The Issen basin is a dry area affected by climate variability and desertification. It is located in high spot of Moroccan flora biodiversity that includes argan tree ecosystem as a part of the Western High Atlas (WHA). The objective of this work is to assess rainfall variability and erosivity as determining factors of soil erosion and vegetation cover degradation. The results reveal an arid to superior semi-arid climate where annual rainfall range from 200 mm in the centre of the Argana corridor, to 500 mm in the snow-covered northern foothills. The analysis of the 37 years of rainfall data indicate a coefficient of variation Cvis about67%. The erosivity index presents a high variability range from 34 to more than 81 MJ.mm/ha.h.yr in the wettest areas, indicating considerable soil erosion. In addition, the basin suffering from severe periods of drought due to the occurrence of the continuous decrease of the accumulated precipitation. Eventually, the rainfall variability and erosivity can affect ecosystem function and services (ecosystem degradation, water availability, etc).
The study aims to describe the profile of asthma patients in Agadir city (Morocco) during a period of 7 years (2013 to 2019) to identify the factors associated with asthma control. Practically, a retrospective analysis was conducted on data collected from 6 primary healthcare centers (PHC) in the city. The reported data are the age, gender, location, date of first consultation, dates of consultations, and treatment of 701 patients and care centers (PHC). Also, the proportional odds model for ordinal logistic regression was used to determine the most variables can be associated with asthma control. The analysis reveals a spatial and temporal variation according to gender. The average age of patients is 43 years. The twothirds of all recorded cases were reported in 2018 and 2019. Furthermore, the proportion of female and male represents 63% and 37% of the total reported cases, respectively. Generally, the female proportion is higher than male for all age groups. Moreover, the analysis reveals that the asthma control was reported for 19% of cases while the rest was uncontrolled. This control seems be more observed for males (OR: 1.28; 95% CI [0.87; 1.87]), for patients with age between 29 and 44 years (OR: 2.3; 95% CI [1.54; 3.44], p < 0. 001), and for patients who were cared for at the PHC1 center (OR: 21.06; 95% CI [11.13; 39.85], p < 0.001) and at the PHC2 center (OR: 13.19; 95% CI [6.54; 29.54], p < 0.001). Eventually, the current study emphasizes that the gender and care centers are the most associated factors of asthma control.
This study attempts to describe the physical characteristics of the Issen basin (western High Atlas of Morocco) in order to highlight the factors affecting water flow and volume that may increase water erosion risk. By using ALOS-DEM of moderate spatial resolution (12.5 m) and GIS platform, it was possible to provide a joint set of morphometric indices of the study area. The obtained results reveal that the relief of the study basin is of mountainous symptom indicating its maturity. The contrasting topography (625 m to 3528 m), with a specific unevenness of the order of 612 m, highlights a strong relief. 94% of the watershed area has a slope of over 3%. The mean elongation of the basin is 1.74, with a fairly long water concentration time of about 7.5 hours and an average drainage density of 0.85 km -¹. The tectonics, lithology, and external geodynamics characterstics indicate a strongly contrasted morphology characterizing the Issen basin. Overall, these morphometric characteristics can increase the shallow water flows and sediments mobilized by the Issen Wadi, which can increase the soil loss and flooding risks in the basin.
Water and soil are two essential natural resources, which their preservation determines the local and national environmental sustainability. The pollution and erosion processes causing deterioration of these resources, which impacting negativaly the environment and economy development. This research aims to suggest the most straight forward and most appropriate control measures for the basins that are socially and economically acceptable for farmers. By consdering Argana basin as study area, the proposed approach consists, first, to analyze the soil loss map and, then, cconducted semi-structured interviews with local farmers at various locations across the basin. The results indicate that the areas of high and very high deterioration encompass 48 % of the basin’s surface. In addition, all of the farmers questioned used agroforestry on their managed sites. The study highlight the importtance of the traditional practices in fighting water erosion risk.
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