The Impact of Exclosure on the Rehabilitation of Steppe Vegetation at Naâma Rangelands in Algeria

The naâma steppe rangelands in algeria are undergoing continuous degradation dueto overgrazing, land clearing, silting up and desertification. given the seriousness of this situationand the ecological deterioration of these steppe rangelands, the need for an action plan topreserve and rehabilitate the degraded rangelands is becoming more and more urgent. among thesolutions proposed for the degraded rangeland rehabilitation, the exclosure has proven to be aneffective and inexpensive fight against the degradation factors. this study aimed to quantifyingthe effectiveness and impact of the exclosure rehabilitation technique after a protection period(2009-2015) in the esparto grasslands (stipa tenacissima l.) ranges located at djedida in thenaâma region (western algeria). the adopted methodological approach is that of thecomparative analysis of vegetation descriptors based on a quantitative (recoveries, floristicrichness) and qualitative assessment, evaluation of the plant cover (biological, systematic,biogeographic phytodiversity) between the exclosure rangeland and the nearby located grazingrangeland having about the same climato-edaphic station conditions. thirty phytoecologicalsurveys were carried out for the exclosure rangeland as well as on an unprotected control range(outside the exclosure area). the comparative analysis of the obtained results shows that, ingeneral, the exclosure rangeland is relatively much richer in terms of quantity and quality thanthe grazing range. in the exclosure areas, the vegetation was more productive and morediversified, the average vegetation cover was 25% vs 5%, number of species was 41 vs. 14 anddensity was 19.3 vs, 4.6 plants/100m² for exclosure and open grazing range, respectively. on theother hand, in the grazing range, the vegetation was much diversified in terms of biological,systematics and biogeographic aspects in terms of floristic diversity. the impact of exclosure ofpastoral improvement was interesting after a period of more than 6 years. it has a remarkableeffect on the vegetation cover improvement, the floristic composition and the floristic richnessincrease. it stimulates the reconstitution, regeneration and development of the grass species ofesparto grass (stipa tenacissima l.) in the steppe ranges of perennial species.