Garrigue

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Garigue
)
This article is about the Mediterranean scrubland. For other uses, see Garrigues (disambiguation).
Garrigue in France.

Garrigue or garigue (

scrubland ecoregion and plant community in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome
.

It is found on limestone soils in southern France and around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the moderated Mediterranean climate provides annual summer drought. It is an anthropogenic degradation and succession form of former evergreen oak forests that existed until around 2500 years BC.[2][3][4]

The term has also found its way into haute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue shrubland.[5]

Habitat and vegetation

Garrigue in Languedoc, Occitanie.
Cistus and Senecio are characteristic plants of the garrigue.
Bukovica, Croatia
.

UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre described garrigue as "discontinuous bushy associations of the Mediterranean

lavender, thyme, and white cistus. There may be a few isolated trees."[6][7][8]

Garrigue is discontinuous with widely spaced bush associations with open spaces, and is often extensive. It is associated with limestone and base rich soils, and calcium associated plants.

Aside from dense thickets of kermes oak that punctuate the garrigue landscape,

wild thyme and Artemisia
are common garrigue plants.

Allelopathy

The aromatic oils and soluble

solar radiation
have induced the evolution of protective physiologies: the familiar glaucous, grayish-green of garrigue landscapes is produced by the protective white hairs and light-diffusing, pebbled surfaces of many leaves typical of garrigue plants.

Similar ecoregions

Garrigue is a common general word for the shrubland

macchia in Italy, phrygana in Greece, garig in Croatia, and batha in Palestine or horesh in Israel
.

In California a similar Mediterranean climate ecoregion is named chaparral; in Chile it is named the matorral; in South Africa it is named fynbos; and in Australia it is named mallee. All are in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

Maquis

Both garrigue and maquis are associated with the

Mediterranean region
. However, the distinction is not clear and term use is inconsistent.

Calcifuges such as Erica and Calluna are present in the maquis ecoregion
.

Conservation

Late Bronze Age, for cultivation of olives, vines and grain, the introduction of sheep and especially goats and charcoal-making for heat and iron-working, exposed the land surface to weathering and resulted in erosion of the topsoil.[10] The wild garrigue, then, is a man-formed landscape. The intensity of grazing pressure has had a direct response in the ecotope, reflected today in the decline of goat-pasturing.[11]

Origin of the word

First cited in French in 1546, garrigue is borrowed from Provençal garriga, equivalent to Old French jarrie. The term is most likely related to Gascon carroc "rock" and to Germanic Swiss Karren, a kind of sedimentary rock. These words could derive from a supposed source such as *carra "rock," perhaps a remnant of a pre-Roman language and possibly akin to Basque *karr-, harri "rock."[12] Gaulish and then Latin appear to have borrowed *carra, which evolved into its modern descendants in Romance languages.[13]

Uses

Cultivation

The dense, thrifty growth of garrigue flora has recommended many of its shrubs and

English gardens
, and around the world, though often grown under cooler, moister conditions.

Some have become invasive species in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome's other ecoregions beyond the Mediterranean Basin on other continents, including the California chaparral and woodlands.

Viticulture

Grapes that are grown in the garrigues region of France are said to produce wines with a "barnyard" or "earthy" tone, or "the herbal scent of lavender that fills the hills of Provence in the summer time."[14] Some wines bottled in Southern France contain the word garrigues as part of their appellation or label name.[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Conspectus florae graecae". 1901.
  2. ^ "Garrigues en pays languedocien" (in French). Ecologistes de l'Euzière. 2007. Archived from the original on 2013-11-02. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  3. ^ Shield, Peter. "History of the Garrigue". Southern Times. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  4. ISBN 978-2-906128-20-0
  5. ^ Bienvenue sur le site officiel de l'office de tourisme de la région de Sault Archived 2006-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre, "European Forests and Protected Areas: Gap Analysis", 2000 Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine (pdf file)
  7. ^ Renault, J.-M. (2000): La Garrigue - grandeur nature. - Barcelona: Les créations du Pélican.
  8. ISBN 2-9520261-0-6
  9. ^ John D. Thompson, Plant Evolution in the Mediterranean (2005:148ff).
  10. ^ Braudel, Fernand. The Mediterranean in the Age of Philip II
  11. ^ Z. Henkin et al., "Suitability of Mediterranean oak woodland for beef herd husbandry" Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 109.3/4, (September 2005:255-261).
  12. ^ Bloch, Oscar, Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, p. 275.
  13. ^ Bloch, Oscar: "Garrigue," page 270, Dictionnaire Etymologique, Paris, 1950
  14. ^ "Wine Tasting Report: Chateau Saint Martin de la Garrigues 1997 Bronzinelle Coteaux du Languedoc". Wine Lovers Page. March 2000. Retrieved 9 March 2010.
  15. ISBN 978-2-923692-01-2

External links
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