The concept of ecosystem services (ES) is increasingly used to analyze the relationships and interactions between humans and nature. Understanding the ecosystem services’ flow and the ecosystems’ capacity to generate these services is an essential element in considering the sustainability of ecosystem uses and the development of ecosystem accounts. For such purpose, we conduct spatially explicit analyses of nine ecosystem services in the Maamora forest, Morocco. The ecosystem services included are timber and industry wood harvest, firewood harvest, cork gathering, forage production, acorn gathering, forest carbon storage, and recreational hiking. Results make it possible to distinguish between the forest capacity to provide ecosystem services from their current use (demand) and assess them quantitatively. It came out that both capacity and flow differ in spatial extent as well as in quantity. Distinguishing capacity and flow of ES also provided an estimate of over-or under-utilization of services, and offer the possibility to map the ecosystem service provision hotspots (SPA) and degraded SPHs. The respective assessment of capacity and flux in a space-explicit manner can therefore support the monitoring of the forest ecosystem use sustainability.

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Background and Purpose: Technogenic load is considered to be one of the major factors which destabilize forest ecosystems. The impact of chronic aero technogenic pollution near large industrial centers severely affects the plants in these areas; thus, plants cannot fulfill their aesthetic and air-cleaning role. Therefore, many studies have been carried out on technogenic pollution and particularly on magnesite pollution. The aim of the study is to investigate characteristics of the Scotch pine natural regeneration process under the forest canopy in magnesite pollution conditions. Materials and Methods: The research was carried in an aero-technogenic emission zone of Kombinat Magnezit, in South Ural, Russia. The purpose is to assess the soil suitability for reforestation in various degrees (PS-2: High pollution zone, PS-5: Average pollution zone, PS-3: Low pollution zone, PS-4: Very weak pollution zone, and PS-K: Control area) of magnesite pollution. Experimental Plots (PS) are in similar conditions regarding forest vegetation. The major factors that can influence the natural regeneration, such as the quantity of seeds produced by the parents trees, stand density (the number of trees per 1 ha), the composition of the upper horizon of the soil and height, its density, live ground cover (LGC) phytomass and pH of the upper root-inhabited soil layer have been measured. Results: The results of this study showed that in PS-K conditions a large number of seeds, thin forest litter, small phytomass of alive ground cover, and slightly acidic pH of the root zone of the soil can be found. The dense forest laying, generally composed of fresh and weakly decomposed layers, inhibits seed germination from reaching the mineral soil layer, which results in mortality. Conclusions: It was evaluated that the success of natural regeneration is effected by the stand density and the occurrence of undergrowth of Scots pine. Soil remediation can positively affect the natural rejuvenation process. Moreover, seed supplementation can play a major role in successful natural rejuvenation.

Aim of study:The objectives of this study consist in an examination of the evolution of cork-oak forest in Sehoul forest, Morocco, over two decades and to analyze the impact of the anthropic pressure.Area of study: The research has been carried on Sehoul forest, located in northwestern Morocco. It is linked to the largest plain cork-oak forest in the world.Material and method: This work carried via mapping of forest area, socio-economic surveys and participatory workshops, to assess the state of degradation of forest areas and their evolution, and to search for the causes of these with a relationship with human activities.Main results: Sehoul cork-oak forest is among the forest ecosystems that play a fundamental economic, social and environmental role. However, the current state of its stands is disturbing. The progressive degradation is the result of a combination of climatic and anthropogenic factors that continue to intensify. The degradation of the forest can be expressed by its replacement by introduced species and the reduction of its coverage rate, and the absence of its natural regeneration.Highlights: The cork-oak forest in Sehoul, firewood-borne forest regression is twice as high as forest production and overgrazing rate is around 80%.

Aim of study:The aim of the study is to present a diagnosis for the state of Argan forest degradation in Morocco through GIS and remote sensing utilizing Sentinel 2 satellite images of the year 2019 (dated 28/08/2019).Area of study: The study was carried out in a forest commune in Idmine, South West Morocco, which is located in semi-arid bioclimatic region.Material and methods: In the study, two methods were tested. These are; (i) the vegetation indices (VIs) [Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Soil-Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Brilliance Index (IB)] and their combination and (ii) the supervised classification and spectral analysis.Main results: Two methods have given the same results (Kappa coefficient=90%) to describe the state of forest degradation. Consequently, three classes pertaining to forest degradation within the study area were; low (34%), medium (44%) and critical degradation (22%).Highlights: This monitoring might help managers to create forest management plans and to evaluate the speed of deforestation and degradation.