Nitrate contamination and associated health risks of the Benslimane groundwater, Morocco.

Consumption of polluted water has harmful impacts on human health. This study examined the quality of groundwater in the Benslimane area for drinking purposes based on the Water quality index (WQI), Nitrate pollution index (NPI), and Total risk quotient (THQ) for different age groups. A total of 120 groundwater samples were collected for physicochemical analyses. The results showed WQI values ranging from 157.7 to 472.7 and an average of 279.4, with a total absence of water of excellent or good quality, and about 62.5% of the groundwater samples were of very poor quality for consumption. Nitrate concentrations ranged from 1 to 270 mg/L with an average of 64 mg/L, and 56.7% had values above the World Health Organization safety level of 50 mg/L. The NPI showed that 78.3% of the sampled sites showed very high pollution as a result of intense anthropogenic activities. High contamination is observed in the north and east of the region for arboriculture, grapes, maize, and vegetables as opposed to cereals. The health risk associated with nitrates, based on oral exposure, was much higher than dermal contact. The total risk quotient for both pathways was 0.02 to 6.58, 0.02 to 6.12, 0.06 to 17.06, and 0.05 to 13.35 for women, men, children, and infants, respectively. A total of 65, 63.3, 82.0, and 78.3% of groundwater samples presented a non-cancer health risk for women, men, children, and infants, respectively. Therefore, this study can help identify contaminated areas in order to track corrective safety measures to control groundwater quality in the region and improve sanitary conditions.

Modeling the effects of farming management practices on soil organic carbon stock under two tillage practices in a semi-arid region, Morocco.

Farming management practices are of paramount importance for soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in carbon (C) cycling at different scales. However, due to a lack of proper methodologies, estimating the impacts of different soil management practices on overall SOC stock remains inadequately quantified. In this paper, a process-based model, Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC), was validated on midterm (9 years) and employed depending on the local climate, soil and management conditions, to assess the impacts of alternative management practices on SOC stock under two tillage systems, in a semi-arid region of Morocco. Validated results showed a good agreement between model simulated and observed values, based on the normalized root mean square error (RMSE) and Pearson correlation coefficient (r). This agreement indicates that the DNDC model could capture patterns and magnitudes changes across the climate zone, soil type, and management practices. Modeled results pointed out that, under no-tillage practice (NT), the SOC content increased by 30% compared to conventional tillage (CT). During the simulated period (9 years), the SOC sequestration potential (CSP) has been greatly improved with increased crop residue rate and application of farmyard manure (FY-manure). This increase ranged from 415 kg C/ha to 1787 kg C/ha under NT practice, and from 150 kg C/ha to 818 kg C/ha under CT system. In contrast, increasing fertilizer rate had low to negligible effect on SOC stock. On the other hand, CSP declined by 107-335 kg C/ha and by 177-354 kg C/ha under NT and CT practices respectively, when decreasing N-fertilizer rates. In light of these results, an increase in crop residue rate returned at surface after harvest and application of organic fertilizer, especially under NT practice, can substantially improve SOC stock in a semi-arid region.

Influence of Season and Liquid Storage at 16 °C on Beni Arouss Bucks' Semen Quality.

The study aimed at determining the effect of storage and season on fresh semen of Beni Arouss goats. Ejaculates were collected at monthly intervals from seven mature bucks and were extended at a final concentration of 800 × 106 spermatozoa. ml-1 and stored at 16 °C for 24 h. Semen motility, viability and normal morphology were assessed at 0, 4, 8 and 24 h after collection. Motility and normal morphology parameters were recorded using computer-assisted sperm analysis (CASA) and viability was analyzed using eosin-nigrosin staining. As expected, motility, viability and normal morphology parameters showed a significant reduction within 24 h of storage and during all seasons (p < 0.05). However, semen collected in summer maintained a better quality after 24 h of storage at 16 °C than semen collected during the other periods (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the storage ability of Beni Arouss bucks' semen stored at 16 °C was significantly higher during the summer.

The effect of including argane by-products (meal and pulp) in dairy ewe diet on milk quality and production, and lamb growth performance.

The objective of this work was to study the effect of the incorporation of argane by-products (meal and pulp) in ewe's diet on the production and quality of milk and the performance of lambs in the lactation phase. Twenty ewes were divided into two equal groups. The first one has been fed with argane by-product diet (AD), and the second with a control diet (CD). The results showed an improvement in milk production with an average of 26.3% for AD compared with the CD group. AD group lambs showed a significant difference (p < 0.05) compared with the CD group during lactation phase. The ash and protein levels were not affected by treatments; however, fat, lactose, density, and fusion point content show more fluctuations for both treatments (p < 0.05). The physicochemical parameters of sheep milk showed high (p < 0.01) to very high (p < 0.001) significant change, along the lactation weeks. Except the Zn which showed no significant difference (p > 0.05), the mineral composition of both milks (Na, K, Ca, Mg, P, and Fe) was significant (p < 0.05). It is concluded that, in terms of performances, argane by-products could replace the conventional diet for ewes without substantial detrimental effects. Therefore, argane by-product could be used as a cost-effective feed for sheep in dry areas.

