Physiological Ecology of Carob Trees “Ceratonia silique L.” at AL-gabal ELakhder Area

Abstract

According to its location, geography, habitats, and vegetation cover, El-Gabal El-Akhdar was one of Libya's critical ecological regions. Ceratonia silique L. is a plant species in the area and forms with other plants in the maquis plant community. Because of the environmental situation of the vegetation cover due to anthropogenic and physical factors, this plant was suggested to be in any rehabilitation programs in the future. Thus, the study of its ecological and physiological characteristics is critical. This study evaluated four locations in El-Gabal El-Akhdar for carob plant population differences. Generally, no significant morphological differences were found among these populations except in significant leaf size. The second part of the study evaluated the germination of seeds using four pretreatments; compared to the control, all pretreatments significantly enhanced the germination of carob seeds, and a relatively higher germination percentage was noticed in the seeds soaked in boiling water (96%).