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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This work constitutes the first phytosociological analysis of saltmarshes
on the Angolan coast. Sixty-five relevés were carried out resulting in the description of six
new plant associations. These saltmarshes are characterized by a lower floristic richness
when compared to the Holarctic saltmarshes. Eighteen taxa were identified, some of them
succulent. Saltmarshes occur from the mouth of the Cunene River to the Cuanza River,
although in this last part they are already very impoverished. In the Cuanza river, saltmar shes occupy only a narrow strip in the inner sector of the mangroves in contact with conti nental ecosystems and are often made up of just one taxon, Sarcocornia natalensis subsp.
affinis. Mangroves reach their southern limit in the city of Lobito, although they are almost
extinct there. The occurrence and distribution of saltmarshes are affected by the Cold Ben guela Current, that influences the west coast of Africa between Cabo da Boa Esperança and
Benguela. The height of the saltmarsh’s platforms colonized by halophyte, sub-halophyte or
halotolerant plants determines the flooding period and thus the plant community’s floristic
composition. Soil granulometry also plays an important role in the spatial organization of plant communities. One of the main originalities of Angolan saltmarshes is the predomi nance of fine sandy or sandy-loam soil texture as a consequence of the proximity of the
Namibe desert. The PCA segregated the different plant communities described.
Description
Keywords
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Cardoso, J. F., Costa, J. C., Neto, C., Duarte, M. C., & Monteiro-Henriques, T. (2021). Comunidades vegetais dos salgados no Namibe (sudoeste de Angola). Finisterra, 56(116), 99–114. https://doi.org/10.18055/Finis20156
Publisher
Centro de Estudos Geográficos