BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE 39 FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS

L. García Esteban P. de Palacios Pinsapo forests: Cátedra de Tecnología de la Madera Departamento de Ingeniería Forestal past, present Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros de Montes and future Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Ciudad Universitaria, s/n 28040 Madrid Spain

The Iberian and Rifian pinsapo forests are now stable, thanks to the work of the various conservation organisations for protected natural areas and the abandon of the area by rural inhabitants, which has ended the livestock raising and logging to which these forests were subjected for many years. However, their continued survival is threatened by forest fires and climate change.

Sierra de Ronda (Málaga) pinsapo forest. Photo L. García Esteban and P. de Palacios. BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) 40 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PINSAPO FORESTS

L. García Esteban, P. de Palacios

RÉSUMÉ ABSTRACT RESUMEN

FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS : PASSÉ, PINSAPO FORESTS: PAST, PINSAPARES: PASADO, PRESENTE PRÉSENT ET FUTUR PRESENT AND FUTURE Y FUTURO

Vu le caractère unique de la décou- In view of the unique nature of the Por la singularidad del descubri- verte, ce travail relate les trois expé- discovery, this article provides an miento, en este trabajo se relatan las ditions botaniques dans les enclaves account of the three botanical expe- tres expediciones botánicas que se naturelles d’ Boiss. La ditions made to the natural enclaves realizaron a los enclaves naturales de première fut entreprise en 1837 par of Abies pinsapo Boiss., first by the Abies pinsapo Boiss.: en 1837 por el le botaniste suisse Edmond Boissier, Swiss botanist Edmond Boissier in botánico Edmond Boissier, en 1928 la deuxième en 1928 par les ingé- 1837, then by the Spanish forestry por los Ingenieros de Montes Luis nieurs forestiers Luis Ceballos engineers Luis Ceballos Fernández de Ceballos Fernández de Córdoba y Fernández de Córdoba et Manuel Córdoba and Manuel Martín Bolaños Manuel Martín Bolaños y, en 1946, Martín Bolaños, et la troisième en in 1928, and later by another Span- por el también Ingeniero de Montes, 1946 par un autre ingénieur forestier, ish forestry engineer, Santiago Santiago Sánchez Cózar. Estas dos Santiago Sánchez Cózar. Ces deux Sánchez Cózar, in 1946. The two later últimas expediciones se realizaron dernières expéditions ont été expeditions were to the Moroccan Rif, en el Rif marroquí, en los montes conduites dans le Rif marocain, res- to Mount Mago and Mount Tazaout Magó y Tazaout respectivamente, y pectivement aux monts Mago et respectively, and it was these expedi- permitieron ubicar a los abetos rife- Tazaout, et ont permis d’identifier les tions that enabled the Rifian firs to be ños como variedades del pinsapo sapins rifiens comme étant une identified as varieties of the Andalu- andaluz. Actualmente los pinsapares variété du sapin d’Andalousie. sian pinsapo fir. The Iberian and ibéricos y rifeños se encuentran esta- Actuellement, les forêts de pinsapos Rifian pinsapo forests are now sta- bilizados gracias a las respectivas ibériques et du Rif sont stabilisées ble, thanks to the work of the various figuras de protección de espacios grâce au travail respectif des orga- conservation organisations for pro- naturales protegidos y al éxodo por nismes de conservation des espaces tected natural areas and the aban- parte de la población rural, que ha naturels protégés et à l’exode de la don of the area by the rural inhabi- conducido al abandono de las activi- population rurale. Cela a contribué à tants, which has ended the livestock dades ganaderas y madereras que l’abandon de l’élevage et de l’exploi- raising and logging to which these durante años soportaron estos bos- tation forestière qui ont caractérisé forests were subjected for many ques. No obstante, los incendios y el ces sites pendant des années. En years. However, forest fires and cli- cambio climático amenazan su per- revanche, les incendies et les chan- mate change represent a threat to manencia. gements climatiques menacent their continued survival. désormais la survie de ces forêts. Palabras clave: Abies pinsapo, Keywords: Abies pinsapo, A. maro- A. marocana, A. tazaotana, A. numi- Mots-clés : Abies pinsapo, A. maro- cana, A. tazaotana, A. numidica. dica. cana, A. tazaotana, A. numidica. BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE 41 FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS

