In marly lands of the French Southern Alps, harsh soil erosion results in sediment movements during intensive rainfall events. Plants can be submitted to sediment burial in their early stages of development and their protective function is reduced. In a context of land restoration, it is important to know species responses to environmental disturbances. However, few studies about woody species tolerance to burial by sediment have been carried out. Seedlings of five woody species were buried in marly sediment at three different depths in pot experiment during eight weeks: no burial (control), partial burial (50% stem height) and complete burial (100% stem height). Heights through time, biomass and survival rates were measured to assess species responses. Results show that plant resistance to burial varies between species and three different responses were identified: negative (Hippophae rhamnoides, Ononis fruticosa), neutral (Robinia pseudo acacia, Pinus nigra) and positive (Acer campestre)