The Vegetation of Egypt

450 Pages·2009·6.24 MB·English

by  M. A. Zahran, A. J. Willis (auth.)

The Vegetation of Egypt
PLANT AND VEGETATION
Volume 2
Series Editor: M.J.A. Werger
For other titles published in this series, go to www.springer.com/series/7549
The Vegetation of Egypt
2nd edition
by
M.A. Zahran
Emeritus Professor of Plant Ecology,
Department of Botany,
Faculty of Science,
Mansoura University, Egypt
In association with
A.J. Willis†
123
†
Prof. M.A. Zahran Prof. A.J. Willis
Mansoura University Emeritus Prof. of Plant Ecology,
Faculty of Sciences Dept. of Animal & Plant Sciences,
Dept. Botany The University of Sheffield,
Mansoura 35516 S10 2TN, UK.
Egypt
Email, personal:
• To the Egyptian-British Scientifi c Cooperation
• To the Soul of the Late Professor A.J. Willis
• To Professor M. Kassas, Cairo University
• To my Colleagues and Students
• To my family: Ekbal, Ahmed, Amal & Eman
(Prof. Dr. M.A. Zahran)
Contents
1 Egypt: The Gift of the Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Physiography, Climate and Soil-Vegetation
Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1 Geological Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Geographical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3 The Climate of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4 Soil-Vegetation Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3 The Western Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.1 General Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
3.2 The Western Mediterranean Coastal Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3 The Oases and Depressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
3.4 Gebel Uweinat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.5 The Gilf Kebir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
4 The Eastern Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.1 Geology and Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.2 Ecological Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
5 The Sinai Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
5.1 Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
5.2 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
5.3 Water Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
5.4 The Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
6 The Nile Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
6.1 Geomorphology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
6.2 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
6.3 Vegetation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
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viii Contents
7 The History of the Vegetation: Its Salient Features
and Future Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
7.1 The History of the Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
7.2 Future Study of Phytosociology and Plant Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
7.3 The Main Types of Vegetation and Its Features: Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . 317
8 Remote Sensing and Vegetation Map of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
8.2 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
9 Sustainable Development of Egypt’s Deserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
9.1 Defi nition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
9.2 Religious Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
9.3 Ecological Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
9.4 Renewable Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Appendix: Photographs Covering Western Desert, Eastern Desert,
Sinai Peninsula, Nile Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
List of Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Foreword: First Edition
Egypt is a cross-road territory with its Mediterranean front connecting it with
Europe with which it has had biotic exchanges during the Glacials and the Intergla-
cials, and today we know that routes of migratory birds converge through Egypt.
Two highway corridors join Egypt with tropical Africa and beyond: the Nile Valley
and the basin of the Red Sea. The Sinai Peninsula is the bridge between Africa and
Asia. Its cultural and ethnic history bears testimony to complexities of this position,
as does its natural history. Attempts to unravel the mysteries of its cultural history
have involved scholars from all over the world, and collections of its legendary
heritage abound in museums of the capitals of the world. The natural history of
Egypt was not less fortunate, contributions of international scientists to biological,
geological and geographical surveys of Egypt include a wealth of research, and this
book, compiled by two scholars from Mansoura and Sheffi eld, is a most welcome
example of international collaboration.
The history of vegetation antedates that of human culture, but plant life as
we see it today has been infl uenced in every way by human action, exploitation,
destruction, husbandry, introductions, etc. An attempt to compile a comprehensive
inventory of various aspects of plant growth and ecological relationships in plant
communities requires indefatigable enthusiasm and stamina. The authors have
both given of their time, energy and toil with infi nite generosity, and achieved a
formidable objective.
The plan of the book is set in a sequence that makes it readable and that facili-
tates access to detailed description of sample areas. Introductory parts are brief and
the main space (Chapters 3–6) is devoted to addressing available information on
plant life in the chief eco-geographic sections of the country: Western Desert, East-
ern Desert, Sinai Peninsula and the Nile region. A fi nal chapter refers to the history
of the vegetation and to topics on which further investigation is required. With this
structure the text will be most useful for students and for research workers inter-
ested in pursuing studies on the ecology and the geography of plant life in Egypt. It
is hoped that it will interest school teachers and encourage them to take their pupils
out to the nearby fi elds and adjoining deserts.
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x Foreword: First Edition
For me, it is a very special pleasure, having now completed 50 years of studying
plant life in Egypt, to welcome this book and to congratulate Professor Zahran and
Professor Willis for their remarkable achievement and to thank them for the unre-
mitting effort that they have both invested in this worthwhile work.
Cairo M. Kassas
October 1989
Foreword: Second Edition
For the 2nd edition of the book, apart from updating the ecological information
of the different vegetation types of the four main regions of Egypt (Western Des-
ert, Eastern Desert, Sinai Peninsula, and River Nile), two more chapters have been
added. Chapter 8 contains basic knowledge on the Remote Sensing Technology
and its use in the vegetation mapping; three case studies from Egypt are described.
Chapter 9 is concerned with the sustainable development of the Egyptian deserts
using their renewable natural resources with particular references to the naturally
growing xerophytes and halophytes. Selected species proved to have agro-industrial
potentialities have been demonstrated. Both chapters contain valuable informa-
tion necessary for the undergraduate, postgraduate students as well as for scientists
interested in the vegetation of the arid-land areas.
Cairo M. Kassas
(April 2008)
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