Introduction

Abies pinsapo Boissier is the westernmost fir in the entire Mediterranean Arc, and along with the other Mediterranean firs it is cur- rently a good indicator of the poten- tial influence of climate change on the region’s vegetation. Climate fluctuations in the Quaternary caused these firs to take refuge in shady areas at medium alti- tudes with very high average rainfall. Terpene analyses of Mediter- Sierra de Grazalema (Cádiz) pinsapo forest. ranean firs seem to indicate that they Photo L. García Esteban and P. de Palacios. all came from a common ancestor in the Aegean area, quite similar to those found today, which would later Nitzelis (1969) in Farjon One of the singular features of have split into two large groups: the (1990), considers A. nebrodensis to the Chefchaouen massif is that in Pontic fir of Asia Minor, and the be a subspecies of A. alba, while some of its forests, such as Buhal-la, Balkan Peninsula fir. At the end of the Vicario et al. (1995), using genetic Desas and Lexchab, all exposed to Tertiary, these species would have analyses based on allozyme, chloro- the south, the firs show features sim- been distinct and ready to evolve and plast DNA and RAPD markers, have ilar to those of A. pinsapo var. maro- migrate under the influence of the concluded that the populations of cana, while those in forests exposed Quaternary climate fluctuations men- A. alba and A. nebrodensis provide to the north have more in common tioned previously. clear evidence for a classification into with A. pinsapo var. tazaotana. Terpene analyses of the eastern two taxonomically different groups. The fragmentation of the Abies populations of A. alba (in Romania Some researchers maintain that pinsapo range into isolated popula- and the Rhodope Mountains) and the populations of A. pinsapo, A. pin- tions must have caused reproductive A. bornmuelleriana have shown more sapo var. marocana and A. numidica isolation between them due to the similarity between these two species may even have formed a single limited pollen dispersal of the pin- than between A. alba and A. cepha- species before the final separation of sapo fir (Arista, Talavera, 1994). lonica, which would indicate that the the Iberian Peninsula from the north This could have triggered the specia- ancestral Pontic fir contributed to the of Africa at the end of the Tertiary Age tion of these populations and their individualisation of A. alba and its (Sánchez, 1946; Bocquet et al., subsequent morphological differenti- ability to colonise Central and 1978; Jeanmonod, Bocquet, 1981; ation (Arista, Talavera, 1995). Western Europe (García, 1993; Blanca, 1993). This single species or Although A. pinsapo var. taza- Scaltsoyiannes et al., 1999). This relict fir, from which A. silicica proba- otana is geographically much closer theory coincides with the Pliocene bly derived as well (Flous, 1936), to A. pinsapo var. marocana, it is, remains of found in evolved into A. pinsapo, A. pinsapo curiously, botanically closer to A. Western Europe (Gaussen, 1964; var. tazaotana, A. pinsapo var. maro- numidica. This circumstance shows Liu, 1971). cana and A. numidica. Of all of these, that, within certain limits, geographi- On the basis of the Abies fossils var. tazaotana shows the greatest veg- cal location did not influence the found and the antiquity of the mor- etative vigour, and is perhaps the only morphological speciation of the phological features of this species, one located in its ecological maxi- Moroccan firs (Sánchez, 1946). the entry of the genus into the Iberian mum. In view of this, it can be The genetic divergence between Peninsula is determined as having assumed that after A. pinsapo became the populations of Abies pinsapo and occurred through the Pyrenees (Liu, established in Mount Tazaout in the var. marocana and the possible exis- 1971; Parducci, 2000), continuing north of Africa, it reached its climax tence of varieties of A. pinsapo have through the Thetic bridges from the due to the ecological conditions of the been demonstrated through a study southeast of France → Majorca → area. In other places, less demanding on the inheritance of isoenzymatic Granada → Sierra de Ronda → Sierra species such as Cedrus atlantica Man. variations in their tissue de Grazalema → Sierra Bermeja, and have displaced the fir forests, by thin- (Pascual et al., 1993). as far as the Moroccan mountain ning the existing forests or even caus- regions of Tazaout and Talassemtane ing them to disappear from many and the Babor Mountains in . areas where they must have existed. BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) 42 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PINSAPO FORESTS

