Content uploaded by Francisco Lara
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Francisco Lara on Dec 27, 2013
Content may be subject to copyright.
Index of Ecological Significance (IES) a useful tool for the estimate of relative abundance of bryophyte populations
... The processing and analysis of data relating to the bryological flora of the forest of Jbel Arz in the upper central Rif was carried out using the Microsoft Office 2010 Excel spreadsheet, in order to assess the ecological significance index (IES) [36,37]. It combines the relative frequency values and the percentages of specific coverage of the species in the study area according to the following formula: IES = F (1 + C), where F = 100*x/n corresponds to the relative frequency of the species, and C = (ci)/x is the mean species coverage in the records, where (x) is the number of records containing the species, (n) the total number of samples, and (ci) the coverage class of the species in each survey. ...
... In the Mediterranean region, the genus Brachytheciastrum is represented by 7 species and two varieties, with B. velutinum the most widely distributed as it is present almost all around the Mediterranean [27]. The genus Brachytheciastrum was first described by [41], when they separated species previously placed in Brachythecium which is considered as a synonym of the genus Brachytheciastrum in several keys and publications, such as that of [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. In our study site, Brachytheciastrum trachypodium is very scarce (IES = 6) and harvested on soils rich in organic matter in more or less humid and shaded places in the cedar forest; it is a terricolous and mesophilic moss. ...
The Tazekka National Park, in the Moroccan Middle Atlas, offers a great diversity of flora and fauna that has been the subject of much research. However, bryophytes are the least studied in the area. In this context, the present study aims to establish an exhaustive inventory of the bryoflora of the park. Sampling was carried out along altitudinal transects, taking into consideration 10 stations spread over the entire massif, making a total of 112 records, and the period of collection was spread over two years. The exploration of the park revealed the existence of 112 taxa belonging to 100 mosses, 10 liverworts and 2 hornworts distributed over 32 families and 66 genera. The Pottiaceae family is predominant (26 species). The present study has enabled us to enrich the Moroccan bryoflora with five newly observed taxa: Anomodon attenuatus, Amblystegium serpens, Didymodon nicholsonii, Orthothecium intricatum and Stegonia latifolia var. Latifolia. Moreover, we note the predominance of acrocarpous mosses over pleurocarps, and a dominance of terricolous mosses over the other habitat types. The level of abundance of the species is variable depending on the environmental conditions of the station, showing that two liverworts are dominant and the most widely distributed in this area (Lunularia cruciata and Targonia hypophylla) and four epiphytes belonging to Orthotrichum are very dominant in an only station. This study clarifies the bryological component of the park's ecosystems. This is not without interest considering the role of these plants in the equilibrium of the environments.KeywordChecklistBiodiversityBryophytesIndex IESTazekka massifMoroccoNew records
... The relative frequency of species was estimated using the index of ecological importance (IES) (Lara and Mazimpaka, 1998;Albertos et al., 2001) whose formula is as follows: IES = F (1+C). Where F (relative frequency) = 100 x/n and C (average recovery) = c i / x, with x corresponds to the number of stations containing the species, n is the total number of stations and c i is an estimation corresponding to the class of recovery assigned to species in each station. ...
... Recovery classes are defined according to the following scale from the recovery percentage: : 0,5 (<1%); 1 (1% à 5%); 2 (6% à 25%); 3 (26% à 50%); 4 (51% à 75%); 5 (> 75%). In the index, coverage and frequency, which are the two parameters of abundance, are combined to best reflect any change in species abundance (Albertos et al., 2001); the values of these parameters are reported in table 2. Then, the values of IES obtained were combined in frequency classes as follows: very scarce (<25), scarce (26-50), moderately abundant (51-100), abundant (101-200) and dominant (> 200). ...
