The study of desertification in Algerian steppic rangelands: Case of the Djelfa region

The Algerian steppe suffered since several decades a serious problem of desertification, under the combined effect of anthropogenic and natural factors. The Djelfa region, like other steppe regions, is affected by this threat. This study aims to quantify the effects of desertification on the different components of the ecosystem in 11 stations located geographically in the Djelfa region. The floristic analysis identified 153 species belonging to 40 families and 110 genera’s. The Edaphic study showed that the studied soils were characterized by high levels of sand and limestone, and low levels of organic matter. In terms of correlations, we find that electrical conductivity decreases when the coarse sand rate increases. The coverage rate of the therophytes is well correlated with the Shannon index with r = 0.89 and the specific diversity with r = 0.74. The equitability index is correlated with chaméphytes and hemicryptophytes species, respectively with r = 0.75 and 0.62. Concerning the basal coverage parameters, there are no functional relationships between the variables forming this group except stone and block rates with a correlation coefficient of r = 0.69.