Floristic Composition of the Plant Communities Associated with Limoniastrum monopetalum L.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Mansoura University, Mansoura - 35516, Egypt

Abstract

The study aimed to conduct a comprehensive survey of the vegetationassociated with Limoniastrum monopetalum in the Mediterranean coastal desert. The total number of documented plant species scanned in this work was 81 species belonging to 63 genera and 26 families. The Chenopoidaceae family comprised 14 species of the total recorded species, followed by Asteraceae with 12 species, Poaceae with 10 species, Fabaceae with 5 species, and Caryophyllaceae and Zygophyllaceae with four species each. The deltaic Mediterranean coastal desert environment was characterized by 49 species, but the western desert ecosystem had the highest species richness with 73 species. The therophytes accounted for the largest proportion of reported species, at 45.24%. They were followed by chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes, both at 16.67%. The floristic analysis reveals that 72 species, which account for about 66.87%of the total recorded species, belong to the Mediterranean taxa. The taxa may be categorized as either multiregional (17 species, or 20.99%), biregional (24 species, or 29.63%), or monoregional (13 species, or 16.05%). The floristic analysis of the study area showed that Mediterranean taxa make up the majority of plant species and are used for food, animal fodder, agro-industrial raw materials, and medicine. Coastal desert ecosystems must be conserved and used wisely for sustainable development.

Keywords

Mansoura Journal of Biology
Volume 68, Issue 1
March 2024
Pages 48-56

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