Talassemtane pinsapo forest. Photo L. García Esteban and P. de Palacios.

Geographical present it covers about 40 ha and is from 200 ha in 1933 to 500 ha in regression because of major forest today. Groves and isolated stands distribution fires in the area which have divided it are also found in the western part of into three groves. Monte Prieto, the slopes of El Abies pinsapo Boiss. is located Sierra de las Nieves is home to Montón and on the northern slopes in the high mountain ranges of the the most extensive area of pinsapo of Zafalgar and Los Pinos (Ceballos, western part of the Bética range in firs in the province, with over 3000 ha Martín, 1930; Ceballos, Ruiz De the south of the Iberian Peninsula, spread over the municipalities of La Torre, 1979). more specifically in Serranía de Ronda, Tolox and Yunquera, at an alti- The Moroccan pinsapo forests Ronda between the provinces of tude ranging from 1000 to 1800 m, in are located in the western Rif, in two Málaga and Cádiz. It has little prefer- this case on limestone soils. There enclaves less than 10 km apart. The ence for soil type, although all the are also smaller stands and isolated northernmost enclave is located on stands are located in shady areas of groves in the Alcor, Caparaín, Real, Mount Tazaout or Yebel Tazaout in the range exposed to the north, east Istán, Río Verde and Gialda ranges the Beni Sey-yel region, northeast of and northeast. (Ceballos, Vicioso, 1933; Ceballos, the settlement of Talambot. At pres- In the province of Málaga, it is Ruiz De La Torre, 1979). The pinsapo ent it covers 1500 ha, where Abies located in two differentiated areas in forest in Sierra de las Nieves has pinsapo var. tazaotana grows. The the humid Mediterranean vegetation grown from 1000 ha in 1933 to southernmost enclave is spread zone. The small area in Los Reales de 3000 ha today. over the Chefchaouen mountains, Sierra Bermeja, which covered only In the province of Cádiz, the from where the pinsapo forests sur- 50 ha in 1933, had the privilege of pinsapo fir is found only in Sierra del round the city of the same name, being the first to be visited by Pinar, in the municipality of reaching as far as Ametrax to the Boissier. It extends over the munici- Grazalema, covering some 500 ha southeast, with an area of 2600 ha. palities of Genalguacil, Estepona and on Liassic and Jurassic limestone This is where Abies pinsapo var. Casares, on peridotites, at altitudes soils, at altitudes ranging from 1000 marocana is found. ranging from 1200 to 1400 m. At to 1650 m. This forest has grown BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE 43 FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS

