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Garrigue orgarigue (/ɡəˈriːɡ/gə-REEG), also known asphrygana (Greek:φρύγανα[ˈfriɣana],n.pl.),[1] is a type of lowscrublandecoregion andplant community in theMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrubbiome.
It is found onlimestone soils insouthern France and around theMediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the moderatedMediterranean climate provides annual summerdrought. It is an anthropogenicdegradation andsuccession form of formerevergreen oak forests that existed until around 2500 years BCE.[2][3][4]
The term has also found its way intohaute cuisine, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigueshrubland.[5]
UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre described garrigue as "discontinuous bushy associations of the Mediterraneancalcareousplateaus, which have relativelyalkaline soils. It is often composed ofkermes oak,lavender,thyme, and whitecistus. 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,juniper and stuntedholly oaks andholm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such aslavender,sage,rosemary,wild thyme andArtemisia are common garrigue plants.
The aromatic oils and solublemonoterpenes of such herbs leached into garrigue soils fromleaf litter have been connected with plantallelopathy, which asserts the dominance of a plant over its neighbors, especiallyannuals, and contributes to the characteristic open spacing and restrictedflora in a garrigue.[9] The fines (charred wood and smoke residues, orcharcoal dust) of periodic brush fires also have had an effect on the patterning and composition of the garrigues. Clear summer skies and intensesolar 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.
Garrigue is a common general word for the shrublandhabitatecosystems in southern France along withmaquis, which are known elsewhere in theMediterranean region asmatorral andtomillar in Spain,macchia in Italy,phrygana in Greece,garig in Croatia, andbatha inPalestine orhoresh inIsrael.
InCalifornia a similar Mediterranean climateecoregion is namedchaparral; inChile it is named thematorral; inSouth Africa it is namedfynbos; and inAustralia it is namedmallee. All are in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.
Both garrigue and maquis are associated with theMediterranean climate within theMediterranean region. However, the distinction is not clear and term use is inconsistent.
Maquis shrubland is broadly similar to garrigue, but the vegetation is denser, being composed of numerous closely spaced shrubs. Maquis is associated with siliceous (acid) soils, unlike the relatively alkalinecalcareous soils of the garrigue. Its plant communities are often suites associated withholm oak.Calcifuges such asErica andCalluna are present in the maquisecoregion.
Deforestation of the indigenous oak forest since theLate Bronze Age, for cultivation ofolives,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 inerosion of the topsoil.[10] The wild garrigue, then, is a man-formed landscape. The intensity of grazing pressure has had a direct response in theecotope, reflected today in the decline of goat-pasturing.[11]
First cited inFrench in 1546,garrigue is borrowed fromProvençalgarriga, equivalent toOld Frenchjarrie. The term is most likely related toGasconcarroc "rock" and toGermanic SwissKarren, a kind ofsedimentary rock. These words could derive from a supposed source such as*carra "rock," perhaps a remnant of a pre-Roman language and possibly akin toBasque*karr-,harri "rock."[12]Gaulish and thenLatin appear to have borrowed*carra, which evolved into its modern descendants inRomance languages.[13]
The dense, thrifty growth of garrigue flora has recommended many of its shrubs andsub-shrubs for uses asornamental plants in traditional anddrought tolerant gardens. Many shrubs and flowering perennials of the garrigue are mainstays of the English "mixed border" of herbaceous andwoody plants found inEnglish gardens, and around the world, though often grown under cooler, moister conditions.
Some have becomeinvasive species in theMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome's other ecoregions beyond the Mediterranean Basin on other continents, including theCalifornia chaparral and woodlands.
Grapes that are grown in thegarrigues region of France are said to producewines 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 inSouthern France contain the wordgarrigues as part of theirappellation orlabel name.[15]
Media related toGarrigue at Wikimedia Commons Media related toMaquis (vegetation) at Wikimedia Commons Media related toMediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub at Wikimedia CommonsWines andwinemaking | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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