Biodiversity
Morocco's privileged geographical location between Europe and Africa and between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, as well as its palaeo biogeographical history (mixing and mixing between Ethiopian and European fauna) make it a unique region, more than a title, and more particularly in terms of biodiversity. Successive geological and climatic events have shaped it into a very heterogeneous and complex mosaic of ecosystems and habitats, ranging from high mountains covered with forests and snow to the far reaches of the seemingly practically Azoic desert, passing through the vast alluvial plains, rivers, lakes, paralic environments, marine waters, steppe regions. But there are also "neo-ecosystems" constituted by the artificial reservoirs of dams having a significant impact on the recent evolution of national biodiversity, in particular that of continental and coastal wetlands.
Moroccan biodiversity is rich and diverse. The total number of inventoried species exceeds 32,000 taxa and it is believed that this is a figure that remains well below the real specific richness of Morocco, in view of the large number of regions not yet explored and, also, the number of systematic groups very little or no studied.
Flora
The Moroccan flora comprises, at the current state of knowledge, some 8000 species and this is still only an underestimate insofar as the flora, both terrestrial and aquatic, is not known in its geographical characteristics. and organic. Even for certain groups of great ecological and socio-economic interest, such as phytoplankton, for example, very little information is available. In addition, many sites such as southern Morocco have almost never been surveyed.
The structure of the Moroccan flora shows a clear predominance of terrestrial phanerogams with nearly 4500 species; marine species only have 4 species, one of which (Posidonia oceanica) seems to have disappeared from our coasts. Fungi and lichens are also relatively well represented with, respectively, around 820 and 700 species. One of the plant groups also best represented in Morocco is made up of multicellular algae, of which nearly 700 species have been identified, with 489 macro algae and nearly 200 species belonging to phytoplankton.
Wildlife
Moroccan fauna, compared to those of other neighbouring countries, can be considered relatively rich and diverse. 24,602 species have been identified so far, but this number is believed to be well below what is actually found there for three main reasons:
- studies concerning the majority of ecosystems remain, in spite of everything, relatively few in number (due to the lack of material resources or national skills);
- many systematic groups are very little known, if not never studied in Morocco;
- many regions of Morocco still remain to be explored and studied both systematically and ecologically.
The national fauna is very largely dominated by arthropods which constitute 73% of the total listed species, i.e. 17,893 species. Among these 17,893 arthropods, 13,461 are insects, a percentage of nearly 75%. Very far behind arthropods are molluscs and vertebrates, which, with 2,249 and 1,718 species, respectively constitute 9% and 7% of the total specific national biodiversity.
Microorganisms
It is one of the groups which, despite its major ecological, scientific and socio-economic importance, is very poorly known and very little studied in Morocco. Around 1,120,000 species are estimated in the world, of which 143,000 have been recorded. The National Biodiversity Study revealed the presence of 226 species in Morocco; but with hundreds of isolates. This is a figure that shows the importance of the gap that characterizes microbiological studies in our country. From this very brief inventory, it seems that microorganisms are studied in our country mainly for their socio-economic impacts (phytopathogens, agro-food, agriculture, etc.).