Contribution to the bryophyte flora of Morocco: terricolous and saxicolous bryophytes of the Jbel Bouhalla (original) (raw)

2002, Journal of Bryology

The terricolous and saxicolous bryophytes of the Jbel Bouhalla (Rif Cordillera, M orocco) have been studied. This mountainous system, characterized by basic geology, contains the largest and best conserved forest of Abies pinsapo subsp. maroccana in Northern Africa. The catalogue is composed of 121 taxa, of which 108 are mosses and 13 liverworts. Of these, nine are new to the African continent (Acaulon mediterraneum, Claopodium whippleanum, Gymnostomum lanceolatum, Hedwigia stellata, Orthotrichum cupulatum var. baldacci, Schistidium brunnescens subsp. griseum, S. crassipilum, Scorpiurium sendtneri, Seligeria acutifolia), Eurhynchium schleicheri is new for mainland Africa, and seven are new records for Morocco (Barbula enderesii, Bryum dunense, Campyliadelphus chrysophyllus, Fissidens dubius, Hedwigia ciliata var. leucophaea, Pleuridium acuminatum, Pseudoleskeella catenulata). KEYW ORDS: terricolous and saxicolous bryophyte flora, Jbel Bouhalla, Northern Africa, M orocco. perpendicular to the coast. The maximum height is 2170 m, which is the second highest in the Rif Cordillera after Jbel Tidhirine (2448 m). The relief is very abrupt, with long slopes and several sharp and deep gullies. Geologically, the Jbel Bouhalla is formed of mesozoic and cenozoic rocks, in which carbonates dom inate. According to Sanz de Galdeano (1997), the stratigraphic series of the Jbel Bouhalla is made of dolomites with marl-limestone intrusions, limestones, sometimes with flints, radiolarites and loamy conglomerates. Due to the intermediate geographic situation of the Rif Cordillera, midway between the Atlantic Ocean in the W. and the Mediterranean Sea in the N. and N.E., its climate is very distinctive. In general, the Rif Cordillera is an area of high precipitation. In the western part of the Rif, clouds from the Straits of Gibraltar produce rainfall when they come up against the high Moroccan mountains. The only quantitative rainfall data for this area refer to other mountainous systems near the Jbel Bouhalla: e.g. the Jbel Bou Hachem (1094 m) situated on the N.E. face of the Bouhalla receives 2168 mm per year and the Jbel Outka (1085 m) on the S.W. face of the Bouhalla experiences 1760 mm per year. According to Benabid (1982), the Jbel Bouhalla receives more precipitation than these other two mountains. As in other M editerranean climates, there are two rainfall maxima, one in winter and the other in spring. Foggy