Diversity of the Bryoflora of a Cedar Forest in the Central High Rif, Northern Morocco

Abstract

Our bryophytic surveys of the "Jbel Arz" forest (cedar mountain in Arabic) located in the central High Rif, in the North of Morocco, allowed us to inventory a list of 108 taxa of bryophytes including 93 mosses (64 acrocarps and 29 pleurocarps) and 15 liverworts (4 leaf liverworts and 11 thallus liverworts). The species richness confirms the clear dominance of three families of mosses Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Bryaceae, then a family of liverworts Ricciaceae. Three species belonging to the mosses are collected for the first time in Morocco: Brachytheciastrum trachypodium, Racomitrium aciculare and Orthotrichum sprucei of which the latter is new even for North Africa. In the Central Rif region, 34 taxa are new records. The estimation of the ecological significance index (ESI) revealed the predominance of four species in our study site (Homalothecium sericeum, Grimmia pulvinata, Hypnum cupressiforme and Tortula subulata) and also two very scarce species. In this site, there is a high representation of saxicolous and/or terricolous species (65,7%) although it is a forest environment. Generally, the distribution of bryophytes in our study site depends on four factors: the nature of the substrate, the degree of humidity, the plant formation and the sunlight. Liverworts are only found in microclimates that favour a certain coolness of the environment.