Tazekka National Park, located in the Eastern Middle Atlas, is known by a "Jbel Tazekka" mountain where a remarkable forest ecosystem, the cedar grove, is located. Analysis of the bryological flora of this mountain revealed the existence of 66 species including 59 mosses and 7 livers. From a morphological point of view, the listed taxa are divided into 41 acrocarps, 18 pleurocarps, 6 thalle livers and 1 leaf liver. From a systematic point of view, they are represented by 24 families and 39 genre encountered on different types of substrates. Three new taxa (two species and one variety) were inventoried (Anomodon attenuatus, Didymodon nicholsonii et Stegonia latifolia var. latifolia). In general, the distribution of bryophytic species in the study area depends primarily on the microclimate of the station. The humidity and especially the freshness of the environment are ensured by the forest formations here, especially the cedar grove. Three species, all livers, Lunularia cruciata, Targonia hypophylla and Remboulia hemisphaerica are the most distributed bryophytes in the site with an IES ranging from 106 to 121. We can then say that this study has enriched the bryophytic flora of Morocco.
... The relative frequency of each taxon in the sample plots was determined by the index of ecological significance (IES) described by Lara and Mazimpaka (1998), Albertos et al. (2001) and Mazimpaka et al. (2009). The formula used to calculate the IES values for each taxon is as follows: ...
In this study, the epiphytic bryophyte succession of the Buxus sempervirens L. forests in Fırtına Valley (Çamlıhemşin-Rize, North Türkiye), one of the nine biodiversity hotspots in Türkiye, were investigated. For this purpose, a total of 60 sampling plots were taken from the live trunks of the B. sempervirens trees of different ages. Twenty-nine epiphytic bryophyte species were determined (24 mosses and 5 liverworts) within the sample plots. Also, six different life form types and four different habitat affinity categories were determined. The mat type life form is in the first place with 34.4% whereas the and cortico-saxicolous species are the most common with 51.7%. Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) classified the epiphytic bryophyte communities on the trunks of the B. sempervirens at the second level into two main clusters (A and B) and three sub-clusters (A1, B1 and, B2). Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) axis 1 was interpreted as gradient along the height of the epiphytic habitat (from the lower base to the upper zone) on trunks and the DCA axis 2 was interpreted as gradient of moisture (from mesic to xeric). Exsertotheca crispa (Hedw.) S.Olsson, Enroth & D.Quandt was the species with the highest Index of Ecological Significance (IES) value on the lower bases of the aged trees. Species diversity and epiphytic cover in the upper zones were lower than in the basal and middle zones in the study area. While Metzgeria furcata, (L.) Corda, Oxyrrhynchium hians (Hedw.) Loeske, Plagiothecium nemorale (Mitt.) A.Jaeger, and Radula lindenbergiana Gottsche ex C.Hartm were only found on old trees, Ctenidium molluscum (Hedw.) Mitt. and Pseudoleskeella nervosa (Brid.) Nyholm were only found on middle-aged trees.
... Where (n i ) is the number of records in which the species (i) is present and (N) is the total number of records. The relative abundance of species collected in the Tafoughalt massif was estimated using the Index of Ecological Significance (IES) (Lara & Mazimpaka, 1998;Albertos et al., 2001). It is based on the combination of relative frequency and specific area coverage in the study site, and is calculated according to the following equation: ...
Journal home page: www.plantarchives.org Knowledge of the diversity of the bryophytic flora of the Tafoughalt massif in northeastern Morocco is insufficient and poorly known. The present study is the first bryological work on this massif. The bryophytic exploitation, which lasted three years (2015-2017) during periods favourable for sampling, revealed the existence of 30 bryophyte taxa, 27 of which belong to the Mosses and 3 to the Hepatica, divided respectively into 21 genders and 10 families (90%) then 3 genders and 3 families (10%). The most represented families are the Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Bryaceae. The most species rich genera are Bryum and Tortula. Four species are the most abundant in this massif, including three mosses and one liverwort:Grimmia decipiens, Orthotrichum rupestre, Pleurochaete squarrosa and Targionia hypophylla. We report the presence of two species new to the bryophytic flora of Morocco. These are Amblystegium serpens and Oxyrrhynchium speciosum. These two species are very rare in our study site according to the ecological significance index (ESI). There are five species newly observed in the region. The majority of taxa (more than 90% taxa) are saxicolous and/or terracolous.
