Comparative Study of Insect Biodiversity in Cultivated and Natural Steppes in the Region of Sidi Kacem of Northwest Morocco

Hanae El-Harche^1*, Guy Chavanon², Rachida Fegrouche³, Karim Berady¹, Naoual Zouaki¹, Jamila Dahmani¹, Mohamed Fadli¹

¹Laboratory of Plant, Animal and Agro-Industry Productions, Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Ibn Tofail University, Kenitra, Morocco

²Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences, Mohamed Premier University, Oujda, Morocco

³Laboratory of Biodiversity, Ecology, and Genome, Faculty of Sciences, Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco

Corresponding Author: [email protected]; Tel: +212631350399

Recieved Date: 17 June 2021; Accepted Date: 25 October 2021; Published Date: 03 November

Citation: El-Harche H, Chavanon G, Fegrouche R, Berady K, Zouaki N, Dahmani J, Fadli M. Comparative Study of Insect Biodiversity in Cultivated and Natural Steppes in the Region of Sidi Kacem of Northwest Morocco. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2021; 5(10): 1766-1774. http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v5i10.12

Copyright:

© 2021 El-Harche et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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ABSTRACT

Insects represent the most species-rich taxa of the animal kingdom. They are extremely important ecosystem components and help to perform various activities which are necessary for an ecological balance. They play a major role in maintaining the structure and function of the ecosystems. In Morocco, no scientific exploitation of resources regarding insect fauna has taken place in the agroecosystems. This study was aimed at creating the first inventory of insects collected from both cultivated and natural steppes in the region of Sidi Kacem of Northwest Morocco. An entomological investigation was carried out in 5 stations situated on 3 different soil types in the region of Sidi Kacem. Three stations were cultivated fields, and two were natural steppes. Sampling was done during spring and summer in 2020, using sweep net, sight hunting, and pitfall traps methods. Shannon-Weaver, Simpson, and equitability indexes along with Hill indexes were calculated.  Seventy-eight species were identified which were distributed into 7 orders, belonging to 29 families. The results obtained showed a richness of Coleoptera by 44 species, Hemiptera by 9 species, Diptera by 6 species, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, and Odonata by 5 species each, while Hymenoptera aggregating in the final place with 4 species. Furthermore, the diversity and abundance of insects were highest in Station 3 and lowest in Station 5. Soil texture and abundance of vegetation seemed to be the major drivers in?uencing species abundance and richness.