi Toui National Park in southern Tunisia

“…Generally, protected areas play an important role in carbon sequestration in arid regions (Del Rosario et al 2012;Castro et al 2015). In particular, the exclusion of livestock from the Sidi Toui National Park has increased biomass production, spatial heterogeneity, and total vegetation cover (Ould Sidi Mohamed et al 2002;Tarhouni et al 2014). Zhang (1998) reported that total canopy cover was highest in protected areas, compared with the freely grazed areas, but the short duration of his study meant he was unable to distinguish between the impacts of grazing and/or climate stress as the main cause of this variation.…”

“…Five dominant native perennial species were selected, because they are key species of the five main plant communities in the park and its surrounding (Ould Sidi Mohamed et al 2002;Tarhouni et al 2014): A. henoniana, G. decander, R. suaveolens, H. schmittianum and H. scoparium. The biomass and canopy cover of these species were measured during the spring of 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.…”

“…National parks and other protected areas have been established to protect biodiversity and maintain ecological stability through restriction of livestock grazing and other human interventions. According to Campbell et al (2008), 15.2% of global carbon stock is stored within protected areas, which cover 12.2% of total land area, highlighting the importance of protected areas in climate change mitigation.Long-term protection of such dryland areas increases spatial heterogeneity and vegetation cover and leads to the development of new vegetation units (Tarhouni et al 2014). This management technique significantly improves aboveground productivity of shrubby plants in…”

“…Long-term protection of such dryland areas increases spatial heterogeneity and vegetation cover and leads to the development of new vegetation units (Tarhouni et al 2014). This management technique significantly improves aboveground productivity of shrubby plants in…”

Diversity of desert rangelands of Tunisia

“…These problems are generally compounded by anthropogenic factors such as overgrazing and wood harvesting (Le Houérou, 2009). Taken together, these factors contribute to decreased biological diversity and rangeland productivity, as well as high rates of erosion, all of which are widespread problems in Tunisia (Gamoun, 2012, Tarhouni et al., 2014).…”