Introductory chapter: teaching plant dynamics as a basis for the establishment of climax vegetation. The need for research and learning

Abstract

Shrublands are constituted byshrubby plants, which act as dynamic stages of forests in different environments, Mediterranean, temperate, and tropical. Depending on the environment in which they are located, the structure of shrublands is different. In Mediterranean and temperate climates, the thickets can include different dynamic stages, depending on the type of soil, which is basically a lithosol or regosol, soils on which thyme, canthus, rockrose, rosemary, heath, etc., are installed; when the power of the soil is higher than that of the regosol, the community that is installed is a high scrub, type coscojar, madroñal. In all cases when the climax vegetation is degraded, there is a loss of soil by erosion, passing from luvisol and cambisol soils to more skeletal soils such as regosols, and therefore, a perfect correlation is established between the type of soil and the type of shrub community; within the different shrub communities, the first dynamic stage closer to the climax is still developed on deep soils, which when eroded allow the entry of a serial scrub. In all cases the shrub vegetation exploits poorer edaphic ecological niches than those of the forest, being the structure of shrub and forest vegetation different. While tree species belong in Raunkiaer’s classification to the group of phanerophytes and macrophanerophytes, shrubs are included in the groups of camephytes and microphanerophytes. The objective is to raise awareness of Raunkiaer biotypes and their value for vegetation research.