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Salt marsh vegetation of the Western Mediterranean desert of Egypt

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Abstract

The extensive salt marshes in the plains and depressions of the western Mediterranean desert of Egypt were classified into three habitat types: A with shallow water table and high salinity, B with relatively deep water table and high salinity, and C transitional habitats in which salinity and water table are no controlling factors. Fourteen vegetation types were distinguished, each dominated by one or two species.

The dominating life forms are chamaephytes in sites of high salinity, and therophytes in sites of low salinity. Spatial and temporal variations in the standing crop biomass were pronounced. The accumulation of material started during spring and reached a maximum in autumn, when photosynthetic activity was maintained to account for transpiration losses.

There was a general trend of increasing salinity and concentration of different ions from habitat type A to habitat type C through habitat type B. The periodical variation in the water table was insignificant, while a significant drop in salinity and the concentration of different ions was detected in spring, which was attributed to the diluting effect of rain water during that season.

Most species exhibited clear distribution patterns and their a bundance varied significantly along gradients of different factors. Simple correlations between the compositional gradients or the distributional behaviour of species and salinity or the concentration of individual ions were generally low, while correlations with combinations of ions in the form of ratios (notably sodium and potassium adsorption ratos) were higher.

During the early stages of succession the building up of soil and the decrease in salinity are the most important factors while at more advanced stages, soil texture and calcium carbonate content become more decisive.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, University of Alexandria, Egypt

    M. A. Ayyad & R. E. M. El-Ghareeh

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  1. M. A. Ayyad
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  2. R. E. M. El-Ghareeh
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Nomenclature follows Täckholm (1974)

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Ayyad, M.A., El-Ghareeh, R.E.M. Salt marsh vegetation of the Western Mediterranean desert of Egypt. Vegetatio 49, 3–19 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00051557

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