Decline and dieback of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests in the Mediterranean basin: a case study of Kroumirie, Northwest Tunisia

Touhami, Issam; Chirino, Esteban; Aouinti, Hamdi; Khorchani, Ali; Elaieb, Mohamed Tahar; Khaldi, Abdelhamid; Nasr, Z.

doi:10.1007/s11676-019-00974-1

Cited by 43 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…In line with this nding, Bouhraoua (2003), indicated that the area consist of 24 cultivated enclaves totalling about 170 ha and 200 ha of undeveloped land with the latter generally rocky or degraded and covered with low or bushy vegetation, unsuitable for planting. In Tunisia, a robust study by Touhami et al (2019), attributed the decline of cork oak forest in the Mediterranean basin to land clearing for agricultural purposes, overgrazing, maquis formation, and cutting off even large trees, with a strong natural pressure (extreme droughts, summer heat, water de cit and orographic factors).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Appiagyei

Belhoucine-Guezouli

Morsli

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Background: Forest cover change continues to be one of the most important topics in global environment discussions and negotiations. In North Africa, there is a broad consensus on forest decline but available information on the extent and rate of degradation has been far lower than needed. The present study uses the example of the cork oak forest of Tlemcen (Hafir-Zariffet forest), North West Algeria, to provide spatially explicit and up-to-date information on forest cover changes. The goal was to fill a knowledge gap in a poorly studied area by determining the extent of changes in forest cover. Methods: Land use land cover maps of 1989, 1999, 2009 and 2019 were classified using Random Forest Algorithm in R software and change assessed via intensity analysis. Results: The results revealed that sparse vegetation was the dominant land cover at the end of the study period, although it decreased from 71.25% in 1989 to 65.24% in 2019. The lowest coverage was water body from 0.47% in 1989 to 0.18% in 2019. Sparse vegetation and dense forest experienced a major decline of 6.01% and 3.22% respectively. On the other hand, open forest (+6.96%), bare areas (+0.37%), settlements (+1.99%) and agricultural (+0.21%) increased. In the LULC transitions analysis, dense forest recorded loss for two consecutive periods (1989-1999 and 1999-2009). The path of conversion was mainly from dense forest to open forest, an evidence of anthropogenic activities. Conclusion: The findings show that the cork oak forest of Hafir-Zariffet suffered multiple pressures, which cause degradation of this natural heritage. These pressures continue to increase the fragility of forest ecosystem and can affect the rehabilitation or even its resilience. In order to conserve the dwindling cork oak forest, a sustainable and effective management which ensures ecological, economic and social balance should be adopted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Appiagyei

Belhoucine-Guezouli

Morsli

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Decline in tree species, especially oaks, is a function of various environmental parameters (Jurskis 2005, Gonzalez Alonso, Johansson 2008. These factors include droughts and climate change, reduced soil fertility, land use changes, pests and diseases, livestock grazing, etc., which have affected the health of trees and caused the phenomenon of decline globally (Oszako 2004, eckhardt, Menard 2008, Gonzalez Alonso et al 2008, Greenwood and Weisberg 2008, Kabrick et al 2008, Costa et al 2010, Ahmadi et al 2014, Sohar et al 2014, Keča et al 2016, Amir Ahmadi et al 2015, Attarod et al 2017, hosseini et al 2017, Zandebasiri et al 2017, Ghadirian et al 2018, Alesheikh, Mehri 2019, Conte et al 2019, Goodarzi et al 2019, Mozafari et al 2019, Touhami et al 2019. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an appropriate model by considering these factors in order to prioritise declining forest areas to support decision-making by identifying susceptible areas and introducing preventive operations (Ghadirian et al 2018, Kooh Soltani et al 2018, Goodarzi et al 2019, Mozafari et al 2019.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, the regression process is accelerated and its structural changes are fully visible (Hamzehpour et al 2011, Rostamnia and Akhoondzadeh hanzaei 2016, Attarod et al 2017, Jahanbazi Gojani et al 2020. This issue has been mentioned in most studies related to the mortality of forest trees, especially oak species are very sensitive, worldwide (Jurskis 2005, eckhardt and Menard 2008, Gonzalez Alonso, Johansson 2008, Costa et al 2010, Sohar et al 2014, Conte et al 2019, Touhami et al 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…The final map created is close to the fuzzy map of climatic factors. Especially areas with low rainfall indicate higher drought stress, because when rainfall decreases, evapotranspiration increases, and the possibility of weakening against stressors such as diseases, fungi and insects, which increase the possibility of decline (eckhardt and Menard 2008, Kabrick et al 2008, Sohar et al 2014, Attarod et al 2017, Hosseini et al 2017, Conte et al 2019, Goodarzi et al 2019, Mozafari et al 2019, Touhami et al 2019. Generally, weather conditions like high precipitation, low temperature, high farming land and low distance from streams favour the development of alien invasive oomycetes, especially Phytophthora genus (Woodward et al 2005).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Zoning of Areas with Susceptibility to Oak Decline in Western Iran

