The spontaneous flora of eastern Morocco: A systematic literature review

Laboratory for the Improvement of Agricultural Production, Biotechnology and Environment, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed First University, Oujda, Morocco

^* Corresponding author: mohamed.lafdil.d23@ump.ac.ma

Abstract

Because of its geographical position and orography, Morocco is part of the Mediterranean region's plant biodiversity hotspot, with 4,500 species in 930 genera and 130 families [1]. However, this richness, weakened by climate change and human pressure, is becoming even more vulnerable in urban green spaces, the design of which could exacerbate the situation. In order to understand the state of knowledge about the spontaneous flora of eastern Morocco, a systematic literature review was carried out, using PRISMA guidelines, on 582 documents from three scientific platforms: Scopus, ScienceDirect and JSTOR. The results show that fundamental studies are not very attractive to researchers (36% of publications). On the other hand, application studies attract much more interest (64% of all published studies). In terms of exploiting spontaneous flora, the main concern is exploitation (57% of publications), to the detriment of preserving this richness (7%). The ornamental aspect is all but forgotten, despite the need expressed by those involved in urban green spaces, especially in terms of the plant material essential to the design of a green network that aims to be sustainable and preserve nature. Keywords. spontaneous flora, biodiversity, Eastern Morocco, green spaces, systematic review.