Contribution to the elaboration of the brikcha sibe bryoflora inventory in the central western rif of morocco

The Brikcha area, in the western Rif mountains, is a site of biological and ecological interest (SIBE) of the same name as a result of its plant and animal species richness, its bryoflora has however never been inventoried although it is part of its biological diversity. Thus, this study was initiated in the Brikcha SIBE and has documented the presence of 60 species: 15 taxa are of liverworts, 2 taxa are of hornworts and the remaining 43 species consist of mosses. They are spread over 47 genera belonging to 32 families. Most of these taxa comes of terricolous (45%) and epiphytic (32%) biotopes. Rare taxa in the studied area are few in number, accounting for only about 15 percent of the total of species. The frequent taxa reached 25% of the total bryoflora of the site. The Pottiaceae family on the one hand and those of Brachytheciaceae, Bryaceae, Fissidentaceae, Neckeraceae and Orthotrichaceae on the other hand, are the best represented, while the genera of Bryum, Fissidens and Orthotrichum, are the most species rich in the study area. The biological interest of the Brikcha SIBE is marked by the wide distribution of terricolous or epiphytic species and associations with some forest trees forming the plant cover.