The first The second the existence of another large stand expedition in expedition: of firs on the northwest slope, they suspected that the best specimens EBALLOS 1837 C and would be found on the north and M ARTÍN B OLAÑOS, northeast slopes. Unable to cover In April 1837 two pharmacists 1928 this territory because of the difficulty from Málaga, Félix Haenseler and Pablo of the terrain, they requested a flight Prolongo, showed the Swiss botanist over the area from the High Edmond Boissier a branch which In 1906 Dr Trabut, a lecturer at Commission in Tetouan on their caught his attention because of its the University of Algeria, was respon- return. Although the weather condi- extremely short, thick which were sible for calling attention to Abies tions were not favourable, they man- almost setiform. As the twig had no fruit, marocana as a result of the studies he aged to ascertain from the air that the Boissier was unable to identify the made on a fir twig collected in the largest fir forests were in fact located species on this first encounter, although Chefchaouen mountains in Morocco, on the northeast slope. its features placed it in the fir group. which he considered different enough The observations the two When Haenseler told him that the fir for- to justify the establishment of a new forestry engineers had made on the est was located in Sierra Bermeja, species. In 1916, he published the ground, during the single day that the Boissier visited the area two weeks later description of this fir once again, ascent of the southwest slope had accompanied by the two pharmacists, explaining how it differed from the taken, allowed them to note the pres- but the had no cones at that time other Mediterranean species. As he ence of cedars (Cedrus atlantica and he therefore had to leave their himself acknowledged in this second Man.) mixed with and dominated by description until the cones matured. publication, he had not been able to the fir forest. They considered this to In the meantime, Boissier trav- enlarge on the first description with be the westernmost site of the elled to Sierra Nevada, where he com- new details because in the interven- Targuist and Ketama cedar forests. piled a herbarium of a large number of ing ten years he had been unable to In relation to the state of con- . On his return to Málaga at the collect either cones or catkins of the servation of the Chefchaouen fir end of September, he was able to fir he had studied. The features of the forests, it would appear from the describe the species in its entirety, this leaves and shoots of the twig he had descriptions made by Ceballos and time in Sierra de las Nieves, in the used in order to establish a new Martín Bolaños that the state of these Yunquera pinsapo forest. Boissier species, in particular the histological forests in 1928 was better than that describes this exciting moment in his features of the leaves, served in the of the Spanish pinsapo forests, most book “Voyage Botanique dans le Midi second publication to clearly individ- likely because of the region’s remote- de l’Espagne” ... tout près de là, le ualise the species as an intermediary ness, as the authors had noted. They guide nous montra de loin le premier between de Lannoy observed some specimens which pinsapo; poussant des cris de joie and Abies pinsapo Boiss. had been burnt and some aged trees nous courons pleins d’émotion, mais The fact that the two publica- with deep holes dug out at the base, hélas, l’arbre ne portait point de fruits, tions were based on a single twig not for obtaining resin as in the case un second, un troisième me donnent lacking fruit and reproductive organs of the Castilian resin collectors, but successivement de fausses espéran- led some researchers to admit the for obtaining wood to make the ces; en fin je suis assez heureux pour new species with reservations. troughs or basins used by local en apercevoir un dont les branches On 26 May 1928, the Spanish women for washing and which were supérieures sont chargées de fruits. On forestry engineers Luis Ceballos and sold on the Chefchaouen market. se hâte de grimper pour les cueillir et il Manuel Martín Bolaños made an After Ceballos and Martín Bola- ne nous reste plus de doute sur le ascent of Mount Mago (2 130 m) in ños had made their botanical observa- genre de cet arbre singulier. C’était cer- Chefchaouen, accompanied by an tions on the morphology and his- tainement un Abies voisin de notre escort of four men and a woodcutter, tology, the male and female catkins sapin blanc. (Barbey, 1931). in order to make a collection of and the scales and cones of the most The common fir he referred to Moroccan fir samples. The trees were recent dissemination, they concluded, was Abies alba or Pyrenean fir. Boissier known locally by the name of as Dr Trabut had, that the Chefchaouen published this discovery in 1838, “esnaubaras”, a term which desig- fir was in fact in an intermediate posi- (“Notice sur l’Abies pinsapo”), giving it nated pines and firs alike. The speci- tion between Abies numidica de the scientific name of Abies pinsapo. mens were collected over an area of Lannoy and Abies pinsapo Boiss., In this publication he described the some 200 ha on the southwest slope, although closer to the latter. In their morphological features of the pinsapo which was the least favourable for discussion they noted that although fir and the ecological conditions of the this species according to the authors. the differences observed could justify area in which it was located. Although they had already observed the creation of a new species, the large BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) 44 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PINSAPO FORESTS

