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The effect of climate change on forests varies with the geographical zone and climatic conditions of countries and regions. While climatic records for the Western Mediterranean show slight trends towards warmer and drier conditions over the last century, parts of the Eastern Mediterranean have experienced cooler and wetter conditions. Mediterranean...
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... the last decade, a serious threat has arisen in the TCFNR, defoliation by a new insect in the genus Cephalcia, (Hymenoptera: Pamphiliidae) which infested about 70% of the THEJ. This is of major concern because of its potential to spread to the nearby famous Cedars of Bsharry (see figure 3). If it were to eventually reach the Cedar forests of the Mediterranean, it could have a global catastrophic effect on the world's remaining Cedar forests. ...
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... The study area was defined according to the natural distribution of Cedrus libani, which encompasses Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon in the Mediterranean Region ( Figure 1). Being a symbolic species, the cedar populations are under protection over a total area of approximately 2200 ha in Lebanon [62]. In Syria, the species is spread over a total of 254.72 hectares, mainly in Jawbat Burghal with 219.43 ha and in Slenfeh with 35.29 ha [63]. ...
... Each record represents ten hectares of individual stands. In the case of Syria and Lebanon, the data was obtained from the scientific literature [59,60,62,63,[69][70][71]. Planted areas were not taken into account, and the records are limited to the natural distribution of the species, so as to avoid possible deviations from the natural ecological demands of the species. ...
The effects of climate change on species can influence the delicate balance in ecosystems. For this reason, conservation planning needs to take account of connectivity and the related ecological processes within the framework of climate change. In this study, we focus on the change in the ecological connectivity of the Lebanon cedar (Cedrus libani A. Rich.), which is widely distributed in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Amanus and Taurus Mountains. To this end, we evaluated the changes in spatial units providing connectivity in the potential and future distributions of the species through ecological niche modelling, morphological spatial pattern analysis, and landscape metrics. The results suggest that the species is moving to the northeast. According to the future projections, we predict that the potential habitat suitability of the species will shrink significantly and that, in the case of pessimistic scenarios, the extent of the suitable habitats will decrease, particularly in the western and central Taurus Mountain chains. A comparison of potential and future cores indicates that there will be a slight increase under the RCP 4.5 2050 scenario, whereas core areas will decrease in the RCP 4.5 2070, RCP 8.5 2050, and RCP 8.5 2070 scenarios. In addition, it is predicted that bridges would increase in the RCP 4.5 2070 and RCP 8.5 2050 scenarios but decrease in other scenarios.
... Although protected areas have proven to be very useful in Lebanon, the low dispersal capacity of these species and the small size of the protected areas ( Figure 4) will limit their ability to track ongoing climate changes [60]. Moreover, management plans adopted to date may prove inadequate in the longer term, given the current rapid climate change [4,61]. Protection of all forests or all populations in Lebanon would be extremely difficult to implement, especially in the context of limited resources. ...
The objective of this study is to contribute to the conservation of upland tree species in the face of climate change. We used a conservation index to prioritize the areas and populations of three conifer species in the mountains of Lebanon. This conservation index integrates (1) mountain topography to identify areas that could provide a suitable microclimate, (2) genetic diversity to assess the adaptive capacity of populations in these mountain areas, and (3) a hypothetical climate change scenario that could affect this Mediterranean region. The idea of this index is to prioritize protected areas based on a match between the relevance of the area to be protected and the populations that need local and long-term protection. The stronger the match, the higher the priority of the area to be protected. We applied this conservation index to 36 populations of 15 fir, 15 cedar, and 6 juniper. These populations were genotyped by different authors whose published data we used. The results show that 10 populations of the 3 species have a very high index and 9 others have a lower but still high index, indicating a high conservation priority. These 19 populations occur in 5 different areas that we delineated and that form a network along the Lebanon Mountains. We hypothesize that the conservation of these 19 populations across the Lebanon Mountains could contribute to the long-term sustainability of the 3 species in the face of a 2 °C increase in mean seasonal temperature and a 20% decrease in seasonal precipitation compared to the current climate.
... The cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libani, has the widest distribution in the Mediterranean, being found in Turkey, Syria, and Lebanon (Wazen et al. 2020). The cedar is a symbolic species for Lebanon, where remnant populations are under protection over approximately 2200 hectares (Sattout and Nemer 2008). As in Lebanon, the cedar is also a sensitive species in Syria. ...
... For Turkey, one record was created for every ten hectares individual stands from the forest map (GDF 2020). For Syria and Lebanon, the records were taken from the scientific literature (Beals 1965;Hajar et al. 2010;Ibrahem et al. 2021;Khuri et al. 2000;López-Tirado et al. 2020;Sattout and Nemer 2008; Fig. 1 The study area and distribution of the cedar of Lebanon on the basis of georeferenced data Wazen et al. 2020). We only considered the natural distribution of the species, and planted areas were not considered. ...
