TITLE:
Vegetation Analysis and Soil Characteristics on Two Species of Genus Achillea Growing in Egyptian Desert
AUTHORS:
Yasser Ahmed El-Amier, El-Sayed Fouad El-Halawany, Samia Ali Haroun, Sura Goma Mohamud
KEYWORDS:
Achillea, Soil Analysis, Western Mediterranean Coast, Wadi Hagul, Chorotype
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Ecology,
Vol.5 No.9,
September
17,
2015
ABSTRACT: The
present study provides a vegetation analysis and species distribution at 50
sites, emphasizing the environmental factors that affect species distribution.
A total of 74 plant species belonging to 67 genera and related to 23 families
of vascular plants are recorded. Asteraceae, Poaceae, Chenopodiaceae,
Brassicaceae, Fabaceae and Zygophyllaceae are the largest
families, and therophytes (41.89) and chamaephytes (24.32%) are the most
frequent, indicating a typical desert life-form spectrum. Chorological analysis
revealed that 25 of the studied species were Mediterranean taxa, Saharo-Sindian
chorotypes, either pure or penetrated into other regions, comprised
47 species. After application of the TWINSPAN and DCA programs, 4 vegetation
groups (A-D) were identified, groups A and B were dominated by Achillea
santolina, group C was codominated by Zygophyllm coccinum and Launaea spinosa and group D was dominated by Leptadenia pyrotechnica.
Groups A and B may represent the vegetation types of the Western Mediterranean
coast of Egypt, while groups C and D may represent the Wadi Hagul. The
linear correlation of soil variables with the importance values of some
dominant species and the application of Canonical Correspondence
Analysis (CCA-biplot) indicates significant associations between the
floristic composition of the studied area and the edaphic factors such as
electrical conductivity, pH, calcium carbonate, sulphates, bicarbonate, cations
(Na+, K+, Ca++ and Mg++) and PAR.