Following the assumption that some soils are less suitable for the development of cork oak, a substitution of cork oak by exotic species has been carried out on a large part of Maamora forest. However, soil is not the only factor to consider in assessing the suitability. Therefore, some areas might just suit to cork oak but to what extent? To answer this question, major factors known to influence the regeneration of cork oak have been identified and mapped using multicriteria evaluation. Therefore, factors were incorporated by weighted linear combination to determine suitability indices for the regeneration of cork oak. The weight of each factor was estimated by expert judgment using the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) approach. The main factors influencing the cork oak regeneration suitability in Maamora forest are climate expressed by "continentality", terrainslope, thickness of the sand, slope of the clay floor layer, and plant communities and soil types. These factors were mapped by incorporating fuzzy logic in order to avoid crisp classes and ensure a smooth transition between the preference and indifference. This allowed then to integrate uncertainty in the knowledge of the exact class limits. Finally, four classes of regeneration suitability were obtained. These classes are good, medium, low and very low suitability and which represent 17.40%, 40.18%, 34.84% and 4.28% of the forest area respectively.
The argan tree is a multi-purpose tree (fruit tree, medicinal, cosmetic, and pastoral plant) found in the semi-arid and arid regions of North Africa. It is under strong human pressure such as the impact of population growth, crop expansion, overgrazing, and wood and fruit exploitation that are also the main causes of desertification in the rest of the world. Over the years, interest in this beneficial tree and demand for its products have increased: especially with the increase in the price of argan oil, which is now one of the most expensive and much in demand oils in the world. This increase has led to many socio-political, economic and cultural changes at the national, regional and local levels, especially in farming behaviour and the habits of the local population. This bibliographic research was therefore conducted in order to analyse the various changes and their consequences on the planning, conservation, and management methods implemented in the argan tree area and their effects on the habits of the local population in order to ensure the sustainability of the Argan Tree Biosphere Reserve in Morocco. Indeed, the aims of this study were, firstly, to analyse the change dynamic of argan forest area in the ABR; and secondly, to investigate the impact of various socio-political, economic and cultural changes resulting from increased prices of argan oil on planning, conservation, and management methods of argan tree ecosystem and on the habits of the local population.
The objective of the present study undertaken in 2011is to evaluate the status of the benthic macroflora of the Nador lagoon after the management works carried out in 2009 to improve the lagoon environmental quality. Relying on a previous study carried out in 1987, the results of analysis in 2011 showed that the lagoon seabed macroflora recorded a marked decline and an overall change in its distribution and specific composition. The marine Phanerogams, represented by Cymodocea and Zostera, in association with Caulerpa, which were the main vegetationin 1987, were replaced by a macroflora highly dominated by macroalgae (64.3% of the total area), essentially represented by Rhodophyceae (58% of total area).In 2011, the genus Alsidiumwas the main representative in the macroflora(55% of total area),while the genus Caulerpa, and Phanerogamssaw their area of occurrence regress to 25.6% and 18% respectively.
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