The third expedition: SÁNCHEZ CÓZAR, 1946

In 1946 the Spanish forestry engineer Santiago Sánchez Cózar made the final discovery of a stand of pinsapo firs on Moroccan soil while working for what was then the Spanish Protectorate Zone of Morocco. Mount Tazaout or Yebel Tazaout, in the Beni Sey-yel region northeast of the settlement of Talambot, covers an area of 1200 ha, and the presence of firs in this area went unnoticed both by the scientific expedition of Dr Font Quer in 1930 and by the Spanish Forest Service. Having seen the trees from a distance, both parties had considered them to be cedars due to their similar appearance to pinsapo firs. In addition, the Forest Service had catalogued the area as a cedar forest. However, a fortuitous event led to a reconnaissance of the forest at the beginning of the summer of 1944, after a regional guard from the Uad-Lau area, who was patrolling the Beni Sey-yel region, reported illegal felling of “cedars”. As the damage had to be evalu- ated, Sánchez Cózar was accompa- nied by Captain Barranco, the Commandant of Talambot, who stated that no Europeans or organ- ised scientific expedition had ever been up to the area. The ascent was made on the Tazaout pinsapo forest. southwest slope. Very near the top Photo L. García Esteban and P. de Palacios. they observed the first fir, which, due to the fact that it was growing in full sun, had a stunted form, no doubt number of affinities and similarities had observed. While these firs have similar to the Serranía de Ronda pin- between the two firs, and the slight tetragonal, needle-shaped leaves, the sapo firs, which avoid shady expo- differences between them, meant that leaves in the lower branches and in sures. After passing the watershed at the Chefchaouen fir was a variety of the branches of young specimens are 1662 m, they discovered an the Spanish pinsapo fir. As a result of almost flat and pointed, and there are extremely dense forest with a large this discussion, the authors estab- also intermediate stages. In fact, number of specimens over 1 m in lished the Moroccan fir as Abies pin- Ceballos and Martín Bolaños attrib- diameter and 34 to 40 m in height, sapo var. marocana. uted the considerable foliar differ- very different from the degraded A. Ceballos and Martín Bolaños ence described by Dr Trabut to the pinsapo var. marocana forests of made a collection of samples from fact that the branch he had been Mago and Tisuka. twigs located both in the crown and at given had come from one of these As they were not carrying tents, the base, in this way avoiding the pro- intermediate foliar stages. the two men could not stay overnight nounced foliar polymorphism they on the mountain and did not manage BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE 45 FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS

