The present study was aiming to characterize the floristic composition and structure of vegetation
inhabiting different microhabitats along Ibrahimiya Canal, to find the relationship between environmental
conditions and associated macrophytic communities, and to assess the role of the prevailing
environmental factors that affect the diversity and distribution of vegetation. Between 2017 and 2018, 27
geo-referenced sample plots were selected to conduct this investigation along the main watercourse of
Ibrahimiya Canal. The sampling of the vegetation was based on a nested plot design using a stratified
sampling method. At each sampling plot, floristic data were collected from 3 different recognized
microhabitats: (1) the water body, (2) the embankment slope, and (3) the terrace. Physico-chemical
analysis for both soil and water were performed in the sampling plots. For soil, 12 parameters, for water
10 parameters, and 2 diversity indices were estimated. Classification (with TWINSPAN) and ordination
(with DCA) were employed to analyze the presence/absence data matrix of 85 species × 27 sampling
plots. The relationships between vegetation gradients and the studied environmental variables in both
water and soil were examined using CANOCO, and a CCA biplot ordination diagram was elaborated. In
TWINSPAN, 5 vegetation groups were identified and separated along the first and second DCA axes.
CCA showed that significant variables in soil were EC, K, clay and silt, but in water were K, Na, Cl and
Mg.