Abstract In order to optimize conservation policies for endangered plant species in North Africa and minimize the investment of the public resources we explore the capacity of a mountain plant species to persist locally in restricted natural areas. Palaeoecological studies have shown that plant species survived major global climate changes within refugia which offered suitable condition for their long term persistence. Our study aims at identifying potential mountains areas which may play the role of modern microrefugia for preserving locally endangered plant species. We analyzed the mountain ruggedness of an area in the North-East of the Middle Atlas mountains where a population of an endangered plant species, Cedrus atlantica, is isolated today around lake Tameda. In addition, we collected a sediment core in the lake to investigate the recent history of the species with the local environmental changes. We compared the terrain and fossil analyses with an area in the Rif mountains where the terrain rugosity is lighter than in the Middle Atlas and where Atlas cedar populations occur as well. Our results show that the Atlas cedar is better preserved in terrains with high rugosity because they offer a wider panel of suitable microclimates for the species persistence and they restrict the number of inhabitants as well which, de facto, reduces the anthropogenic disturbances. We have carried out this analysis at a very small scale (less than 40 km2). A more exhaustive analysis of the terrain rugosity over the Atlas and Rif mountains, combined with historical data, will help to identify more suitable refugial areas for preserving the species at a larger scale. Protecting these refugial areas over decades from any anthropogenic activity should be possible at a minimal cost and would represent an immediate response to the ongoing climate change for preserving endangered species.

中文翻译：

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从景观崎岖程度和化石记录中定位北非山地树种的微型避难所

摘要 为了优化北非濒危植物物种的保护政策，最大限度地减少公共资源的投资，我们探索了山地植物物种在当地限制自然区域的生存能力。古生态学研究表明，植物物种在避难所内的主要全球气候变化中幸存下来，这为它们的长期存在提供了合适的条件。我们的研究旨在确定可能在保护当地濒危植物物种方面发挥现代微型避难所作用的潜在山区。我们分析了中阿特拉斯山脉东北部一个地区的山地崎岖程度，今天在玉田湖周围隔离了一种濒临灭绝的植物物种 Cedrus atlantica。此外，我们在湖中收集了一个沉积物核心，以研究该物种随着当地环境变化的近期历史。我们将地形和化石分析与 Rif 山脉的一个地区进行了比较，该地区的地形崎岖程度比中阿特拉斯地区轻，并且阿特拉斯雪松种群也出现在该地区。我们的结果表明，阿特拉斯雪松在崎岖不平的地形中保存得更好，因为它们为物种持久性提供了更广泛的合适小气候，并且它们限制了居民数量，这实际上减少了人为干扰。我们在很小的范围内（小于 40 平方公里）进行了这项分析。结合历史数据，对阿特拉斯山脉和里夫山脉的地形起伏进行了更详尽的分析，将有助于确定更合适的保护区，以更大规模地保护物种。几十年来保护这些避难区免受任何人为活动的影响应该可以以最低的成本进行，这将代表对持续气候变化的直接反应，以保护濒危物种。