The cedar of Lebanon, Cedrus libani A. Rich, is distributed around the shores of the eastern Mediterranean in Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The most anamolous aspect of its distribution is its presence in two patches in the Black Sea Region, approximately 500 km to the north of its main distribution in Turkey. Cuneiform tablets speak of an area which was turned into a “land of cedar” during the Hittite era, suggesting that the two patches might have been planted at that time. Genetic studies agree that these two patches originated at a later date than the cedars further south. Here, we make use of another means to test the hypothesis that the northernmost distribution of the cedar of Lebanon was due to reforestation during the mid-Holocene period. We determine distributional patterns for the species using a maximum-entropy algorithm and identify the most important environmental factors in shaping its distribution. We project the distribution of the species under the climatic conditions of the present, the mid-Holocene and the Last Glacial Maximum. We find the distribution range of the cedar of Lebanon to have shifted over time, encompassing western and southern Anatolia in the Last Glacial Maximum, then shrinking and retracting to the western Anatolia range in the mid-Holocene. The current range of the species was arrived at after the Holocene period. The projections support the possibility that the remnant forests in northern Turkey could have been created through reforestation, and that the Hittite myth may be substantiated.
... Mediterranean, C. libani is considered as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (Gardner 2013). In Lebanon, the emblematic species occurs as relic populations and most efforts are put on the conservation and restoration of the resource Sattout and Nemer 2008). The situation is similar in Syria. ...
Cedar is an emblematic Mediterranean forest tree. Genetic research activities on Mediterranean Cedrus species are progressively developed in relation to conservation, restoration, and exploitation plans of these forest tree species. However, currently available molecular biology tools supporting genetic research in these fields are still scarce and have a limited genetic resolution potential. We developed a new set of 12 nuclear microsatellite markers (nSSRs) on Cedrus atlantica that we combined with four previously developed ones in three multiplexes. We checked their monogenic inheritance in controlled crosses. We used a collection of 131 samples from six populations of C. atlantica to estimate null allele frequencies and probability of identity and to characterize the structure of genetic diversity in the fragmented distribution range of this species. We also tested the transferability of the markers to another set of 36 samples from the other Mediterranean Cedrus species and performed a phylogenetic analysis. The three multiplexes reached a high level of resolution potential that we used to evaluate sampling quality. Null allele frequency estimates showed no specific pattern across populations or across species and did not affect the results of biogeographic and phylogenic analyses. Our results reveal a very clear geographical genetic structure within C. atlantica, and the phylogenic tree matched previous analyses based on other markers. Our results confirm the potential interest of these nSSR multiplexes for genotyping in Cedrus.
... The cedar web-spinning sawfly is considered the main defoliator to the emblematic tree and its damage cause a state of stress on the cedars and induce the formation of summer buds, subjects of secondary infections. Furthermore, the cedars of Lebanon are protected areas and the establishment of a biological treatment should be considered to reduce the proliferation of this forest pest due to the climate change (Nemer and Nasr, 2004;Sattout and Nemer, 2008). Therefore, the main objective of this study is to investigate the expression of several genes involved in virulence of the indigenous B. bassiana and cross-compare it to the commercial strain. ...
The entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana is used as a natural pest killer in many agricultural systems due to its power of overcoming the host immune system. This is partially due to its genome content that expresses key proteins involved in its virulence. In this study, we used Real-Time PCR technique to analyze the relative expression at 48 and 72 h post inoculation of the Hyd1, Hyd2, Bbchit1, Cdep1, Bbbeas, Bbbsls and Vlp4 genes implicated in the pathogenesis process of an indigenous strain (LTB) and a commercial strain (IND) of B. bassiana. This analysis revealed a higher induction of Bbbeas, Bbbsls and Vlp4 genes by the LTB strain when comparing to the IND strain and the calibrator. Furthermore, a more rapid repression of Hyd1 and Hyd2 gene was notable by LTB strain. No significant difference was recorded by the expression of the Cdep1 gene between the test samples and the control. Finally, a significant difference was recorded with the expression of Bbchit1 gene by the IND strain 72 h post-inoculation. In conclusion, these results suggest that B. bassiana strains have differential expression of virulence genes that could reflect adaptation to their geographical environment and could help classifying their entomopathogenic efficacy accordingly.
... The effects of climatic changes on forests vary with geographical zone and the climatic conditions of regions; these affect the distribution of forest types, growth, regeneration and mortality [1]. Recent studies have indicate that there has been a shortage in rainfall between in the Mediterranean regions, and an increase in temperature between 1.5 and 4 °C over the past 100 years [2]. ...
