Shrubs/shrubland

There are no data on the flux rates of leaf volatiles into the atmosphere. In the L. tridentata shrublands of North America and in areas in Australia where unpalatable, woody shrubs have replaced grasses, the presence of volatile hydrocarbons in the air is detectable by the human nose. The distinct odors of these hydrocarbons is especially noticeable after a rain. It has been suggested that these compounds may undergo atmospheric reactions that produce ozone and other oxidizing substances (8). However, there are no data on these atmospheric reactions. 

Natural (or primary, undisturbed) ecosystems dominated by shrubs are called shrublands or scrub in some cases, when the woody component is relatively open and consists mainly of small trees, the vegetation type may also be classified as a woodland, which then represents a transitional situation towards the true forest, where the crown cover should always be sufficiently closed to avoid permanent direct sunlight at the ground level. In Venezuela, shrublands are normally found in mountain environments, such as the Andes or the Guayana Shield, where they often represent some of the most extraordinary plant communities, such as the Andean paramos or the Guayanan sclerophyllous Bonnetia scrub. 

The congrial (congrio) is another type of shrubland in which more or less dense colonies of Acosmium nitens (Vogel) Yakovlev occupy extensive depressions in the Orinoco floodplains of the states of GuMco and Apure. This same shrub is otherwise found occasionally in the riparian vegetation of many rivers and creeks of the Llanos drainage. 

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