Long-term dynamics of a Mediterranean alkaline vernal pool (Rhone delta, Southern France)

• Main Authors: Muller, Serge D, Bruneton, Hélène, Soulié-Märsche, Ingeborg, Rey, Tony, Thiéry, Alain, Waterkeyn, Aline, Brendonck, Luc, Schevin, Patrick, Yavercovski, Nicole, Grillas, Patrick
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Society of Wetlands Scientists 2008
• Subjects: branchiopoda; charophyta; conservation; ostracoda; palaeoecology; pollen; temporary wetland; ostracods crustacea; temporary pools; age calibration; chara-aspera; camargue; river; branchiopods; spinicaudata; notostraca; Rhone; Chara aspera
• Online Access: https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/222203

Mediterranean vernal pools are threatened habitats that support a number of endangered/rare plant and invertebrate species. Conservation management of these important habitats is limited by a lack of knowledge, especially concerning their past and present ecological dynamics. A multidisciplinary palaeoecological investigation was conducted oil one of the last alkaline vernal pools of the Rhone delta (Southern France). Results highlighted the value of a multidisciplinary approach based on several complementary methods, and provide direction for subsequent palaeoecological Studies in temporary wetlands. Despite sonic degradation, fossil assemblages provide ail accurate reconstruction of the past ecological dynamics of the vernal pool studied. The pool originated c. 1100 years ago from the infilling of an abandoned palaeochannel and its subsequent fragmentation. It may thus be considered as a legacy of past natural fluvial activity, which ended with the complete channelization and confinement of the River Rhone in 1869 AD. With natural processes disrupted, new pools may need to be artificially constructed in order to preserve the biological communities of alkaline vernal pools of the Rhone delta. status: published