Climatic Conditions and Herbivory Effects on Morphological Plasticity of Argania spinosa

Abstract

The main objective of this paper was to look into the morphological differentiation patterns and phenotypic plasticity in four populations of Argania spinosa with environmentally contrasted conditions. Mean response, magnitude and pattern of morphological intra-and inter-population plasticity indexes were measured and analyzed in order to identify which characters contribute the most to the acclimation of this species. Populations growing in the ecological optimum of the species presented the lowest plasticity, while those growing in the most stressed habitats showed an increased morphological variability. The study of four populations showed that human pressure seems to play an important function in the regulation of morphological characters. However, climatic conditions seem to play a significant role in the increase of morphological plasticity.

Photosynthetic Behavior of Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels Induced under Grazed and Ungrazed Conditions

“…Grazing generally has a negative effect on plants [13][14][15][16][17].In a previous work conducted in Admine forest, a heavily humanized area traditionally managed for livestock raising and agriculture. Ain-Lhout et al [18] found that high intensity of herbivory pressure and human use of Argan trees reduced tree size and crow cover of A. spinosa. In another work on the same species and the same environmental context.…”