Motlagh

Kiadaliri

2021

Quaestiones Geographicae

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Zagros forests have the greatest impact on soil and water protection in western Iran. Despite this, a significant part of these forests, especially in Ilam province, have suffered a lot due to the phenomenon of oak decline. The first and most fundamental thing a person must know when combating this issue is the distribution of these areas in forests. Therefore, using the parameters affecting the decline in the forests of Ilam province and based on fuzzy logic, a map of susceptible to oak decline areas was prepared. In this study, the parameters of temperature and precipitation, slope, aspect, altitude, distance from farmlands, roads and forest density were selected as effective parameters and fuzzy gamma overlap method was used. The results showed that more than 77% of the oak forests in the province are highly and extremely susceptible to the decline. This confirms the need for rapid action to plan and protect these forests. In addition, the fuzzy method is proposed, which is considered as a fast and efficient method in preparing such maps for other areas.

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“…In recent years, cork oak forests have been declining in the Mediterranean region, which will be further enhanced by the combined effect of global warming and drought [ 5 ]. Indeed, the climate change predictions reveal the Mediterranean region as one of the most affected regions, and Mediterranean forests as one of the most vulnerable ecosystems to the combined effect of temperature increase and precipitation decrease [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cork Oak Endophytic Fungi as Potential Biocontrol Agents against Biscogniauxia mediterranea and Diplodia corticola

Costa

Tavares

Baptista

et al. 2020

JoF

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An increase in cork oak diseases caused by Biscogniauxia mediterranea and Diplodia corticola has been reported in the last decade. Due to the high socio-economic and ecologic importance of this plant species in the Mediterranean Basin, the search for preventive or treatment measures to control these diseases is an urgent need. Fungal endophytes were recovered from cork oak trees with different disease severity levels, using culture-dependent methods. The results showed a higher number of potential pathogens than beneficial fungi such as cork oak endophytes, even in healthy plants. The antagonist potential of a selection of eight cork oak fungal endophytes was tested against B. mediterranea and D. corticola by dual-plate assays. The tested endophytes were more efficient in inhibiting D. corticola than B. mediterranea growth, but Simplicillium aogashimaense, Fimetariella rabenhorstii, Chaetomium sp. and Alternaria alternata revealed a high potential to inhibit the growth of both. Simplicillium aogashimaense caused macroscopic and microscopic mycelial/hyphal deformations and presented promising results in controlling both phytopathogens’ growth in vitro. The evaluation of the antagonistic potential of non-volatile and volatile compounds also revealed that A. alternata compounds could be further explored for inhibiting both pathogens. These findings provide valuable knowledge that can be further explored in in vivo assays to find a suitable biocontrol agent for these cork oak diseases.

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Decline and dieback of cork oak (Quercus suber L.) forests in the Mediterranean basin: a case study of Kroumirie, Northwest Tunisia

Cited by 43 publications

References 70 publications

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Evolution of Mediterranean Forest Ecosystems and Impact of Natural and Anthropogenic Disturbances: Case of the Cork Oak Forest- Tlemcen- Algeria

Zoning of Areas with Susceptibility to Oak Decline in Western Iran

Cork Oak Endophytic Fungi as Potential Biocontrol Agents against Biscogniauxia mediterranea and Diplodia corticola

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