Yesterday and today

Since the time of the discovery the leasing of pasture, snow and to collect samples for the description of the pinsapo forests, their exis- esparto grass. In 1945 the three of the fir. The next visit was planned tence has been linked to the pres- ravines where the Ronda pinsapo for the autumn of the same year, in ence of humans. It is not a timber forests are located were acquired by order to ensure there would be commonly used in construction, the Spanish state. cones. However, a fierce storm pre- and when it has been used for this The Grazalema pinsapo forest vented them from collecting speci- purpose this has only been at a was later also purchased by the mens on this occasion as well, and local level, as its mechanical prop- Spanish state through ICONA, the they had to wait until the summer of erties are poor. The most represen- National Institute for Nature 1946 in order to do so and make the tative wooden structure using pin- Conservation, and declared a Natural final description. sapo fir as a construction timber is Park in 1984. Sierra de Las Nieves That summer, in order to map perhaps the seating in the Ronda was similarly declared a Natural Park the forest and estimate its resources, bull ring (Peraza, 1964; Prioton, in 1989, and the area of Los Reales a cabin was built from trunks of pin- 1964). There is a legend that the de Sierra Bermeja now has special sapo fir. Today, the flat area of mount masts of the Spanish Armada were protection as a Paraje Natural Tazaout where it was built is known built out of pinsapo fir, although (Natural Site). as Spanish Square, and there is still this has not been confirmed. There Nowadays the pinsapo forests evidence of the cuts made at a height is however written evidence of this in Morocco are protected and no log- of approximately one metre. timber being used in the building of ging is carried out. Perhaps the great- According to Sánchez Cózar, the ships that would take Philip II to est human threat, after fire, is the there were two reasons for using the England in 1554, as 98 dozen growing of Indian hemp or hashish, firs to build the cabin. First of all, it boards of pinsapo fir were pur- which is gaining ground at medium would have been expensive to trans- chased for dividing interior com- altitudes corresponding to humid port any other material to the area partments. In the 1930s, on the and sub-humid sites. because of the distances involved; Berranga and Las Tablas estates in The firs of the circum-Mediter- and secondly, it allowed the quality Sierra de Las Nieves, pinsapo firs ranean belt are perhaps, with minor of pinsapo fir wood as a construction were cut for use as railway sleepers exceptions, the formations timber to be tested. for the Algeciras-Bobadilla line. least affected by man. This is due to The inventory was made on Pinsapo fir wood was also used in several circumstances: firstly, the dif- plots chosen at random, and it was mines and in the preparation of ice ficult access to the forests, which are discovered that there were no trees pits. A large part of the timber located in rugged areas; secondly, with a diameter from 10 to 40 cm. resources built up over time in some the land the trees occupy is not suit- This was because the local people forests have been used for making able for agriculture; and finally, their used a bucksaw whose maximum paper pulp (Ceballos, Ruiz De La timber is no match in terms of quality width only allowed them to make Torre, 1979). Although its firewood for pine or cedar. deep cuts on trees of this size. and coal are of mediocre quality, The fir forests were only The Tazaout fir is found at an pinsapo fir wood was used for these exploited in the first half of the altitude ranging from 1 280 to purposes for some time by the local twentieth century, coinciding with 1 790 m. In botanical terms, A. pin- inhabitants, resulting in over-con- the period of the Spanish Protecto- sapo var. tazaotana is much closer to sumption which considerably rate Zone in Morocco, although A. numidica than to A. pinsapo var. reduced the forest area (Barbey, always in accordance with con- marocana. The fact that the differ- 1931). Even before the species was trolled logging plans. ences between A. numidica and discovered scientifically, its A. pinsapo var. marocana are slighter branches were used in religious cer- than between A. pinsapo var. maro- emonies in the region. cana and A. pinsapo var. tazaotana At the end of the nineteenth enabled Sánchez Cózar to propose century, the forest guards in the Abies tazaotana as a new variety of Montes de Propios (municipal A. pinsapo in 1946. forests) of Ronda were given respon- sibility for one of the first initiatives to protect the pinsapo forests. Their main responsibility was to control BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) 46 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PINSAPO FORESTS