Influence of Environmental Factors on Essential Oil Variability in Origanum compactum Benth. Growing Wild in Morocco.

The present study aimed to evaluate the influence of environmental factors on essential oils (EOs) composition of Origanum compactum populations sampled all over the distribution area of the species in Morocco, and to determine the extent of the chemical profiles throughout the geographical distribution of the species. The chemical compositions were submitted to canonical correlation analysis and canonical discriminant analysis that indicated a significant relationship between oil components and some environmental factors. According to their chemical composition and edapho-climatic characteristics, two major groups of populations were differentiated. The first group was composed of samples growing in regions with humid climate, clayey, sandy, and alkaline soils. These samples showed high thymol, α-terpineol, linalool, and carvacryl methyl oxide content. The second group consisted of plants belonging to semi-arid climate, and growing at high altitudes and silty soils. These samples were characterized by high carvacrol, α-thujene, α-terpinene, and myrcene content. However, populations exposed to sub-humid climate, appeared less homogeneous and belong mainly either to the first or second group. A significant correlation between some edaphic factors (pH, K2 O content, soil texture) and the EOs yield of O. compactum plants was evidenced. In spite of the correlation obtained for the oil composition with edapho-climatic factors and the variance explained by the environmental data set, the observed EO diversity might be also genetically determined.

Diversity of fungal assemblages in roots of Ericaceae in two Mediterranean contrasting ecosystems.

The plants belonging to the Ericaceae family are morphologically diverse and widely distributed groups of plants. They are typically found in soil with naturally poor nutrient status. The objective of the current study was to identify cultivable mycobionts from roots of nine species of Ericaceae (Calluna vulgaris, Erica arborea, Erica australis, Erica umbellate, Erica scoparia, Erica multiflora, Arbutus unedo, Vaccinium myrtillus, and Vaccinium corymbosum). The sequencing approach was used to amplify the Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) region. Results from the phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences stored in the Genbank confirmed that most of strains (78) were ascomycetes, 16 of these were closely related to Phialocephala spp, 12 were closely related to Helotiales spp and 6 belonged to various unidentified ericoid mycorrhizal fungal endophytes. Although the isolation frequencies differ sharply according to regions and ericaceous species, Helotiales was the most frequently encountered order from the diverse assemblage of associated fungi (46.15%), especially associated with C. vulgaris (19.23%) and V. myrtillus (6.41%), mostly present in the Loge (L) and Mellousa region (M). Moreover, multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) showed three distinct groups connecting fungal order to ericaceous species in different regions.

Chemical Polymorphism of Origanum compactum Grown in All Natural Habitats in Morocco.

Origanum compactum L. (Lamiaceae) is one of the most important medicinal species in term of ethnobotany in Morocco. It is considered as a very threatened species as it is heavily exploited. Its domestication remains the most efficient way to safeguard it for future generations. For this purpose, wide evaluation of the existing variability in all over the Moroccan territory is required. The essential oils of 527 individual plants belonging to 88 populations collected from the whole distribution area of the species in Morocco were analyzed by GC/MS. The dominant constituents were carvacrol (0 - 96.3%), thymol (0 - 80.7%), p-cymene (0.2 - 58.6%), γ-terpinene (0 - 35.2%), carvacryl methyl ether (0 - 36.2%), and α-terpineol (0 - 25.8%). While in the Middle Atlas region and the Central Morocco mainly carvacrol type samples were found, much higher chemotypic diversity was encountered within samples from the north part of Morocco (occidental and central Rif regions). The high chemical polymorphism of plants offers a wide range for selection of valuable chemotypes, as a part of breeding and domestication programs of this threatened species.

Evaluation of groundwater suitability for irrigation in the Skhirat region, Northwest of Morocco.

Morocco has arid and semiarid climates. Irrigation is an imperative for agriculture. Skhirat region is known for the production of vegetables. Intensive peri-urban agriculture is associated with inconsiderate pumping of groundwater, and water becomes less abundant and of poor quality resulting in degradation of soil and water quality. Therefore, the objective of this research work was the assessment of the quality of irrigation water. The study site is located in a coastal area and dedicated to intensive land use for growing vegetables in a peri-urban agricultural zone. Monitoring of physicochemical parameters of water was carried out in 77 wells. Parameters like pH, electrical conductivity, and piezometric level were measured in situ while others like total dissolved solids and ionic balance were measured in laboratory whereas other parameters were calculated from those measured. Results showed that Na and Ca are predominant cations while Cl and SO4 are predominant anions. Piper diagram reveals two facies: sodic and calcic chlorinated. Regarding the permeability index, all wells are suitable for irrigation. The US Salinity Laboratory (USSL) diagram reveals that irrigation water has high salinization risk and low to medium alkalinization risk. The groundwater in the region is classified as very hard category; however, it does not present any risk of sodicity. These waters have a high risk of toxicity to chloride ions. In summary, although the groundwater in the Skhirat region presents a high risk of salinization, it is of good quality suitable for irrigation. Agricultural practices should be well managed to secure safe use of the water resource for a sustainable development of the agriculture in the region.