Pesticides play an important role in the improvement of agricultural production, but their use may result in adverse effects on the environment, consumers, and farmers’ health. As there are limited data focusing on the factors influencing safety behavior toward pesticide use in Morocco, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in 15 rural communities of Morocco’s Fes Meknes region to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding pesticide use. A structured questionnaire was completed, containing the data of the interviewed farmers, their behavior towards safety measures, the type of active ingredient used, as well as the perception of risks to their own health following exposure to pesticides by the existence of chronic, self-perceived symptoms. Non-probability (empirical) sampling with the quota method was carried out, which consists of constructing the sample. Results showed that most respondents have not been trained in the application of pesticides, with almost half of the farmers using a category of pesticides which are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probable human carcinogenic (i.e., Glyphosate, Malathion). In terms of pesticide storage, 40% of farmers said that they did not store pesticides in a separate room after purchasing or using them. The empty containers were buried or burnt by half of the responders, while the remainder were thrown at the edge of fields or in public dumps. Although the participants were aware of the negative effects on their own health and on the environment caused by the application of pesticides in use, the protection measures by individual equipment were insufficient. A canonical analysis indicates that these behaviors were influenced by the farming experience, the benefit of the agricultural council services, the follow-up of training, and the education level. These variables are important factors in explaining and understanding the dangers to both the environment and health caused by pesticides. The most recorded likely consequences of pesticide exposure were visual impairment (46%), followed by dizziness (44.3%), headache (39.4%), and excessive sweating (34.4%), and 30.2% of participants identified consequent respiratory problems. Extension services targeted at safety and protection measures should be developed and accompanied by educational programs to put farmers’ perceptions into practice and encourage them to adopt healthy and environmentally friendly behaviors.

Fire plays a key role in structuring biotic communities around the world. In re-prone regions, many plant species have acquired adaptive traits (seeders and resprouters) that help them to survive, reproduce, and persist after re disturbances. Seeder and resprouter species have different short-term responses to re.Obligate seeders have faster growth rates, greater allocation to reproduction, shorter life cycles, and lower shade tolerance than resprouters. A few years after re, obligate seeders are expected to be more abundant than resprouter species within post-re plant communities. We examined this hypothesis in burnt pine plantations located along the African rim of the Western Mediterranean Basin. In this region, pine plantation is the commonest forestry practice, and such woodlands have undergone frequent res during the last decades. Here, we describe habitat structure and plant species composition in burnt and unburnt plots located in four independent burnt sites. Burnt and unburnt plots were structurally different, with the shrub and grass covers expanding after re. In terms of functional plant composition, seeders were more abundant than resprouters in burnt pine plantations. The stronger short-term resilience of obligate seeders compared to resprouters was found to be related to the faster capacity of obligate seeders to respond to re. Contrast in re response between the two functional plant groups needs to be addressed in conservation planning to ensure the preservation of biodiversity in a future scenario of change in re regime.

Fire plays a key role in structuring biotic communities around the world. In fire-prone regions, many plant species have acquired adaptive traits (seeders and resprouters) that help them to survive, reproduce, and persist after fire disturbances. Seeder and resprouter species have different short-term responses to fire. Obligate seeders have faster growth rates, greater allocation to reproduction, shorter life cycles, and lower shade tolerance than resprouters. A few years after fire, obligate seeders are expected to be more abundant than resprouter species within post-fire plant communities. We examined this hypothesis in burnt pine plantations located along the African rim of the Western Mediterranean Basin. In this region, pine plantation is the commonest forestry practice, and such woodlands have undergone frequent fires during the last decades. Here, we describe habitat structure and plant species composition in burnt and unburnt plots located in four independent burnt sites. Burnt and unburnt plots were structurally different, with the shrub and grass covers expanding after fire. In terms of functional plant composition, seeders were more abundant than resprouters in burnt pine plantations. The stronger short-term resilience of obligate seeders compared to resprouters was found to be related to the faster capacity of obligate seeders to respond to fire. Contrast in fire response between the two functional plant groups needs to be addressed in conservation planning to ensure the preservation of biodiversity in a future scenario of change in fire regime.