Structure of the Common Plant Population along Alamain-Wadi El-Natrun Desert Road (original) (raw)

2009, Australian Journal of …

Vegetation along Alamain-W adi-El-Natrun desert road is characterized by paucity of trees and shrubs. Aridity and severe impact of human activities, overgrazing, over cutting, severe reclamation and uprooting, are the main causes of the depletion of these important woody resources. Alamain-W adi-El-Natrun desert road extends about 133 km from Marina-Alamain (on the Mediterranean coastal region) in the north to Wadi El-Natron in the south. The phytosociological study of this road was based on the application of TW INSPAN on 162 species recorded in 50 stands, led to the recognition of 7 vegetation groups at the 4th level of classification. The application of DECORANA on the same set of data indicates a reasonable segregation among these groups along the ordination plane of axes 1 and 2. The vegetation groups are named after the first and occasionally the second dominant species (the species that have the highest percentage and/or the highest relative cover). These groups are named according to their dominant species as follows: A-Cornulaca monacantha, B-Launaea nudicaulis, C-Stipagrostis ciliata, D-Cornulaca monacantha-Artemisia monosperma, E-Thymelea, F-Lycium schawii, and G-Echiochilon fruticosum-Noaea mucronata. These groups are completely dissimilar to that recorded by previous studies on the natural habitats of the same road which may indicate that changes have been occurred in the study area after the construction of this road. Height/diameter ratio for the dominant plant communities was less than unity, which means that the diameters of these species exceed their heights and hence, their individuals tend to expand horizontally rather than vertically. The size and age of the studied plant life forms were negatively skewed correlated, which favors the establishment of seedlings of some species and controls the abundance of species in sand dunes.

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