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Bessaid Farah

  • Biodiversity Journal, 14 (1): 0185-0194

    Hasnaoui Okkacha, Bessaid Farah, Bourouaha Mohamed, Babali Brahim, Aouadj Sid Ahmed & Khatir Hadj
    Post-fire dynamics of the forest formations in the mounts of Tlemcen (Western of Algeria): Case of the Forest of Zarifet
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2023.14.1.185.194

    ABSTRACT
    A study on the post-fire dynamics of plant species in the Zarifet forest (National Park of Tlemcen, north-western Algeria) was conducted after a violent fire that destroyed more than 200 hectares in the month of October 2016. Floristic records were done at a control site and the burned area during the phenological period, which extends from 2017 to 2019. The analysis of the floristic succession indicated a continuum of population dynamics over the three years after the fire. The results showed that the number of species found in the burnt sites reached 52 species (39%) after 8 months from the initial fire and 121 of them (91%) at three years afterward. The natural regrowth of the vegetation in the Tlemcen Mountains is typical of the “tiger bush”. The competitivity between the different species has been highlighted in the present study. The most competitive species in the post-fire occupation of the soil are stump-rejecting species and geophytes one, such as Quercus ilex, Chamaerops humilis, Calicotome intermedia, Asparagus acutifolius, Ulex boivinii, Drimia maritima, Cistus sp., Stipa tenacissima and Ampelodesmos mauritanicus. The analysis of the frequency indices (F.I.) seem to be in favor of an expanding tendency of these taxa.

  • Biodiversity Journal, 12 (2): 0475-0482

    Farah Bessaid, Okkacha Hasnaoui, Brahim Babali, Sid Ahmed Aouadj
    Post-fire regeneration of cork Oak and holm Oak at Tlemcen National Park (Western Algeria)
    https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2021.12.2.475.482

    ABSTRACT
    The most worrying factor in forest degradation is fire, whose outbreak and spread is favored by physical and natural conditions. Algeria, like other Mediterranean countries, is paying a high cost. It must be recognized that forest fires have become disastrous in the last decades. An average of 30,000 hectares is destroyed every year, threatening the country’s ecological balance. This study aims to identify the post-fire dynamics of forest structuring species in Tlemcen National Park (Western Algeria). This article is written in this context. This work is based on observations as well as a monitoring of burned sites. The aim is to show concretely the resilience of cork Oak (Quercus suber L.) and holm Oak (Q. ilex L.), the flagship species of Tlemcen National Park, in order to develop a conservation strategy and identify a succession model after a fire. An experimental protocol has been put in place to assess vegetation regeneration. Post-fire morphometric measurements were performed three years in a row (T1, T2 and T3) during the adequate phenological period. The observed elongations range from 22.6 cm to 17.9 cm in the first year; 46.16 cm to 36.5 cm in the second year and 95.2 cm to 67.3 cm in the third year in favour of holm Oak. Monthly and inter-year comparative analyses reveal that, under the same site conditions, holm Oak shows a better adaptability to fires than cork Oak. The various measures recorded show an elongation of 20.95% in favour of holm Oak in the first year, 20.92% in the second year and 29.30% in the third year in favour of the holm Oak. A competition for the recapture of the burnt space takes place after the fires. As for the other species, there is a self-succession where chamephytic species are the most favoured.