Analysis of the Diversity of Spontaneous Urban Flora – The Case of Temara City, Morocco

Spontaneous flora offers many functions and potentialities in the urban ecosystem. However, few studies have been carried out on this subject in Morocco. The present study aimed to analyze the diversity of spontaneous flora in the urban area of Temara, to contribute to interpreting the structure and dynamics of Moroccan spontaneous flora. During the study, 90 floristic surveys were carried out along four transects, marked A, B, C, and D so that each transect started from the city center and went in one of the four directions of the study area. Transect A ran northwards from the city center, transect B westwards, transect C southwards, and transect D eastwards from the city center. To carry out the floristic surveys, several survey areas were chosen, given the heterogeneity of the urban environment. These areas ranged from a few cm2 for rock fissure plants, through 10 to 25 m2 for grasslands, to 25 to 100 m2 for forest cuttings. The results revealed a total of 137 taxa grouped in 116 genera and belong to 33 floristic families. The Asteraceae family came out on top, with 30 species (21.90%) and 24 genera, and the Poaceae family was in second place with 21 species (15.33%) divided into 20 genera. Analysis of this floristic list indicates a predominance of the therophyte life form (48.90%), then hemicryptophytes (26.28%) followed by geophytes (10.22%) in terms of biological type, and a predominance of the Mediterranean element (31.19%) in terms of chorological type. Of the 137 taxa inventoried, 10 are very rare, 1 is rare, 1 has a doubtful presence, and 2 are endemics. This study showed that even in a disturbed and fragmented environment, such as the urban environment, certain spontaneous plant species adapt to the conditions prevailing in this habitat and show considerable diversity, thus contributing to a better interpretation of the composition and dynamics of the country’s flora.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2024).