Study of the soil-vegetation relationships of some chamaephytes in the southern landscape of Tlemcen (Oranie, Western Algeria)

Soil and plants are intimately linked and interdependent, since the availability and flux of soil resources, as well as the structure of the soil as a habitat, are important determinants of the identity and activity of living organisms, especially plants. In this paper, we investigate the influence of the physicochemical composition of the soil of a steppe region on the abundance of some chamaephytes. The physicochemical analysis of the soil shows that the soil of these halophyte-dominated formations is characterised by a sandy-silty texture and a particularly low organic matter content, resulting in a moderately low alkalinity but also a significant salinity. This reflects the fact that the study area belongs to an arid or semi-arid climate, where evaporation seems to prevail.  These edaphic conditions probably explain to a large extent the presence of halophytes, in particular Artemisia inculta, Atriplex halimus, Lygeum spartum, as well as the low abundance of accompanying vegetation, whose salts can considerably slow down or even inhibit the growth of young plants.