Chorological and conservation status of the endemic cypress, Cupressus atlantica Gaussen, in the High Atlas (Morocco)

18 p. ; tablas, mapas, gráf.We present a study of the distribution, ecology and conservation status of Cupressus atlantica, an endemic tree of the High Atlas (Morocco). The main populations of this species grow in a reduced area along the N’Fiss valley in the Central High Atlas and are gradually receding. Particular populations are increasingly fragmented and the total area covered by the cypress woodland has decreased to less than a third of the surface occupied in the 1930s. Overgrazing reduces the woodlands’ regenerative capacity, and the exploitation of the wood, linked to traditional uses by the rural society of the N’Fiss valley, directly reduces the number of trees. Great efforts being made to protect the species by the Haut Commissariat aux Eaux et Forêts are having some effect in recent years.This research was partially funded by the cooperation between the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) and the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAS).Peer reviewe

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL OF CLADANTHUS SCARIOSUS(ASTERACEAE) WILD GROWN IN MOROCCO

Cladanthus Cass. [Syn. Ormenis (Cass.) Cass.] is a genus of the family Asteraceae, endemic to the Mediterranean region and related to the tribe Anthemideae (1). It comprises 15 species including C. scariosus (Ball) Oberpr. & Vogt [Bas. Santolina scariosa; Syn. Ormenis scariosa Litard. & Maire] from Morocco where is concentrates 1/3 of the species of the genus (2). Some of these are perennial, suffruticose and strongly aromatic plants. C. mixta (L.) Chev. is used in Morocco as chamomile and this is commonly called Moroccan chamomile. In the same country, C scariosus is fairly common in open places, on sandstone substrates (3) and is characterized by a strong aromatic character, this has motivated the authors – some of which were previously occupied by other species of the same genus (4) – to undertake such study phytochemical. In this study, the authors present the results of chemical composition of the essential oil of Cladanthus scariosus wild grown in many regions of Morocco (5). Hydrodistillation of C. scariosus aerial parts, collected on the thermo-mediterranean belt of the central High Atlas – Oukeimeden, from Marrakech to Quarzazate – during the flowering phase gave a pale yellow oil. Overall, sixty-four compounds were identified, representing 92.7% of the total components. The main class of the oil was represented by sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (39.8%) with germacrene D (20.7%) as the most abundant component of the class and of the oil. Monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and oxygenated sesquiterpenes were present in similar amount (14.8%-15.1%). In these classes the main products were α-pinene (4.8%) and sabinene (6.9%) among the monoterpene hydrocarbons, (E)-chrysanthenyl acetate (8.3%) among the oxygenated monoterpenes and τ –muurolol (4.2%) and (E,E)-farnesyl acetate (3.9%) among the oxygenated sesquiterpenes. It is also noteworthy the good presence of chamazulene (7.1%)

Analyse de la Biodiversité floristique des zones humides du maroc. Flore rare menacée et halophile

Analysis of the moroccan wetlands floristical diversity: rare, threatened and halophilous flora. The moroccan wetlands flora shows a great floristical richness of these ecosystems, estimated at more than 670 species and subspecies (83 families) which can be supplemented by at least 272 others taxa considered rather as terrestrials but can colonize periodically these biotopes. This flora shows a rate of endemism close to 6,5 %, but the most fact is the great proportion of rare or threatened taxa (estimated at 34%). The halophilous flora was a subjet of particular comment considering the prevalence of the salt biotopes in Morocco, either by the number or the extent of the sites. It counts 115 species and subspecies distributed among 20 families

Double K-shell photoionization of low-Z atoms and He-like ions

We report on the investigation of the photon energy dependence of double 1s photoionization of light atoms and compare the cross sections for hollow atom and He-like ion production. Measurements of the Kα hypersatellite x-ray spectra of Mg, Al, and Si were carried out using the Fribourg high-resolution x-ray spectrometer installed at the ID21 and ID26 beam lines at the ESRF. The double-to-single photoionization cross section ratios were derived as a function of the incident photon beam energy and compared to convergent close-coupling (CCC) calculations for He-like ions. The dynamical electron-electron scattering contribution to the DPI cross-sections was found to be more important for neutral atoms than for the He isoelectronic serie

Circum-Mediterranean cultural heritage and medicial plant uses in traditional animal healthcare: a field survey in eight selected areas within the RUBIA project

