First approach to ecological niche of Numidian lycophytes and ferns in Algeria

The ecological niche of lycophytes and ferns is still very little studied in North Africa. This work aims, for the first time in Algeria, to set up a first approach on this issue in Numidia. For this study, we opted for a simple random sampling method, using the phytoecological method for the study of the flora. A statistical analysis of field data was processed by ADE.4, an analysis that highlights the effect of the variation of some ecological descriptors (substrate, vegetation density, humidity, immersion period, direction and altitude, etc) on the distribution of the 33lycophytes and ferns in Numidia, thus showing the multiplicity of niche dimensions for these species. Based on an analysis of the floristic niche of these lycophytes and ferns, we have been able to deduce the environmental gradients that manage the distribution of these species, as well as the degree of their clustering to each other. This causes us to conclude that the heterogeneity of the habitats studied in Numidia leads to non-uniform distribution of lycophytes and ferns. Thus, in some habitats such as forests and alder groves, are marked by a specific diversity, while in wet and rupicolous shrubs, the importance of the density of the lycophytes and ferns itself is perceived.