Le Conservatoire botanique de forêt sclérophylle sèche de Tiéa (Pouembout) : typologie et analyse floristique des groupements végétaux

This paper describes a study undertaken in the dry sclerophyll forest in the Tiea Botanical Conservation Area (Pouembout). Together with low-altitude, ultramafic shrubland (maquis), dry sclerophyll forest is the most endangered habitat in New Caledonia. Phytosociologic and floristic analysis reveal two highly-modified, secondary vegetation types comprised primarily of introduced herbaceous (mainly Gramineae) or locally abundant indigenous ligneous species, and three primary forest types which — although modified to a greater or lesser extent — still contain the species characteristic of dry forest, albeit often in reduced populations. Due to their rarity, 19 of these species are included on the IUCN list of endangered plants. These threatened plants must now be propagated so they can be re-established in the most damaged parts of the Conservation Area, and methods to reduce the effects of competition on them by introduced species have to be developed.