Garrigue or garigue ( ), also known as phrygana ( , n. pl.), is a type of low

scrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

and

plant community A plant community is a collection or Association (ecology), association of plant species within a designated geographical unit, which forms a relatively uniform patch, distinguishable from neighboring patches of different vegetation types. The comp ...

in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub

biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...

. It is found on

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

soils in

southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

and around the Mediterranean Basin, generally near the seacoast where the moderated

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

provides annual summer

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

. It is an anthropogenic degradation and succession form of former

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

oak forests that existed until around 2500 years BCE. The term has also found its way into

haute cuisine ''Haute cuisine'' (; ) or ''grande cuisine'' is a style of cooking characterised by meticulous preparation, elaborate presentation, and the use of high quality ingredients. Typically prepared by highly skilled gourmet chefs, haute cuisine dish ...

, suggestive of the resinous flavours of a garrigue

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

Habitat and vegetation

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

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime (mineral), lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of Science, scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcare ...

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s, which have relatively

alkaline soil Alkali, or alkaline, soils are clay soils with high Soil pH, pH (greater than 8.5), a poor soil structure and a low infiltration capacity. Often they have a hard calcareous layer at 0.5 to 1 metre depth. Alkali soils owe their unfavorable ...

s. It is often composed of kermes oak,

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...

thyme Thyme () is a culinary herb consisting of the dried aerial parts of some members of the genus ''Thymus (plant), Thymus'' of flowering plants in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are native to Eurasia and north Africa. Thymes have culinary, medici ...

, and white cistus. There may be a few isolated trees." 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 stunted holly oaks and holm oaks are the typical trees; aromatic lime-tolerant shrubs such as

, sage, rosemary, wild thyme and '' Artemisia'' are common garrigue plants.

Allelopathy

The aromatic oils and soluble

monoterpene Monoterpenes are a class of terpenes that consist of two isoprene units and have the molecular formula C10H16. Monoterpenes may be linear (acyclic) or contain rings (monocyclic and bicyclic). Modified terpenes, such as those containing oxygen func ...

s of such herbs leached into garrigue soils from

leaf litter Plant litter (also leaf litter, tree litter, soil litter, litterfall, or duff) is dead plant material (such as leaves, bark, needles, twigs, and cladodes) that has fallen to the ground. This detritus or dead organic material and its constituen ...

have been connected with plant allelopathy, which asserts the dominance of a plant over its neighbors, especially annuals, and contributes to the characteristic open spacing and restricted

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

in a garrigue. The fines (charred wood and smoke residues, or charcoal dust) of periodic brush fires also have had an effect on the patterning and composition of the garrigues. Clear summer skies and intense

solar radiation Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrared (typically p ...

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

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s in southern France along with maquis, which are known elsewhere in the Mediterranean region as matorral and ''tomillar'' in Spain, macchia in Italy, ''phrygana'' in Greece, ''garig'' in Croatia, and ''batha'' in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

or ''horesh'' in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

a similar Mediterranean climate

is named

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

; in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

it is named the matorral; in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

it is named

fynbos Fynbos (; , ) is a small belt of natural shrubland or heathland vegetation located in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. The area is predominantly coastal and mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The fynbos ...

; and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

it is named mallee. All are in the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome.

Maquis

Both garrigue and maquis are associated with the

within the Mediterranean 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 alkaline

soils of the garrigue. Its plant communities are often suites associated with holm oak. Calcifuges such as '' Erica'' and '' Calluna'' are present in the maquis

Conservation

Deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

of the indigenous oak forest since the Late Bronze Age, for cultivation of

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

s, 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 Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

of the topsoil. The wild garrigue, then, is a man-formed landscape. The intensity of grazing pressure has had a direct response in the

ecotope Ecotopes are the smallest ecologically distinct landscape features in a landscape mapping and classification system. As such, they represent relatively homogeneous, spatially explicit landscape functional units that are useful for stratifying lan ...

, reflected today in the decline of goat-pasturing.

Origin of the word

First cited in French in 1546, ''garrigue'' is borrowed from Provençal ''garriga,'' equivalent to

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th Gascon "rock" and to

Germanic Swiss ''Karren'', a kind of sedimentary rock">Swiss_German.html" ;"title="Gascon dialect">Gascon "rock" and to Swiss German">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 language">Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

''*karr-'', ''harri'' "rock." Gaulish and then Latin appear to have borrowed ''*carra'', which evolved into its modern descendants in Romance languages.

Uses

Cultivation

The dense, thrifty growth of garrigue flora has recommended many of its shrubs and sub-shrubs for uses as

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

s in traditional and drought tolerant gardens. Many shrubs and flowering perennials of the garrigue are mainstays of the English "mixed border" of herbaceous and

woody plant A woody plant is a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue and thus has a hard stem. In cold climates, woody plants further survive winter or dry season above ground, as opposed to Herbaceous plant, herbaceous plants that die back to t ...

s found in English gardens, and around the world, though often grown under cooler, moister conditions. Some have become

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

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 Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

with a "barnyard" or "earthy" tone, or "the herbal scent of lavender that fills the hills of Provence in the summer time." Some wines bottled in

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

contain the word ''garrigues'' as part of their

appellation An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the ingredients of a food or beverage originated, most often used for the origin of wine grapes. Restrictions other than geographical boundaries, s ...

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

name.Stéphane Batigne, ''Arnavielle, une famille des garrigues'', Mille et une vies, 2008

References

External links

* * * *https://faune-flore-languedocienne.alwaysdata.net/garrigue/garrigue.html {{wines * Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub Ecoregions of Metropolitan France Ecoregions of Europe Environment of the Mediterranean Flora of the Mediterranean basin