The biogeographic and floristic importance of Djebel Antar (Western Saharan Atlas) for regional biodiversity protection

ABSTRACT

The north western Atlas Mountains (Béchar region) act as refugia for relict populations of many species which highlights their interest as priority areas for conservation. Further work since the beginning of the last century has been difficult because of restricted access in a military area with long-standing border conflicts. This paper aims to analyse the temporal dynamics of the vegetation communities, to assess the floristic diversity of one of those isolated djebels, Djebel Antar, and to contribute to the knowledge of the conservation status of the species found. Surveys from 1925,1951 (published data) and 2017 (fieldwork) were interpreted and investigations were carried out on honey harvesting, production, and marketing in the Benzireg area to better understand and contribute to the development of beekeeping. A high proportion of endemic and very rare species was found. A tendency towards the homogenisation of the flora was detected with a decrease in plant diversity. Beekeeping is being tested as a means of enhancing biodiversity and contributing to the fight against vegetation degradation by reducing pastoral pressure. Djebel Antar retains its function as a refuge for biodiversity and may play an important role in conservation measures.

KEYWORDS:

• Atlas
• mountains
• flora
• climate
• biogeography
• beekeeping

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the head of the GGF Béchar gendarme border guards, the guides El Haje, El Ayachi and El Ghazi, and forest conservation staff: Mokadem, Kamal Messaoudene. The first author was funded by the Erasmus+ Programme during her visit to the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon. She also would like to thank the Centre for Environmental and Sustainability Research (CENSE), NOVA School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon, for funding provided by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation – as part of the strategic project UID/AMB/040085/2020 (CENSE) and DGRSDT/MESRS/ALGERIA.

Author contributions

S. A. Djelid carried out field sampling, while both she and F. Abdoun identified plant species. S. A. Djelid, A. Megharbi and T. Calvão performed statistical analysis on field-survey data. A. Ballouche and F. Abdoun were responsible for the general management of the study. All the authors analysed the data and provided input for the discussion. S. A. Djelid and T. Calvão wrote the paper, with critical feedback provided by the other authors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2022.2135886.