The Vegetation of Egypt

PLANT AND VEGETATION

Volume 2

Series Editor: M.J.A. Werger

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123

The Vegetation of Egypt2nd edition

by

M.A. ZahranEmeritus Professor of Plant Ecology,

Department of Botany, Faculty of Science,

Mansoura University, Egypt

In association with

A.J. Willis†

Prof. M.A. Zahran Mansoura UniversityFaculty of SciencesDept. BotanyMansoura 35516EgyptEmail, personal: zahrancabi2001@yahoo.com

ISBN: 978-1-4020-8755-4 e-ISBN: 978-1-4020-8756-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008931480

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Prof. A.J. Willis†

Emeritus Prof. of Plant Ecology, Dept. of Animal & Plant Sciences, The University of Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK.

• 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)

vii

Contents

1 Egypt: The Gift of the Nile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Physiography, Climate and Soil-Vegetation Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.1 Geological Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.2 Geographical Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52.3 The Climate of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62.4 Soil-Vegetation Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

3 The Western Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.1 General Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133.2 The Western Mediterranean Coastal Belt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143.3 The Oases and Depressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443.4 Gebel Uweinat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943.5 The Gilf Kebir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

4 The Eastern Desert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014.1 Geology and Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014.2 Ecological Characteristics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

5 The Sinai Peninsula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2135.1 Geomorphology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2135.2 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2185.3 Water Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2205.4 The Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

6 The Nile Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2516.1 Geomorphology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2516.2 Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2556.3 Vegetation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

viii Contents

7 The History of the Vegetation: Its Salient Features and Future Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

7.1 The History of the Vegetation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3057.2 Future Study of Phytosociology and Plant Ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3157.3 The Main Types of Vegetation and Its Features: Synopsis . . . . . . . . . . . 317

8 Remote Sensing and Vegetation Map of Egypt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3198.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3198.2 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

9 Sustainable Development of Egypt’s Deserts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3359.1 Defi nition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3359.2 Religious Attitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3369.3 Ecological Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3379.4 Renewable Natural Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Appendix: Photographs Covering Western Desert, Eastern Desert,Sinai Peninsula, Nile Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

List of Species . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

ix

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.

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. KassasOctober 1989

x Foreword: First Edition

xi

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)

xiii

Preface

This book is an attempt to compile and integrate the information documented by many botanists, both Egyptians and others, about the vegetation of Egypt. The fi rst treatise on the fl ora of Egypt, by Petrus Forsskal, was published in 1775. Records of the Egyptian fl ora made during the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt (1778–1801) were provided by A.R. Delile from 1809 to 1812 (Kassas, 1981).

The early beginning of ecological studies of the vegetation of Egypt extended to the mid-nineteenth century. Two traditions may be recognized. The fi rst was general exploration and survey, for which one name is symbolic: Georges-Auguste Schweinfurth (1836–1925), a German scientist and explorer who lived in Egypt from 1863 to 1914. The second tradition was ecophysiological to explain the plant life in the dry desert. The work of G. Volkens (1887) remains a classic on xerophyt-ism. These two traditions were maintained and expanded in further phases of eco-logical development associated with the establishment of the Egyptian University in 1925 (now the University of Cairo). The fi rst professor of botany was the Swedish Gunnar Tackholm (1925–1929). He died young, and his wife Vivi Tackholm devoted her life to studying the fl ora of Egypt and gave leadership and inspiration to plant taxonomists and plant ecologists in Egypt for some 50 years. She died in 1978.

The second professor of botany in Egypt was F.W. Oliver (1929–1932) followed by the British ecologist F.J. Lewis (1935–1947). This episode marked the begin-ning of plant ecological studies by Egyptian scientists in two principal traditions: ecophysiological and synecological studies of the vegetation. The pioneers were A.M. Migahid, A.H. Montasir and M. Hassib who started their scientifi c work in 1931. About 1950, two schools of research emerged. These were mainly concerned with a survey of natural vegetation and the phytosociological analysis of plant communities. One was centred in the University of Alexandria led by T.M. Tadros (1910–1972) who followed the Zurich-Montpellier School. The second is centred in the University of Cairo and led by M. Kassas who followed the Anglo-American school of phytosociology. During the last 30 years, researches in plant ecology con-tinue with refi ned methodologies and creation of new research units in the several provincial universities opened in Egypt.

We warmly thank Professor Dr M. Kassas, Faculty of Science, University of Cairo, for his great encouragement and assistance in the production of this book, and for supplying many references. We are also much indebted to Dr Sekina M. Ayyad for her help with the section on the history of the vegetation, to Dr P.D. Moore for his useful comments on this section, and to Professor L. Boulos, Dr T.A. Cope and Professor M.N. El-Hadidi for their kind assistance with nomenclature. The valued sponsorship the fi rst edition of this book by UNEP and UNESCO is highly appre-ciated and has much facilitated its production. The valuable contributions of Prof. Dr. Boshra B. Salem, Alexandria University, Egypt and Dr. Gidska, L. Andersen, Bergen University, Norway, are the backbone of the new chapter (No. 8) of Remote Sensing. We are deeply thankful to them.

My thanks to Dr. H. Kashaba and my son Ahmed for their sincere help.

