TITLE:
The Spatio-Temporal Interfaces within the Lesser Antilles Vegetation (The Example of the Island of Martinique)
AUTHORS:
Philippe Joseph
KEYWORDS:
Lesser Antilles, Martinique, Vegetation, Forest Ecosystem, Biodiversity, Anthropization, Interface, Ecotone
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.3 No.3,
March
10,
2016
ABSTRACT: The temporal vegetation dynamics and its spatial distribution cause
discontinuities, border areas, ecotones and ecosystem heterogeneities, in other
words biocenotics which result in a multitude of shapes and organic combinations.
These interfaces are added variations due to vertical stratification involving
specific architectures and behaviours towards light. These “interface
environments” represent a plurality of plant biodiversity aspects and therefore
ecological profiles which form the basis of the resilience processes. In the
Lesser Antilles, Man has increased community complexity by increasing the
number of eco-units1. As a result, the number of ecosystem interfaces
increased so in some ways, he became the “architect” or “creator” of species
biodiversity in the landscape through the ecosystem and the plant communities.
Ultimately the current landscape is a mosaic of physiognomic units of unequal
dimensions belonging to various successional stages. In the case of Martinique,
we will discuss the complexity of the Lesser Antilles forest vegetation. The
argument seeks to show its hierarchical organisation, the characteristics of
its subsets and their spatial and temporal relationships.