SAINT SEREN – CAMARGUE, PROVENCE-ALPES-CÔTE D’AZUR, FRANCE

Saint Seren is a shallow, temporary, oligo- haline marsh (maximum depth 70 cm) with large areas of shallow water in winter (0-10 cm). It is surrounded by salt flats dominated by Salicornia fruticosa and Arthrocaulon macrostyachum scrubs, and is sheltered from the wind in the northeastern and southwestern sectors by Tamarix gallica bushes.

At the time of the restoration, the emergent vegetation was composed of the reeds Bolboschoenus maritimus, Shoenoplectus littoralis and S. tabernaemontani, with Phragmites australis and (on the edges) Paspalum distichum. When left uncut, these plants formed a dense reedbed 70-200 cm high. The submerged vegetation consisted mainly of Chara sp., Zannichellia pedunculata and Z. obtusifolia, Ranunculus peltatus subsp. baudotii and some Stuckenia pectinata and Potamogeton pusillus.