Ecohydrology of agricultural ditches
Résumé
Landscape is a complex object that supports both biotic and abiotic processes. Understanding the interrelations between the biotic and abiotic processes of the landscape is of primary importance as these interrelations act as limitation factors for severale ecosystem propertics. We considered as case study the composition in flora of agricultural ditches that drive flows of water, because of the relationships between biotic and abiotic elements, as plants immersed affect rugosity and friction of water running, and water velocity affects plant seed dispersal. During august 2012, we sampled exaustively along a eighty-kilometers ditches network ten plant species. The study of niche preference of these species help us determining variables that drives water movement, such as granulometry, hygrometry, that are generally difficult to assess. Furtbermore, the spatial distribution of some hydrochorus species, i.e. for which seeds are dispersed by water, help us collecting usefull informations on water circulation and speed in ditches. The interest of using distribution of flora for hydrologists is discussed in this work.