Can gypsophytes distinguish different types of gypsum habitats?

From an ecological point of view, gypsum outcrops and their corresponding vegetation are not yet fully understood. Most of the studies have concentrated on merely describing these plant communities. However, some researchers have tried to differentiate between these scrublands not only in terms of their geographical location, but also in terms of their ecological behaviour. Our botanical, edaphic and ecophysiological study, which adopts this last approach, makes use of chlorophyll fluorescence to distinguish the small-sized and sparse scrublands growing on gypsum barrens from the very different shrub-like Ononis tridentate communities in the gypsum outcrop of the karst in Sorbas (Almeria, Spain). In the three gypsophytes used to measure chlorophyll fluorescence values (Gypsophila struthium, Helianthemum squamatum and Teucrium turredanum), the records reveal that the environment has an impact on the F-v/F-m, minimum values, however different the reaction of the species may be.