Regional patterns of rarity and life history elements in the flora of Egypt | ||
| Taeckholmia | ||
| Article 9, Volume 26, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 141-160 PDF (511.42 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/taec.2006.12290 | ||
| Author | ||
| Abdel-Hamid Khedr* | ||
| Department of Botany, Mansoura University, New Damietta, 34517, Egypt | ||
| Abstract | ||
| The phytogeographic patterns displayed by 2446 taxa of vascular plants, was analyzed in relation to regional abundances (designated as very common, common, rare, or very rare), in 13 geographic regions, native or introduced status, lifespan, life-form and preferred habitat for the flora of Egypt. More than 70% of the entire flora has been classified as either “very rare” (42.2%) or “rare” (28%). Only 3% of the flora are introduced species. Land use appears to have a critical effect on plant abundance; intensely populated areas in the Nile region have more common or very common species rather than rare and very rare. Annuals and perennials account for approximately equal fractions of the flora (47% each). The spectrum of life-forms is dominated by herbs (75%), Shrubs and shrublets are well-represented while trees are poorly represented (1.3%) in the flora of Egypt. Floristic diversity was high in the Mediterranean coastal regions and low in all desert areas. Frequency of abundance classes and life history traits varied according to the major habitats (weedy, sandy, saline, freshwater, rocky and gravely). Implications of these results for conservation policy are discussed. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| conservation; Egypt; Flora; Life-forms; plant diversity; rarity | ||
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