Skip to main content

Assessing the Role of Environmental Gradients on the
Phytodiversity in Kharga Oasis of Western Desert, Egypt

Research Authors
Fawzy M. Salama1,* , Monier M. Abd El-Ghani2, Noha A. El-Tayeh3, Ahmed M.
Amro1, Ali Al-Saied Gaafar4 and Ayat Abd El-Monem Abd El- Galil4
Research Abstract

The vegetation-soil relationships in the four major habitats of Kharga Oasis (farmlands, date- palm orchards, salinized lands
and the surrounding desert) in the Western Desert of Egypt are examined in this study. Altogether, 122 vascular plants
species distributed in 102 genera and thirty-five families were recorded. Poaceae (25.2 %), Asteraceae (11.9 %),
Brassicaceae (6.5 %), Cyperaceae (6.5 %), Amaranthaceae (5.4 %) and Euphorbiaceae (5.4 %) were the largest families.
With respect to the floristic composition, habitats varied from one to another: eighty-six species in farmlands, seventy-nine
species in date-palm orchards, seventy-three species in salinized lands and thirty-nine species in the surrounding desert
lands. About 22 % of the total flora was represented in the four habitats, while 37.7 % was found in one habitat. The
vegetation classificatory method of Two-Way Indicator Species Analysis yielded fourteen vegetation groups: four in both
farmlands and date-palm orchards, and three for both salinized lands and the surrounding desert habitats. The results of the
Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) showed that water content, soil texture, organic matter and bicarbonates were
most related to the species distribution in the studied habitats. Other related variables included sulfates and phosphates in the
date-palm orchards and salinized lands, and electric conductivity in the surrounding desert. Farmlands had the highest
species richness, followed by the date-palm orchards and the salinized lands, whereas the desert outskirts were the lowest in
terms of species richness. The linear correlations (r) between the farmlands and palm orchards were highly significant (r =
0.703), and also occurred between salinized lands and the surrounding deserts (r = 0.764). These high correlations may be
attributed to the effect of concentric zonation of the habitat as each pair of the aforementioned habitats is adjacent to each
other.

Research Journal
Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences
Research Publisher
Jordan Journal of Biological Sciences
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
Volume 12, Number 4,September 2019 ISSN 1995-6673 Pages 421 - 434
Research Website
NULL
Research Year
2019
Research Pages
Pages 421 - 434