Hamza Zine‡, Rachid Hakkou§‡, Abdelhak Elmansour‡, Sara Elgadi|, Ahmed Ouhammou|, Mostafa Benzaazoua‡Corresponding author: Hamza Zine ( zine.hamza@um6p.ma ) © Hamza Zine, Rachid Hakkou, Abdelhak Elmansour, Sara Elgadi, Ahmed Ouhammou, Mostafa Benzaazoua. This is an open access preprint distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Zine H, Hakkou R, Elmansour A, Elgadi S, Ouhammou A, Benzaazoua M (2023) Native plant diversity for ecological reclamation in Moroccan open-pit phosphate mines. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e104652 |  |
Mining activities have significant impacts on the environment, particularly in terms of the destruction of natural habitats, biodiversity loss. With the increasing awareness of the importance of ecological restoration and conservation, there is a growing need to study and understand the flora that thrives in mining sites for successful reclamation efforts. This study aimed to investigate the floristic composition and plant diversity of four phosphate mine sites (PMSs) in Morocco, namely Bou Craa mine (BCM), Ben Guerir mine (BGM), Youssoufia mine (YSM), and Khouribga mine (KHM).
The study found a total of 215 vascular plant species from 166 genera and 49 taxonomic families across the four sites. BGM was the most diverse site with 120 plant species, followed by KHM with 75, YSM with 57, and BCM with 54. Compositae family species were the most common at BGM and KHM, while Amaranthaceae species were dominant at BCM, and Poaceae and Compositae at YSM. Therophytes (annual species) were the most common functional group (45.0%), followed by chamaephytes (19.6%) and hemicryptophytes (15.9%).
Atriplex nummularia and Chenopodium album were the most common species found at all four sites, while Atriplex semibaccata, Bassia muricata, Haloxylon scoparium, and 12 other species were common at three sites. However, 156 plant species were found at only one site. The findings of this study highlight the significant abundance of plant species in Moroccan PMSs and provide a basis for successful ecological engineering rehabilitation plans. The study emphasizes the importance of studying the indigenous plant species that naturally populate these marginal lands to ensure successful reclamation efforts.