During the years 2003¿2005, a comparative ethnobotanical field survey was conducted on remedies used in traditional animal healthcare in eight Mediterranean areas. The study sites were selected within the EU-funded RUBIA project, and were as follows: the upper Kelmend Province of Albania; the Capannori area in Eastern Tuscany and the Bagnocavallo area of Romagna, Italy; Cercle de Ouezanne, Morocco; Sierra de Aracena y Picos de Aroche Natural Park in the province of Huelva, Spain; the St. Catherine area of the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt; Eastern and Western Crete, Greece; the Paphos and Larnaca areas of Cyprus; and the Mitidja area of Algeria. One hundred and thirty-six veterinary preparations and 110 plant taxa were recorded in the survey, with Asteraceae and Lamiaceae being the most quoted botanical families. For certain plant species the survey uncovered veterinary phytotherapeutical indications that were very uncommon, and to our knowledge never recorded before. These include Anabasis articulata (Chenopodiaceae), Cardopatium corymbosum (Asteraceae), Lilium martagon (Liliaceae), Dorycnium rectum (Fabaceae), Oenanthe pimpinelloides (Apiaceae), Origanum floribundum (Lamiaceae), Tuberaria lignosa (Cistaceae), and Dittrichia graveolens (Asteraceae). These phytotherapeutical indications are briefly discussed in this report, taking into account modern phytopharmacology and phytochemistry. The percentage of overall botanical veterinary taxa recorded in all the study areas was extremely low (8%), however when all taxa belonging to the same botanical genus are considered, this portion increases to 17%. Nevertheless, very few plant uses were found to be part of a presumed "Mediterranean" cultural heritage in veterinary practices, which raises critical questions about the concept of Mediterraneanism in ethnobotany and suggests that further discussion is required. Nearly the half of the recorded veterinary plant uses for mammals uncovered in this survey have also been recorded in the same areas in human folk medicine, suggesting a strong link between human and veterinary medical practices, and perhaps also suggesting the adaptive origins of a few medical practices. Since most of the recorded data concern remedies for treating cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, it would be interesting to test a few of the recorded phytotherapeuticals in the future, to see if they are indeed able to improve animal healthcare in breeding environments, or to raise the quality of dairy and meat products in the absence of classical, industrial, veterinary pharmaceuticals

Maladie de Castleman: Localisation inhabituelle du thorax

La maladie de Castleman est une affection rare qui peut toucher le thorax. La localisation diaphragmatique est exceptionnelle. Nous rapportons le cas d’une patiente de 47 ans, chez qui une thoracotomie exploratrice a permis l’exérèse d’une masse du sinus médiastinal antérieur droit, en continuité avec le diaphragme et dont l’histologie est en faveur de la maladie de Castleman de type hyalino-vasculaire. Les particularités cliniques,radiologiques et évolutives ont été revues.Key words: Maladie de Castleman, localisation, thorax, exérèse, chirurgi

Disentangling environmental correlates of vascular plant biodiversity in a Mediterranean hotspot

We determined the environmental correlates of vascular plant biodiversity in the Baetic-Rifan region, a plant biodiversity hotspot in the western Mediterranean. A catalog of the whole flora of Andalusia and northern Morocco, the region that includes most of the Baetic-Rifan complex, was compiled using recent comprehensive floristic catalogs. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of the different ecoregions of Andalusia and northern Morocco were conducted to determine their floristic affinities. Diversity patterns were studied further by focusing on regional endemic taxa. Endemic and nonendemic alpha diversities were regressed to several environmental variables. Finally, semi-partial regressions on distance matrices were conducted to extract the respective contributions of climatic, altitudinal, lithological, and geographical distance matrices to beta diversity in endemic and nonendemic taxa. We found that West Rifan plant assemblages had more similarities with Andalusian ecoregions than with other nearby northern Morocco ecoregions. The endemic alpha diversity was explained relatively well by the environmental variables related to summer drought and extreme temperature values. Of all the variables, geographical distance contributed by far the most to spatial turnover in species diversity in the Baetic-Rifan hotspot. In the Baetic range, elevation was the most significant driver of nonendemic species beta diversity, while lithology and elevation were the main drivers of endemic beta diversity. Despite the fact that Andalusia and northern Morocco are presently separated by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Baetic and Rifan mountain ranges have many floristic similarities – especially in their western ranges – due to past migration of species across the Strait of Gibraltar. Climatic variables could be shaping the spatial distribution of endemic species richness throughout the Baetic-Rifan hotspot. Determinants of spatial turnover in biodiversity in the Baetic-Rifan hotspot vary in importance between endemic and nonendemic species