Plant succession and soil degradation in desertified areas (Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain) Antonio Rodrı ´guez Rodrı ´guez * , Juan Luis Mora, Carmen Arbelo, Juan Bordon Departamento de Edafologı ´a y Geologı ´a, Facultad de Biologı ´a, Universidad de La Laguna, La Laguna, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain Received 13 February 2003; received in revised form 24 June 2004; accepted 21 July 2004 Abstract The eastern Canary Islands constitute a region that is vulnerable to desertification processes, mainly due to its intensely arid climate and the action of man. Vegetation in the island of Fuerteventura has been profoundly transformed over the last few hundred years, and the greater part of the insular territory is presently covered by substitution brush. In this work, a study of soil degradation processes relating to plant cover transformation is presented. To this end, soils that characterize the present-day countryside of the island and those associated with enclaves of original vegetation are studied, and the sequential variation of soil properties along the plant succession is established by means of multivariant analysis of environmental gradients. The results indicate that the original vegetation was established on soils with a low natural quality, severely limited by natural aridity, salinity and sodicity as well as the water and wind erosion processes dominant in the island. These same ecological factors condition the quality of the island’s present soils, although the degradation of the plant cover has increased the 0341-8162/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.catena.2004.07.002 * Corresponding author. Fax: +34 922 318311. E-mail address: antororo@ull.es (A. Rodrı ´guez Rodrı ´guez). Catena 59 (2005) 117 – 131 www.elsevier.com/locate/catena