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Study of spontaneous dissemination of plant seeds in dromedary faeces in the northern Algerian Sahara Volume 23, issue 2, Avril-Mai-Juin 2012

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Authors
Université Kasdi Merbah-Ouargla Faculté des sciences de la nature et de la vie et sciences de la terre et de l’univers Laboratoire de bioressources sahariennes, préservation et valorisation 30000 Ouargla Algérie

The dromedary is known to be the only breeding animal capable of valorising the spontaneous flora of the wide Saharan spaces. The current study aims at assessing the contribution of this animal to the spreading of spontaneous flora within the pastures through seed dissemination. Dromedary faeces have been collected in two selected areas, Touggourt and Ghardaia, representative of the six known cameline rangelands during the four successive seasons of the year 2009-2010, in order to examine their seed contents. Our investigation allowed us to inventory 2,967 seeds representing 35 different types. On the one hand, spatial distribution analysis showed that the highest seed densities were recorded on rangelands of wadi beds, depressions and hamadas (region of Ghardaïa) with 1,832 seeds belonging to 33 types. The reg, erg, and salty soil rangelands (region of Touggourt) recorded 1,135 seeds representing 21 types. On the other hand, the time distribution, of both seeds and types, showed variability throughout the year according to the season of sampling. The highest seed density was recorded in summer with 1,609 seeds, against 516 seeds in winter, 422 seeds in spring, and 420 seeds in fall. Likewise, the highest type number was observed in summer with 28 different types, followed by 21 types in fall, 15 types in winter, and 12 in spring.