... The abundance of species in the different substrates in the study area was expressed using the Ecological Significance Index "IES", where frequency and overlap are two parameters of abundance, (Lara & Mazimpaka, 1998;Albertos et al., 2001), whose mathematical expression is as follows: IES=F (1+C). ...
In order to contribute to the elaboration of an inventory of the bryophytic flora of Morocco, we were interested in the
present study in the bryoflora of the National Park of Talassemtane (PNTS). It is an original site by its rich
biodiversity, located in the Western Rif near the town of Chefchaouen. The inventory was carried out with the help of
72 surveys in 8 different stations following a sampling of bryophytes carried out during five years, from 2014 to 2019,
when periods are favourable for harvesting. A total of 132 taxa were recorded, including 123 Mosses, 8 Liverworts
and a unique Anthocerote, grouping 27 families and 60 genera. Thus, the moss class is the most represented in all the
stations surveyed, either 93%, including 18 families and 51 genera. The bryophytic species are either harvested on a
single type of substrate, or they are both saxicolous and/or terricolous and/or epiphytic; as there are those that are
aquatic or supra-aquatic.Saxicolous bryophytes seem to be the most represented (54 taxa), followed by epiphytes and
terricoles, then supra-aquatic, aquatic, epixyles and muricoles. Timmiella barbiloides and Lunularia cruciata are
widely distributed in the study area with varying abundance classes. Antitrichia californica is dominant (IES=300) but
is more widely distributed in the park fir forest. Thus we noted 39.4% of the taxa listed as very scarce in the study
site. Among the inventoried bryophytes, 30 species are newly observed in the study region; among them, three were
identified for the first time in Morocco, Didymodon sinuosus, Didymodon umbrosus and Scleropodium obtusifolium,
where the first two belong to the family Pottiaceae and the last one to the family Brachyteciaceae. Scleropodium
obtusifolium is new to North African countries. Thus, this study has enriched the bryological flora of Morocco and
even that of North Africa.
Keywords: Bryophytes, Inventory, Talassemtane National Park, New species, Rif, Morocco.
The Sidi Boughaba Biological Reserve is a nature reserve known for its lake, which is a protected site for the preservation of its biodiversity, particularly that of migratory birds. The aim of this study of the bryophytes of this wetland on the north-west coast of Morocco is to establish as exhaustive a list as possible, while at the same time contributing to the completion of the Moroccan bryophytic catalog. The study of the diversity and ecology of the reserve’s bryophytic species is based on the analysis of 20 surveys carried out during different seasons, from January 2022 to May 2023. A total of 61 species and subspecies were recorded, including 6 liverworts (5 thalloids, 1 leafy) and 55 mosses (43 acrocarps and 12 pleurocarps). These taxa are divided into 12 families and 29 genera, with around 75% of families represented by one to three species and/or subspecies, with Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Bryaceae dominating. Substrate type analyses show that terricolous taxa dominate with 24 species (39.3%), followed by corticolous with 24 species (27.9%) and saxicolous with 7 species (11.5%). In terms of water requirement, mesophyllous taxa (62.3%) are more dominant than xerophils (36.1%). Selon l’indice de signification écologique (IES), nous avons noté 34 espèces très rares, 15 espèces rares, 10 modérément abondantes et seulement deux espèces sont abondantes, il s’agit de Funaria hygrometrica (IES = 142) et Scorpiurium circinatum (IES = 113). This study represents the first fieldwork on the bryophytic flora of the Sidi Boughaba nature reserve, with the aim of better understanding the ecology and role of these small plants in the local biodiversity.
