biological diversity and tropical forests in tunisia - PART

Important factors influencing the rare plants (~abli 987 ) include :
- wetland draining and dam construction, which dessicate
important plant habitats;
- herbicides, especially aerial applications; and
- urbac expansion.
or flood
Although there is a fairly good data base, information on the flora is
in need of completion, correction and updating. The two main floras of
Tunisia (cuenod 1954, Pottier-Alapetite 1979) are both incomplete. A
complete national inventory is needed to provide comparative information
for international cooperation in conservation strategies. At the very
least, a complete checklist of the national flora should be prepared
(~eywood 1987 ) . The Conservation Monitoring Centre ( CMC) of the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) can give advice
on inventories and the preparation of checklists and they maintain
worldwide computerized plant databases, which is helpful in determining
endemism, rarity and conservation priorities.
In the process of a national inventory, it would also be desirable to
collect specimens and establish a complete national herbarium for proper
documentation and to serve as a reference for other research. Herbariums
already exist at the agronomy institutes, but they are not complete or
easily accessed. Assessments should also be made of the species actual or
potential economic value, both for traditional and modern uses. Scattered
references on plant uses are available (ex. Le floc'h 1983, Burollet
19271, bat they should be consolidated to provide complete information for
determicing genetic resource conservation priorities.
2.3.1. Genetic Resources
The term 'genetic resources' is used here to denote plants of actual
or potectial economic value. This includes, but is not limited to, native
crop species, crop relatives, forestry species, forage plants, oil or
fiber plants, aromatics and medicinal lants. Forestry species are
described in Part I1 (~ropical Forests 7 . The wide array of traditional
uses of macy plants is too much to be discussed in total here, so only
partial lists are given. Le floc'h (1983) and Burollet (1927) give more
complete lists of current and traditional plant uses.
A. Crop Species and Relatives
Wild olive europaea oleaster is a native tree that is cultivated
for its olives or used as root stock, to which better producing varieties
are grafted. The wild olive is hardier than domestic varieties and can
withstand harsher climatic conditions. It is widespread in northern
Tunisia and occurs on many mountains in central Tunisia. In addition to
its crop value, wild olives are also grazed by livestock.
Carob Ceratonia siliqua is a tree that has become naturalized in
Tunisia. The seed pods can be used to produce a chocolate substitute,