Revue internationale d'écologie méditerranéenne International ...

132
◆ Y. M. AL-SODANY, M. N. SHEHATA & K. H. SHALTOUT
Habitat type
Soil variables
Coastal plain Coastal hill Plateau Wadis
Total
mean
F-value
SS SD SF SW LW FT ST SE NE WB
Fine fractions
36.40 10.30 59.40 1.40 21.30 65.70 45.50 20.47 41.50 50.20 32.76 5.96
Moisture
content
(%)
8.60 2.70 3.50 1.48 3.60 5.10 6.70 3.10 4.20 5.60 4.23 4.17
EC
pH
(mS/cm)
2.40
8.70
0.49
7.50
1.40
8.40
0.39
7.60
0.99
8.30
1.60
8.70
1.40
8.10
0.57
7.43
0.89
8.70
1.30
8.60
1.05
8.08
9.88*
1.22
HCO3 0.19 0.29 0.59 0.27 0.43 0.42 0.46 0.32 0.50 0.37 0.37 0.72
Cl (%) 5.47 2.05 5.50 1.50 0.88 0.22 0.62 0.28 0.69 0.78 1.55 162.52***
SO4 1.33 5.53 0.72 0.25 0.27 0.47 0.64 0.24 0.37 0.34 0.89 150.44***
Na
0.95 0.51 0.83 0.64 0.55 0.40 0.49 0.08 0.45 0.59 0.47 72.82**
K mg/ 0.24 0.07 0.05 0.04 0.02 0.50 0.40 0.04 0.30 0.50 0.19 27.15**
Ca 100gm 1.87 0.63 0.97 0.37 0.50 0.35 0.48 0.35 0.45 0.25 0.58 17.25*
Mg 0.65 0.32 0.50 0.19 0.25 0.59 0.61 0.15 0.30 0.49 0.36 6.91
Table 4. Means of some characters of soil samples representing the main habitats in Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar area. The habitats of coastal plain are SS: saline sand flats, SD:
coastal sand dunes and SF: sand flats; those of coastal hill are SW: seaward slope and LW: leeward slope; those of plateau are FT: first terrace and ST: second terrace;
and those of wadis are SE: south-east slope, NE: north-east slope, and WB: wadi bed. *: P ≤ 0.05, **: P≤ 0.01 and ***: P ≤ 0.001 according to F-test.
(r = 0.68, p < 0.05) and the cover of Juniperus phoenicea
(r = 0.97, p < 0.001) and Sarcopoterium spinosum (r =
0.90, p < 0.001) (fig. 3B).
DISCUSSION
The composites and grasses followed by the legumes
had the highest contribution to the flora of the present
study. This trend is similar to that of the pasture zone in
north Libya, as well as the total Libyan flora (Qaiser &
El-Gadi, 1984). Regarding the biological spectrum in the
present study, therophytes are the most frequent (36.7%),
followed by the cryptophytes (19.2%) and phanerophytes
(17.6%). This resembles the biological spectrum of some
Mediterranean territories (Archibold, 1995), but greatly
differs from that of Egyptian Mediterranean region where
the therophytes contribute 58.7% and the phanerophytes
3.2% (Hassib, 1951). Therophytes are particularly well
adapted to the seasonal region of mild moist winters and
dry summers, and often account for 40-50% of the species
present in the Mediterranean region. Cryptophytes
are also well adapted to the Mediterranean climate where
they survive the dry summer below ground as bulbs,
corms or rhizomes, and produce leaves and flowers
during the winter and spring (Raven, 1973). The phanerophytes
are mainly represented in the present study by
evergreen sclerophyllus shrubs (1-3 m in height) where
they dominate the plant cover, although they were represented
by relatively low number of species comparing
with the therophytes and cryptophytes. This life form
gives the landscape of Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar its special
beauty and charm (Boulos, 1971).
From the phytogeographical viewpoint, the Mediterranean
elements are the most represented chorotype
taking the following sequence: mono-regionals > biregionals
> pluri-regionals. The Saharo-Arabian elements
come in the second order, while the other elements show a
minor representation. There are no doubts about the existence
of biogeographical links between Mediterranean,
Saharo-Arabian and Irano-Turanian elements. Relics of
the Mediterranean flora also persist in the high mountains
of the Sahara (see Quézel, 1978; Di Castri, 1981). On
the other hand, the occurrence of many common western
Mediterranean elements (e.g. Viburnum tinus, Rhamnus
lycioides, Olea europaea, Myrtus communis, Rosmarinus officinalis,
Cichorium spinosum, Quercus coccifera and many
others) indicate more affinities with the flora of Crete and
west Mediterranean region rather than the much closer
east Mediterranean territory (Zohary, 1973; Qaiser &
El-Gadi, 1984).
ecologia mediterranea, tome 29, fascicule 2, 2003