Forest stands on sacred sites can document climax or preclimax vegetation. However, little is known about the potential climax character of sacred sites in Morocco. We studied the vegetation of Muslim sacred sites and graveyards in rural regions of the Tangier Peninsula in Northwest Morocco. Sacred sites were chosen according to a pre-stratifi ed random sampling method, taking climatic and edaphic patterns into account. In tree stands of 68 sacred sites 140 phytosociological relevés were sampled and classifi ed. In an attempt to evaluate their degree of preservation, the best preserved holy forests were compared with reference data of similar forest communities, recorded mainly on non-sacred sites in southern Spain and Portugal, and northern Morocco and Algeria. The forested vegetation of sacred sites shows a great variety. Abiotic factors, such as substrate and bioclimate, and human interventions (grazing, fi re, a.o.) were found to be important differentiating factors. Besides well-conserved forests, a broad spectrum of degradation stages was documented. Most stands still shelter the original tree species combination, but vertical structure and fl oristic composition of the herb layer are strongly modifi ed. Processes related to anthropo-zoogenic pressure, like therophytization, ruderalisation and overaging of the tree layer occur despite religious taboos. Near-natural holy forests belong to various subtypes of the Teucrio baetici-Quercetum suberis and the Rusco hypophylli-Quercetum cocciferae. In comparison to forests on non-sacred sites, these holy forests are very well preserved, as is indicated by the presence of strict forest species of the Quercetalia ilicis and the Querco-Oleion sylvestris, by transgressives of the Quercetalia pubescentis, and by a high constancy and abundance of ombro-and mesophilous taxa. Moreover, the comparison of phytosociological data from Morocco and Spain indicated an Ibero-Mauretanian distribution of several Quercus suber communities. In conclusion, sacred groves often seem to represent the potential natural vegetation. Exceptions are sacred groves with Wild Olive, which occur in an ecoregion where a thermomediterranean Quercus suber forest is considered to be the climax.
The vegetation and flora of 86 sacred sites (surroundings of tombs of local saints, cemeteries) in NW Morocco was studied to assess their conservation value for undisturbed Mediterranean evergreen forests and vulnerable plants. Habitats were mapped, based on life form, maximum height and cover value, and classified according to naturalness. Vascular plants were classified according to pre‐defined risk factors like stenochory or grazing sensitivity. Naturalness index and refugial value were calculated for each site. Only 20% of the mapped site area was closed forest. On many places, human impact had created a vegetation mosaic. Most of the vulnerable plants were mesophilous forest species or grazing sensitive taxa. Endemic species occurred only rarely. The occurrence of vulnerable plants and the naturalness of the vegetation were positively correlated. Sacred site extension had no significant effect on the number of vulnerable species. Results indicate a limited relevance of sacred sites in northern Morocco for the protection of intact forests and vulnerable plants. However, these localities can play an important role as stepping stones in agricultural landscapes. They protect plants, sensitive to opening of the tree layer, to deforestation and to intense grazing. Certain formerly widespread forest communities survived exclusively on sacred sites.
Muslim burial grounds and the surroundings of Saints’ tombs (marabouts) in Morocco consist of spontaneous vegetation which is often protected from land use due to religious believes. Nevertheless many sacred sites are subjected to land-use practices like grazing or cutting of wood which alter the vegetation. In the present study, the vegetation of tree stands on 68 sacred sites (cemeteries and marabouts) in northwestern Morocco was analysed and compared to the vegetation of least disturbed stands of the corresponding forest communities. Those are thermomediterranean evergreen forest communities dominated by the tree species Quercus coccifera L., Quercus suber L. and Olea europaea L. The aim of the study was to determine the main factors affecting floristic differentiation of the sacred sites’ stands and to assess their degree of ‘naturalness’. The main gradient explaining floristic variance was associated with the proportion of annual species per plot and with the litter layer cover. Both were assumed to be proxies for the degree of land-use pressure, especially grazing. In heavily grazed tree stands, annual species replace woody and perennial plant species of the shrub and herbaceous layer (‘therophytization’), while in little used, non-grazed forest stands annual species are rare or lack completely. Different stand structure types, like isolated trees, do not have a strong influence on the floristic composition. Quercus coccifera stands from the examined sacred sites were mostly similar in their floristic composition to reference Q. coccifera stands, while Olea europaea stands showed no strong floristic similarity to reference stands. Quercus suber stands were partly similar, partly unsimilar to reference stands.
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