Final considerations 2004, fire destroyed an old south- At present, the pinsapo forests east-facing stand on the way to the are, in general, stabilised and recov- The climate of the Straits of ice pits, in an area which includes ering after years of fires, intensive Gibraltar and the altitude on both Quercus alpestris, also described by pasturing by goats and use of the sides make this area a favourable Boissier. It is unlikely that the area wood for firewood and charcoal. enclave for the development of these will recover, as the exposure and There is however, another (perhaps . The mist and high rainfall, poor soil are unfavourable. more insidious) risk slowly and inex- as well as the presence of mountains The case of the pinsapo forest orably closing in on them: climate over 2000 m high in some cases, give in Yunquera is quite different. This is change. Although Aussenac (2002) rise to unique bioclimatic conditions. a vigorous forest with a high level of attributes A. pinsapo and A. numidica These species specialised from regeneration, although it requires with having the greatest resistance to the time of their arrival in this area, sylvicultural treatment in order to possible climate change, most likely and evolution linked to the ecological prosper. Without sylvicultural treat- because they have adapted for years conditions allowed them to speciate ment there would be a great deal of to less favourable conditions than while maintaining very pronounced competition in the forest because of the other Mediterranean firs, it is morphological differences. its density, resulting in a forest with clear that if droughts such as those Of all the fir forests, the Tazaout little resemblance to a climactic pin- seen recently continue, the altitude forest has the greatest vegetative sapo forest. range will gradually decrease, the vigour. The trees are very large, up to The Grazalema pinsapo forest is risk of pests will increase, and within 50 m in height with base diameters quite distinct from the usual fir a short time, in geological terms, the of 1.30 m. The vitality of the forest forests. It was endangered by exces- pinsapo firs will be faced with the can be seen in the intense regenera- sive felling carried out by the owners challenge of their very survival. tion of the woodland, and although in the first half of the twentieth cen- the firs are mixed with maples, tury, as well as excessive livestock Acknowledgements cedars and even Pinus pinaster and raising. However, regeneration pro- We would like to express our grati- Pinus nigra, they remain dominant. gressed, and the firs were even able tude to the following: However, since the fire in to colonise rocky ground. Nowadays, The Forestry Engineers Miguel A. Tazaout in 2002 over a 200 ha area the trees in the forest are homoge- Martín Casillas and José López on the northern slope, there has neous in form, with high, almost Quintanilla, for their assistance dur- been virtually no regeneration. The even-aged diameter classes and little ing our visit to see A. pinsapo in the steep slope and competition with regeneration. Sierra de Las Nieves Natural Park and other less demanding species will The final consideration is that the Paraje Natural de Sierra Bermeja most likely mean that regeneration the Moroccan forests are in better (Natural Site) in the province of will be slow in this area. health than the Iberian forests, not Málaga, and the Sierra de Grazalema Although the Iberian pinsapo because of conservation but because Natural Park in the province of Cádiz. firs are smaller than the Rifian firs, they respond to the better bioclimatic The public institutions of the Kingdom the Sierra Bermeja firs have a form and biogeographical conditions. In of Morocco: the High Commission for which resembles the latter more fact, the Moroccan pinsapo forests Water, Forests and Desertification closely than the Grazalema and have a greater altitudinal gradient Control (Haut Commissariat aux Eaux Ronda firs. The Sierra Bermeja forest and therefore, in the event of a cli- et Forêts et à la lutte contre la déserti- is in fact the least vigorous, with mate crisis, they would respond with fication), the Regional Water and smaller, twisted trees. In recent years, greater endurance. Forests Directorate for the Rif forest fires have fragmented and The poorer conditions of the (Direction Régionale des Eaux et Forêts damaged this enclave. Spanish pinsapo forests give rise not du Rif) in Tetouan and the Water and Sierra de las Nieves is an area of only to less favourable morphological Forests Service for the Province of many contrasts. In La Nava de San features but also to lower resistance Chefchaouen (Service Provincial des Luis, the firs are mixed with holm to pests. The prolonged drought from Eaux et Forêts du Chefchaouen). oaks at lower altitudes, although this 1992 to 1995 caused a loss of speci- Thanks in particular to Amrani association decreases with higher mens growing in the least favourable Mohamed, Chief Engineer for Water altitudes. The trees are larger and conditions, and if the drought of the and Forests in Tetouan and Assim more vigorous than the firs in Sierra summer of 2005 is repeated in com- ElHoussain, Head of the Chefchaouen Bermeja, where fires have consider- ing years, with a similar cycle, the District, who provided us with guided ably diminished the area of the pin- loss of trees in borderline conditions access to the forests in Talassemtane sapo forest. In fact, in the summer of will undoubtedly be repeated. and Tazaout in Morocco. BOIS ET FORÊTS DES TROPIQUES, 2007, N° 292 (2) DIVERSITÉ BIOLOGIQUE 47 FORÊTS DE PINSAPOS

References

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