Early view

Mohammed Souddi, M’hammed Bouallala

Abstract

Cereals are among the most important crops in arid and semi-arid regions and are widely cultivated in the traditional oases of southwestern Algeria. However, their productivity is constrained by several biotic and abiotic factors, particularly weeds. This study aims to analyze weed communities associated with cereal crops in these oasis agroecosystems. Data were collected from 30 phytoecological relevés and analyzed using species richness, density, frequency, importance value index, Shannon-Weaver diversity index, equitability, plant functional traits, and phytogeographic spectra. A total of 34 species belonging to 33 genera and 17 families were recorded. The most represented families were Asteraceae (17.6%), Amaranthaceae (14.7%), Poaceae (14.7%), and Brassicaceae (11.7%). The flora is dominated by eudicots (80.4%), while monocots represented 19.5%. Therophytes are the dominant life form (95%). The biogeographic analysis showed a predominance of cosmopolitan (48.6%) and Mediterranean (22.8%) species. Anemochory (50.4%) was the main dispersal mode, and C3 species dominated (92.9%). The most damaging weeds with the highest importance values were: Sonchus oleraceus, Anagallis arvensis, and Emex spinosa. The results of this study provide valuable information for developing effective weed management strategies to help improve cereal yield and quality in oasis agro-systems.

Keywords

Biodiversity, cereal production, oasis, weed community, Algeria

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