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Authenticity of honey presents significant challenges to food quality control, necessitating continuous modernization and enhancement of analytical methodologies. This study aimed to characterize 24 honey samples collected from eight regions in northeastern Algeria by analysing their physico-chemical parameters and pollen profiles. The results revealed significant pollen diversity across all samples, predominantly monofloral honeys, particularly eucalyptus honey, along with Hedysarum coronarium L., Arbutus unedo L., Lavandula stoechas L., Ziziphus lotus (L.) Lam. and Citrus sp. Multifloral honeys contained pollen from diverse taxa including Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., Hedysarum coronarium L., Echium plantagineum L., Lavandula stoechas L., Raphanus raphanistrum L. and Malva sylvestris L., common to northeastern Algeria's ecosystems. Most honey samples met international physico-chemical standards, indicating high quality. However, honey quality is predominantly influenced by its botanical origin, as demonstrated by principal component analysis, cluster analysis and co-inertia analysis, which grouped the samples into seven distinct physico-chemical units. Precise characterization is essential for enhancing local honey production by elucidating the complex relationships between pollen composition, botanical origin and physico-chemical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This in-depth floristic study, conducted from 2019 to 2023 in nine temporary wetlands in the Guelma and Souk Ahras provinces, northeastern Algeria, aims to highlight the natural heritage of the region by analyzing the floristic composition in relation to environmental conditions. To achieve this goal, comprehensive inventories were conducted, revealing the presence of 317 species belonging to 64 botanical families and distributed across 204 genera. The plant diversity at each site was assessed using various biological indices, with a particular focus on the Taxonomic Distinctiveness Index (TDI) to determine the influence of environmental factors such as fires, altitude, overgrazing and agropastoral activities on biodiversity. The results highlighted the dominance of therophytes (43.22%) and the prevalence of the Mediterranean assemblage (66.25%). Moreover, 8.83% of the species were endemic, 1.89% were protected by Algerian legislation and 1.26% were listed on the IUCN Red List. The study identified Priority Conservation Zones (PCA) where the preservation of ponds, particularly MTG, TRC, BTH, and GZE, is crucial. Additionally, floristic and ecological boundaries between ponds were identified, highlighting marked biological similarities between certain pairs and notable isolations, particularly evident in the case of BTH with a significantly high TDI. These results underscore the critical importance of the studied region, emphasizing the need to integrate its floristic biodiversity into conservation efforts to enhance overall ecological integrity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cork oak (Quercus suber L.) is a tree which forms important forests that play a vital socioeconomic and environmental value in the Mediterranean basin. The multiple factors of overgrazing, biological invasion by introducing acacia trees, and repeated fires weaken the cork oak ecosystem and affect its natural regeneration. The purpose of this study is to increase the production of cork oak. With this aim, a test of controlled mycorrhization was carried out on the nursery where two commercial inocula--the arbuscular mycorrhizal (Symbivit) (S) and ectomycorrhizal (Ectovit) (E)--were brought separately and combined on cork oak seedlings cultivated on sterilized or non-sterilized soil. Statistical models revealed that the controlled inoculation improved the growth of the plants inoculated by IE, which had significantly increased mycorrhizal root colonization levels and cork oak growth compared to the treatments of the Symbivit (IS) and the non-inoculated plants (NI); these rates were lower in both substrates: sterile and non-sterile. It is known that the best mycorrhizal partners of cork oak are ectomycorrhizae, however, in the presence of arbuscular mycorrhizae, the mycorrhizal root colonization levels and the growth parameters were considerably enhanced compared to previous treatments IE, IS and NI. The dual colonization had shown positive effects on the improvement of the mycorrhizal potential of the soil. Indeed, EM % colonization was the most strongly correlated with growth parameters compared to other mycorrhizal parameters. This research underlines that the use of controlled inoculation based on commercial inoculum can be an effective alternative in the case where the local inoculum is not available, and thus time saving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]