Integrating Sentinel-2 Data and PAPCAR Model to Map Water Erosion: Case of Beni Boufrah Watershed

Water erosion causes significant economic losses linked mainly to the silting up of dams and losses in soil productivity, these consequences will increase if soil and water conservation actions associated with development actions are not undertaken. The present work aims to evaluate the water erosion in the basin of the Beni Boufrah located in the Northern part of Morocco. The hierarchy of this basin in plot according to the degrees and the tendencies of the erosion was made using the qualitative PAP/CAR approach (Programme d’Actions Prioritaires/Centre d’Activités Regionales) which is based on the integration of the factors influencing the water erosion, such as the slope, lithology and/or pedology, vegetation cover and land use. This work was conducted in three stages, the first one being predictive based on the analysis of the natural factors influencing water erosion and the processing of databases of developed maps. The second so-called descriptive stage is based on the mapping of different forms and processes of soil loss that occur in the study area. The last step, it allows the integration and the combination of the results of the two previous steps. Its purpose is to provide a precise cartographic product that reflects the reality of the state of soil degradation and the future evolution of erosion. The consolidated erosion map shows that more than half of the basin area (53%) is affected by medium-level erosion, 13% is affected by high erosion level, and 15 % is affected by low-level water erosion. Low-intensity erosion occurs along the river in areas where the slope and lithology favour runoff. The trend map is the final result of the integration phase, it describes erosion trends in the different parts of the basin and is, therefore, a tool to guide decisions on land use planning and tillage methods to limit the risk of water erosion in the basin. Keywords: Oued Beni Boufrah, water erosion, PAP/CAR, erosive states, erosion trend

Assessing the Impacts of Different Initiatives on the Rehabilitation of Pastoral and Silvopastoral Ecosystems: Big Data Oriented Approach

Moroccan forests, through the provision of goods and ecosystem services, underpins benefits to local communities and play a crucial role for rural area development. The legal framework recognizes to people, living near public forests, the right to graze their domestic livestock. Over the years, the grazing pressure is at levels far beyond the forestland’s carrying capacity throughout the country. Such pressure has been demonstrated as the main cause of forest cover loss and land degradation in Morocco and still threatening the sustainability of forests. To reduce the heavy grazing pressure on forest ecosystems and ensure their regeneration, several initiatives have been conducted such as the program of compensation for forest areas closed to grazing (CFCG), initiated by Moroccan forestry department. Socio-economic impact assessment of this mechanism was presented within several studies but its effectiveness for forest rangeland rehabilitation remains scarce and very spatially limited. To deal with this concern and to assess vegetation dynamics through various spatial and temporal scales, parcels concerned by CFCG and others within similar conditions was chosen. Time series of remotely sensed spectral indices at each parcel was used for vegetation cover dynamics assessment. Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) was used as computing plateform. As result, the spectral indices trends shown a long-lasting degradation tendency in areas planted without compensation compared to those concerned by CFCG. Such results were also verified using aerial images covering the analyzed parcels. As conclusion, within comparable conditions, CFCG improved vegetation cover trends. The use of GEE Platform simplified the process of treatment of remote sensed imagery and made it easy to assess the state of the vegetation and will be of great use in assessing the impacts of different programs and initiatives on the restoration of pastoral and silvopastoral ecosystems

Spatio-temporal analysis of North African forest cover dynamics using time series of vegetation indices – case of the Maamora forest (Morocco)

North African forest areas play several roles and functions and represent a heritage of great economic and ecological importance. As a result of global changes, that act independently or synergistically, these areas are currently undergoing a pronounced degradation and their productivity is decreasing due to several factors. This work aims to characterize spatio-temporal dynamics of vegetation within the Maamora forest. This forest is considered as the most extensive cork oak woodland in the world and is divided, from west to east, into five cantons A, B, C, D and E. The data, extracted between 2000–2021 from MODIS NDVI/EVI images of 250 m, were analyzed using statistical parameters with the Pettitt homogeneity and the Mann-Kendall trend tests, with their seasonal and spatial components, in order to better consider the vegetation distribution of this forest. Results show a clear temporal and spatial (inter-canton) variability of vegetation intensity, unrelated to the continental gradient. In fact, recorded mean values in cantons C and E are significantly higher than those of cantons B and D respectively. This is confirmed by both regressive and progressive trends, which were identified respectively from the months of March 2012 and October 2008, in the data series of cantons B and E successively. Spatially, the regressive dynamic remains generalized and affects more than 26.7% of the Maamora’s total area with extreme rates (46.1% and 14.0%) recorded respectively by the two aforementioned cantons. Similarly, all the stand types in canton B show the highest regressive rates, especially the cork oak regeneration strata (75.4%) and the bare lands (86.1%), which may explain the positive tendencies identified by the related series during the fall season. However, the cantons C and E record the lowest rates, respectively, for natural stands of cork oak and artificial plantations. These results highlight also the absence of a causal relationship between the contrasting vegetation dynamics of the Maamora and the climatic conditions, expressed here by the continental gradient. However, they do highlight the effects of other factors, particularly those of a technical nature

