Ecological Study on Wild Vegetation of Palm Fields across some Oases in Western Desert, Egypt | ||
| Catrina: The International Journal of Environmental Sciences | ||
| Article 4, Volume 15, Issue 1, 2016, Pages 37-49 PDF (574.27 K) | ||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||
| Author | ||
| Maha Alshamy* | ||
| Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Egypt. | ||
| Abstract | ||
| Vegetation composition and its relation to environmental variables in the palm groves along Kharga, Dakhla and Paris Oases in the Western Desert of Egypt, were examined. The oases are the most prominent features of the Western Desert of Egypt. They are green patches amidst the surrounding sterile desert. The aridity index used by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP, 1997), indicates that this district lies in a hyper-arid region, with annual rainfall close to 0.0 mm. analysis of vegetation along environmental gradients that prevail in the study area using the relative importance values of 25 perennials in 62 quadrates, followed by multivariate data analysis was presented. Al together, 74 species (25 perennials, 41 annuals, 5 short-lived perennials and 3 biennials) belonging to 70 genera and 25 families of the flowering plants were recorded and one related to pteridophyta. Poaceae, Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Chenopodiaceae and Brassicaceae were the largest families, and constitute more than 56.76% of the total number of recorded species. Therophytes and chamaephytes were the most frequent, denoting a typical desert life-form spectrum. Phytochorological analysis revealed that 64 % of the studied species were Pluri-regional elements, of which 19 % being Cosmopolitan chorotype. It also showed the percentages of the Mediterranean species were 47.29% and 31.07%of the Saharo-Sindian species. Classification of the vegetation was analysed using TWINSPAN technique resulted in the recognition of six vegetation groups, each of definite floristic composition. Antimicrobial and acaricidal activities of methanolic extract for some wild taxa of the study area were screened. There were similarity for some species which found in northern coastal regions and other related to wild vegetation of the southern part of eastern desert of Egypt. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| Acaricidal activities; Antimicrobial activities; Floristic composition; palm groves; vegetation analysis. western desert; Egypt; wild flora | ||
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