Abstract
An ecogeographical survey was conducted on the distribution of forage and pasture legumes, in three geographical areas in Tunisia, in 1994,
275 accessions from 17 species of Medicago were collected, but only 8 of them were used in this preliminary study. M. polymorpha was the most widespread and was found at 81% of the sites. M. rugosa, M. minima, M. italica and M. rigidula were found to be rare.
Statistical analysis showed that the presence of the genus was not affected by climate. Soil factors such as electrical conductivity, and nitrogen and phosphorus content were more important. M. orbicularis and M. intertexta revealed the same requirements for low levels of salt and nitrogen. M. truncatula showed a preference for relatively low rainfall areas and high pH sites. M. aculeata occurred particularly at high rainfall areas and M. murex at low pH sites.
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Zoghlami, A., Hassen, H. (1999). Observations on the distribution and ecology of annual Medicago species in northern Tunisia. In: Bennett, S.J., Cocks, P.S. (eds) Genetic Resources of Mediterranean Pasture and Forage Legumes. Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture, vol 33. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4776-7_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4776-7_20
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