... The C. libani is restricted to high mountainous areas, cedar forests extend over a discontinuous range composed of widely separated regions, generally found at altitudes between 800 and 2100 m, where the annual average temperature ranges from 6 to 12 °C and annual mean precipitation ranges from 600 to 1200 mm with a drought period during summer [8,9]. Today, Cedar forests constitute 3% of Mediterranean forest in which about 2% are protected, perhaps Climate change can destroy most of the remaining C. libani forests [1]. ...
... Conversely the rise of monthly average temperature in July will expose C. libani stands to hydric stress, and thus affect their growth. In Slenfeh we found a significant negative affect of temperature increase on the growth of studied stands at annual and seasonally scales for Winter and Autumn (Table 7), this corresponds to other studies that confirm the need of C. libani to cold Winter [1,16]. In the others sites (Jaobet-Berkal, Al-Mawla Hassan and Al-Nabi Matta) there were no significant effect of temperature change on C. libani growth (Table 7). ...
Background: Climatic changes have a strong influence on the forest ecology, the eastern coast of Mediterranean is one of the most sensitive regions to climatic change in the world, especially for forests and the distribution of their species. Objectives: This research aimed to assess the impact of two climatic factors changes (temperature, rainfall) on Cedrus libani on the Syrian coast (Slenfeh, Jaobet_Berkal, Qadmous and Dweer-Ruslan) during the period 1960-2010. Methods: The indicators of analysis, range and trend of changes for temperature and rainfall were determined during the period 1960-2010 at the seasonal and annual scales, the drought was also evaluated using the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) during the same period. The growth of Cedrus libani stands was estimated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), which was obtained from the MODIS images during the period 2001-2010. Regression models were established between temperature averages, rainfall amount and (Standardized Precipitation Index) SPI on the one hand, and with NDVI on the other hand, which was calculated for the growth season at different temporal scales. Results: The analyses showed a significant increase in the average of annual temperature only in Qadmous and a significant seasonally increase in summer temperature for all sites, however the Autumn, Winter in Qadmous and Spring in Jaobet_Berkal were no significant. The annual rainfall has decreased significantly in Slenfeh and Jaobet_Berkal, while the seasonal analyses have shown a significant rainfall decrease in Spring in all studied sites, and only on winter at Jaobet-Berkal and in Summer at Slenfeh. The results have shown an ascending trend line for annual drought in Slenfeh Jaobet-Berkal and Qadmous. And a negative effect of increasing in temperature average of stands growth in Slenfeh. In the others sites (Jaobet-Berkal, Qadmous and Dweer-Ruslan) there were no significant effects of the temperature change on the artificial C. libani stands growth. There was also no significant effect of the rainfall change on C. libani stands growth in all studied sites. It was observed that the increasing of humidity in January and December had affected positively the growth in Slenfeh and Jaobet-Borkal, while the increasing of humidity in the Autumn had a positive effect on stands growth in Slenfeh Conclusion: It was essential to identify the effect of climatic changes on one of the most important patrimonial species in Syria, so this study represents a key step to determine the difficulties which C. libani stands face to survive.
... Pest infestations are of particular concern and the cedar trees in Lebanon are at particular risk of attack by the cedar web-spinning sawfly (Cephalcia tannourinensis), mentioned above. In the last decade, there has been a 70% infestation of the Tannourine-Hadath El-Jebbeh cedar forest, which is the largest remaining remnant of the old-growth forest that once completely covered the Lebanese western mountain chain (Sattout & Nemer 2008). The expansion of the geographic range of this pest is thought to have been caused by an increase in winter temperatures, although there has been some recent success in controlling the pest as a result of spraying programmes (Sattout & Nemer 2008). ...
... In the last decade, there has been a 70% infestation of the Tannourine-Hadath El-Jebbeh cedar forest, which is the largest remaining remnant of the old-growth forest that once completely covered the Lebanese western mountain chain (Sattout & Nemer 2008). The expansion of the geographic range of this pest is thought to have been caused by an increase in winter temperatures, although there has been some recent success in controlling the pest as a result of spraying programmes (Sattout & Nemer 2008). ...
The Mediterranean Basin, which includes the former Ottoman lands, is recognized as
a biodiversity hotspot. For the conifers, it is an important area which still has significant
tracts of forest, albeit much reduced since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the early part
of the twentieth century. The widespread conifer tree species include the firs (Abies alba
and A. nordmanniana), the pines (Pinus brutia, P. halepensis, P nigra, and P. sylvestris), and the spruce Picea abies. Some species, however, such as the majestic cedars (Cedrus atlantica, C. brevifolia, and C. libani) and the fir Abies numidica have faced serious declines due to a range of man-induced threats. Such are the pressures on conifers that some are now listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as globally threatened and many are considered to be nationally threatened. Our area consists of forty-eight conifer taxa of which ten are Red Listed. The object of this chapter is to give an overview of the threatened conifers of the former Ottoman lands and discuss past and present threats.