Impact of climate change on potential distribution of Quercus suber in the conditions of North Africa

Climate change, which is expected to continue in the future, is increasingly becoming a major concern affecting many components of the biodiversity and human society. Understanding its impacts on forest ecosystems is essential for undertaking long-term management and conservation strategies. This study was focused on modeling the potential distribution of Quercus suber in the Maamora Forest, the world’s largest lowland cork oak forest, under actual and future climate conditions and identifying the environmental factors associated with this distribution. Maximum Entropy approach was used to train a Species Distribution Model and future predictions were based on different greenhouse gas emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathway RCPs). The results showed that the trained model was highly reliable and reflected the actual and future distributions of Maamora’s cork oak. It showed that the precipitation of the coldest and wettest quarter and the annual temperature range are the environmental factors that provide the most useful information for Q. suber distribution in the study area. The computed results of cork oak’s habitat suitability showed that predicted suitable areas are site-specific and seem to be highly dependent on climate change. The predicted changes are significant and expected to vary (decline of habitat suitability) in the future under the different emissions pathways. It indicates that climate change may reduce the suitable area for Q. suber under all the climate scenarios and the severity of projected impacts is closely linked to the magnitude of the climate change. The percent variation in habitat suitability indicates negative values for all the scenarios, ranging –23% to –100%. These regressions are projected to be more important under pessimist scenario RCP8.5. Given these results, we recommend including the future climate scenarios in the existing management strategies and highlight the usefulness of the produced predictive suitability maps under actual and future climate for the protection of this sensitive forest and its key species – cork oak, as well as for other forest species

Impact of climate change on forest resources: Case of Quercus rotundifolia, Tetraclinis articulata, Juniperus phoenicea, J. oxycedrus, J. thurifera and Pinus halepensis

Forest resources in the Ourika watershed are subject to several anthropogenic and climatic degradation factors. As for the human factor, this degradation of forest resources is explained by the bad practices exercised by the local population expressed by the cutting of live wood, carbonization, and overgrazing. In terms of the climatic factor, the decrease in the amount of rainfall and the increase in temperature contribute to the exacerbation of the degradation of these resources. In order to better understand the evolution of plant cover in a changing climate context, this study highlights an assessment of the impact of climate change on forest dynamics based on a process-based model at the forest landscape scale which makes it possible to simulate the changes according to growth, succession, disturbances (fire, wind, insects, etc), forest management, and land use change. This analysis is based on the use of the LANDIS-II model and the PnET-succession extension. Projections of the dynamics of forest communities are made using climate projections from the Japanese global circulation model adopted by Morocco (model for interdisciplinary research on climate – earth system models) and this by adopting the two climate scenarios , representative concentration pathways 4.5 and 8.5. The results obtained highlight the spatial distribution of the ecosystems studied after 100 years with a quantitative evaluation of the total average biomass of these resources as a function of climatic disturbances. In general, the estimated total biomass will decline over the coming years under the joint effect of the climate change and the aging of forest stands, while on the other hand, the distribution of potential areas for species settlement remains independent of the effect of these climate changes

Vertical spatial behaviour patterns of

Ethological studies were carried out on three Moroccan populations of Lymnaea truncatula of which two of them were living in a flooding irrigation system (Tassila, Oued Massa valley) and the third in a nonirrigated habitat. Most of the Tassila snails were found in the deep water zone. Two factors significantly influenced the presence of snails in this zone : the water current velocity, and parasitic infection of the molluscs. In the presence of other factors (lack of food, the presence of the snail Physa acuta), the L. truncatula were recovered more frequently in zones outside of the water and just beneath the water’s surface. Despite the modifications noted in snail distribution, Bulinus truncatus did not appear to be a competitor. Lastly, habitat drying resulted in partial or complete burrowing of 50 % of snails