The mastery of the development cycle of a project, especially in software development, has become a need and an unavoidable necessity to produce a deliverable with value. Thus, to satisfy the requirements of users who have become more volatile. In this regard, the Agile manifesto, or Manifesto for Agile software development, has been proposed to bring increased flexibility and pragmatism to the delivered products by giving values and fundamental principles to revolutionize software development processes incrementally, but without handling the technical framework of their productions.So, our defiance in this paper is to add a technical framework to agile software development processes by proposing a user stories’ meta-model driven method in the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) approach. This approach will lead us to put the models and their meta-models at the center of the development process of any software system to facilitate the development process based on the construction and the transformation of models tasks in the Agile context.KeywordsUser StoryMeta-modelModel Driven Architecture (MDA)Agile
Our bryophytic surveys of the "Jbel Arz" forest (cedar mountain in Arabic) located in the central High Rif, in the North of Morocco, allowed us to inventory a list of 108 taxa of bryophytes including 93 mosses (64 acrocarps and 29 pleurocarps) and 15 liverworts (4 leaf liverworts and 11 thallus liverworts). The species richness confirms the clear dominance of three families of mosses Pottiaceae, Brachytheciaceae and Bryaceae, then a family of liverworts Ricciaceae. Three species belonging to the mosses are collected for the first time in Morocco: Brachytheciastrum trachypodium, Racomitrium aciculare and Orthotrichum sprucei of which the latter is new even for North Africa. In the Central Rif region, 34 taxa are new records. The estimation of the ecological significance index (ESI) revealed the predominance of four species in our study site (Homalothecium sericeum, Grimmia pulvinata, Hypnum cupressiforme and Tortula subulata) and also two very scarce species. In this site, there is a high representation of saxicolous and/or terricolous species (65,7%) although it is a forest environment. Generally, the distribution of bryophytes in our study site depends on four factors: the nature of the substrate, the degree of humidity, the plant formation and the sunlight. Liverworts are only found in microclimates that favour a certain coolness of the environment.KeywordsBryophytesNew speciesRifMorocco
COVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. The entry of a virus into human cells is a critical phase in its infection. The binding of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to Angiotensin converting enzyme 2 ACE2, an enzyme found on the surface of human cells, initiates the infection. Online software tools that overlay the three-dimensional structures of viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, address the problem of structure superposition by overlaying the ACE2 and spike complexes of the first protein on those of the second protein.In this work, overlaying the three-dimensional structures of viruses was addressed by superimposing ACE2 and then applying the resulting transformation from this superposition to the spike. Finally, the root mean square deviation RMSD was calculated. We used the discrete to continuous DTC algorithm to align the 3D structures; the results from the DTC were compared to the results from TopMatch and SuperPose, which are online tools for aligning 3D structures. The obtained results prove that aligning each structure then combining them is the most suitable approach for properly studying the structural evolution of SARS-CoV-2.KeywordsStructure alignment algorithmDiscrete To ContinuousTopMatchSuperPoseCoronavirusesSARSCov2
Substance abuse, such as drinking alcohol, leads to mental diseases and causes severe, irreversible and chronic impairment of vital organs. The effectiveness of conventional screening methods, such as questionnaires, among patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) is limited due to the subjectivity inherent in these methods. There is a major need for reliable, efficient, and objective procedures for AUD diagnosis. AUD affects human brain health and significantly influences brain waves. The alteration in brain waves related to alcohol consumption may be determined by analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. In the context of studying brain signal modifications linked to alcohol consumption, this paper presents a novel method based on the “Discrete To Continuous” (DTC) approach to select the most relevant and accurate alcoholic EEG signals recorded from 64 channels using a publicly available dataset. Such a dataset’s dimension needs a lot of computation time and memory performance. Our approach was compared to the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) algorithm. The results of the DTC and DTW approaches are compatible. The findings of our study give promising results regarding the identification of the most significant channels to determine alcoholism anomalies. Thus, our method will overcome time complexity and memory performance issues in the classification process of EEG signals.Keywordsalignment algorithmDiscrete to ContinuousElectroencephalographyAlcoholism
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.