... The cedar of Lebanon (Cedrus libani A. Rich) is one of four species found in genus Cedrus (Boydak 2003, Sattout & Nemer 2008. The cedar of Lebanon is a drought resistant and light demanding species, but it is also capable of surviving in partial shade conditions at a young age. ...
... Moreover, it can grow old (over 1000 years) and reach impressive sizes and appearances (El-Hanna et al. 1999, Boydak 2003. The genus Cedrus is endemic or sub-endemic to the Mediterranean basin (SETS 2007), and cedar forests are naturally distributed in Syria, Lebanon and Turkey (Sattout & Nemer 2008). Unfortunately, the continued historical human activities such as grazing, cutting, burning, urbanizing etc. have caused the degradation of the Lebanese cedar forests throughout the world (SETS 2007). ...
... In Lebanon, cedar forests cover some relict forest patches that survived anthropogenic activities over thousands of years. They are mainly distributed on the western slope of the Mount Lebanon chains, in the mountainous Mediterranean bioclimatic zone, at altitudes ranging between 1400 and 2000 m a.s.l., with a southernmost limit in Al-Shouf Cedar Reserve (El-Hanna et al. 1999, Sattout & Nemer 2008. The cedar of Lebanon is found in mixed stands with other tree species (Juniperus excelsa M. Bieb, Quercus calliprinos Webb, Q. infectoria Oliv.), but the majority of its remnant forests consist of pure cedar stands sheltering sporadic tree species such as Cilician fir (Abies cilica Antoine et Kotschy, Carrière 1855), wild apple (Malus sylvestris Miller.), ...
The analysis of forest structure is a useful tool to understand stand biodiversity characterizing forest ecosystems, and could help in suggesting appropriate management plans. Cedar forests in Lebanon are remnant patches that survived past human activities but are still threatened by other different anthro-pogenic and natural disturbances. Among these threats, the cedar web-spinning sawfly (Cephalcia tannourinensis) discovered in Tannourine Cedar Forest Nature Reserve in 1997, which is able to cause the death of trees. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of this pest on the stand structure and regeneration of Cedrus libani in Tannourine Cedar Forest Nature Reserve located in North Lebanon. The dependence of stand structural attributes (diam-eter at breast height, total height and basal area) on the presence of infestation by the cedar web-spinning sawfly was identified using the Student's t-test. The Ripley's K(d) function was used to analyse the spatial pattern of cedar stands. In addition, the diameter, the vertical structure and the crown projection were characterized using the Weibull function and graphic representations. The results showed that stand structure and regeneration are significantly different between infested and non-infested stands. The cedar of Lebanon remains as the dominant species, with abundant young individuals and a good regeneration status (c = 1.0). The analysis of the spatial pattern showed a positive spatial relationship between mature Lebanese cedar trees as well as between mature and juvenile cedars, with a bigger aggregation in infested plots (6 to 10 meters) than in non-infested quadrates (2 to 7 meters), reflecting the impact of the cedar web-spinning sawfly on the stand structure and regeneration of Cedrus libani stands.
... Overall, the bioclimatic zone of the Arz el-Rab forest is expected to change from oro-mediterranean to pre-humid, which will affect its spatial distribution, species composition, and community structure (Colette 2009, 76-77). Insect and moth attack, fueled by increasing aridity, are affecting the cedar forests in Tannourine and Shouf, and threatening to spread to the Arz el-Rab sacred cedars (Sattout and Nemer 2008;Talhouk, Zurayk, and Khuri 2001a). ...
When biodiversity is recognized not simply as a natural quality but as a cultural concept and product, it highlights human agency in fostering and promoting biodiversity. Mobilizing human agency becomes particularly important in the face of significant threats to biodiversity, such as those posed by global climate change. UNESCO World Heritage Sites offer an ideal platform for communicating global conservation challenges like climate change, and therefore for mobilizing social action for climate change mitigation. The World Heritage category of cultural landscapes is particularly well-suited to presenting biodiversity as a joint natural-cultural product, and likewise demonstrating both the impacts of climate change on biodiversity and the social possibilities for climate action.
... The bioclimatic zone of the Arz el-Rab forest is expected to change too, affecting the spatial distribution, species composition and community structure of the cedar forest (Colette 2009). Insect and moth attacks, fuelled by increasing aridity, are already affecting the cedar forests in Tannourine and Shouf, and threatening to spread to the Arz el-Rab sacred cedars (Sattout and Nemer 2008;Talhouk et al. 2001a;Khuri and Talhouk 1999). ...
