Floristic Diversity and Potential of Site of Biological and Ecological Interest Brikcha, Prérif (North-West Morocco)

Studies on the flora of the protected areas of the PrĂŠrif and particularly the mainland Site of Biological and Ecological Interest (SBEI) Brikcha are very limited. It is with this in mind that we carried out this study in order to identify the vascular flora and highlight the potential of this region. Using a combination of two methods, stratified probability sampling and the itinerant inventory, we carried out 50 days of field surveys between March 2023 and May 2024. The results obtained have allowed us to establish an exhaustive catalogue of 326 species, the emblematic species of which is Quercus faginea. In addition, six species have been reported for the first time in North Atlantic Morocco-1 (Man-1), of which SBEI is a part: Biscutella pseudolyrata, Coriaria myrtifolia, Gagea fibrosa, Hedera helix subsp. maroccana, Laurus nobilis and Tamarix canariensis. The species recorded are grouped into 253 genera and 81 botanical families, five of which have the highest species richness: Asteraceae (41 species, 12.58%); Fabaceae (31 species, 9.51%); Poaceae (30 species, 9.20%); Apiaceae (18 species, 5.52%) and Lamiaceae (14 species, 4.29%). A clear dominance of dicotyledons (75.46%) was also noted. Cistus and Quercus are the two most species-rich genera with four taxa each. The spring season is the preferred flowering time for 56.77% of the flora. Life forms are mainly represented by therophytes (46.01%), followed by geophytes (17.49%) and phanerophytes (14.11%). Twenty of the species inventoried are endemic (6.13%), seven of which are strictly Moroccan, six are threatened with extinction. Eleven species are rare in the broad sense of the term. Due to the richness and original diversity of its flora, the SBEI Brikcha constitutes a real phytogenetic reservoir in the PrĂŠrif, it deserves to be qualified as priority 1.