AGROBIOLOGIA
Volume 13, Numéro 1, Pages 3348-3360
2023-07-01

Characterization Of Cork Oak Infection By Biscogniauxia Mediterranea In Two Cork Oak Forests Of Occidental Algeria: Djebel Saadia (w. Relizane) And Hafir (w. Tlemcen)

Authors : Bendjebbar Khedidja . Belhoucine-guezouli Latifa . Bouandas Ameur . Boughalem Mostafia . Bonefacio Luis . Henriques Joana .

Abstract

Description of the subject: The cork oak (Quercus suber) is a globally rare forest species. In Algeria, this species is widely distributed in the littoral zone of the Tell Atlas. In recent decades, cork oak forests have experienced serious health problems, including decline caused by pathogenic fungi, leading to the instability and degradation of this important forest resource. Due to the great ecological and economic importance of cork oak forests and given the lack of information on the etiology on this degradation. The goal: of the study are aimed to: i) study the health status of the stands in each region and ii) assess the infection of the cork oak by the endophyte Biscogniauxia mediterranea, an agent of charcoal canker associated with cork oak decline. Methods : sampling was carried out in 2017 on two forests in western Algeria: Djebel Saadia (Relizane) and Hafir (Tlemcen), which was the subject of various surveys distributed according to station surveys relating to the station data, dendrometric (height and circumference), tree condition (degree of decline) and management data (debarked/undebarked) were considered. Results :There obtained from the point of view of circumferences and heights, showed that the trees affected by B. mediterranea canker in the forest of Hafir contains a threshold of 80% form the 2nd class of circumference (Ø between 70 and 109 cm) and the other classes are less attacked and belong to the two classes 2 (H: 6-7 m) and 3 (H: 7-10 m) of heights, the 1st and the 4th classes are absent from the lot, whereas in the forest of Djebel Saadia, the infected subjects belong to class 1 whose circumference is of the order of Ø < 70 cm and class 1 whose height is of the order of H < 6 m. For each individual forest, a statistical analysis using an ANOVA was performed to relate the detection of B. mediterranea to the quantitative data of dendrometric parameters, including height (ANOVA: F (2, 439) = 75 1703; P<0.0001) and circumference (ANOVA: F(2,439)=14,7995; P<0.0001), plus calculation of infection rate, which shows no difference between the two study sites (Z=0.04; P=0.968). Conclusion: This original study, carried out on the two forests Djebel Saadia (Relizane) and Hafir (Tlemcen), reports the diagnosis health status and forest of the cork oak in two forests such as Djebel-Saadia and Hafir to characterize them, the evaluate and highlight the involvement of the pathogen B. mediterennea in the observed decline from the various parameters related to the state of the trunks by meticulous observations and notations reveal the presence of the fungus.

Keywords

Quercus suber ; charcoal canker ; Hafir ; Djebel Saadia ; decline