Egypt M.A. ZahranU.K. A.J. Willis†

xiv Preface

xv

About the Authors

Professor Mahmoud Abdel Kawy Zahran was born in Samalut (Minya Province, Upper Egypt) on 15 Janu-ary 1938. He graduated (BSc 1959) from the Faculty of Science, Cairo University where he got his MSc (1962) and PhD (1965) degrees in the fi eld of plant ecology.

Professor Zahran worked as research assistant and researcher in the National Research Centre (1959–1963) and Desert Research Institute (1963–1972) of Cairo. In October 1972 he was appointed Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Science, Mansoura Uni-versity and promoted to the professorship of plant ecology in November 1976. He joined the Faculty of Meteorology and Environmental Studies of King

Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from November 1977 to March 1983.

For his scientifi c achievements in plant ecology, Professor Zahran received the State Prize of Egypt from the Academy of Scientifi c Researches and Technology (1983), the First Class Gold Medal of the Egyptian President (1983), the Diploma of the International Cultural Council of Mexico (1987) and the major Prize of Man-soura University in Basic Sciences (1991).

Apart from this book, Prof. Zahran is the author and co-author of 12 books, con-tributor of 12 books (13 chapters), compiler of one book and translator of one book. These books have been/to be published in Egypt, USA, UK, UAE, Netherlands, Germany, KSA, Belgium and Pakistan.

Emeritus Professor Arthur J. Willis, Ph.D., D.Sc, F.I. Biol, F.L.S., graduated in Botany at the University of Bristol, England, and joined the staff there in 1947 as Demonstrator. He subsequently became Junior Fellow in Physiological Ecology, Lecturer and Reader in Botany, but left Bristol in 1969 to become the Head of the Department of Botany of the University of Sheffi eld. Here he remained Head and

also Honorary Director of the Natural Environment Research Council Unit of Com-parative Plant Ecology until retirement in 1987.

Professor Willis is the author of An Introduction to Plant Ecology (1971) and a contributor to a number of books, most recently (1990) the last edition of the Weed Control Handbook: Principles. He has written about a hundred of papers in scientifi c journals, spanning the fi elds of plant ecology, the British fl ora, bryophytes, coastal systems, particularly sand dunes, plant physiology, especially nitrogen metabolism and water relations, and palaeobotany. He was a general editor of the extensive series of books titled Contemporary Biology, an editor of the Journal of Ecology and the Biological Flora of the British Isles.

Unfortunately, Prof. Willis died during summer 2006 leaving behind a wealth of knowledge in the fi elds of plant ecology, ecophysiology, etc. . .

xvi About the Authors

xvii

Introduction

Six zones of vegetation have been recognized by phytogeographers on a global scale. Each zone is occupied by similar types of vegetation, with the same peri-ods of growth and the same general adaptations to environment. The divisions are exclusively climatic and ecological; the systematic relations of the plants are not taken into consideration. These zones of vegetation are: the northern glacial zone, with a very short growth period (in the arctic and high altitudes); the northern zone of cold winters, with a growth period of 4–7 months; the northern zone of hot sum-mers, comprising regions of the subtropics; the tropical zone, with no signifi cant seasonal interruption of growth; and in the southern hemisphere the zone of the hot summers; and the cold zone. In the northern zone of hot summers there is no real winter, but there may be some interruption of growth in January. Xerophytism is well marked, although some regions are wet. Forest, maquis, chaparral, steppe and prairie are common in this zone. As indicated by Hassib (1951), the vegetation of Egypt belongs to this northern zone of hot summers.

According to Eig’s system (1931–1932), Egypt comprises four fl oral provinces:

1. Mediterranean Province: This comprises the region around the Mediterranean Sea. It has mild winters with plentiful rain and dry summers. It is the region of evergreen maquis (except in Egypt) and forest associations. The northern Medi-terranean coast of Egypt belongs here.

2. North African-Indian Desert Province: This is also known as the Saharo-Sindian Province. It encompasses the great desert from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the deserts of Sind, Punjab and South Afghanistan. The air is extremely dry, temperatures are high, rainfall is low, salty ground is abundant, there are few species and individual plants and the vegetation is uniform. The greater part of Egypt belongs here.

3. Central Asiatic Province: This is also known as the Irano-Turanian Province. It comprises a large region stretching east towards China west to the Mediterranean, north to the Northern extratropical deserts and south to the North African-Indian deserts. There is little rain, rather long dry periods, great temperature differences, an almost complete absence of forest growth, and a rich occurrence of species and endemics. The mountain region of Sinai and certain enclave areas in the Eastern Desert, e.g. Galala mountains of Egypt, belong here.

4. African Forest and Steppe Province: This is also known as the Sudano-Deccanian Province. It comprises a belt of broad steppes and savannas from the Atlantic Ocean south of Sahara and north of the Equatorial Forest region, through Sonegambia to Eritrea and Ethiopia and through tropical Arabia and India, including the Deccan. There are tropical summer rains and dry and warm winters. The vegetation is dominated by, for example, tropical Acacias and the grasses Panicum and Andropogon. This is the region of steppes and savannas and the park forests which lose their leaves during the dry period. As an enclave the Gebel Elba mountainous region in the southeast of Egypt belongs here.

For its unique position midway between Africa and Asia, with its long coasts of both the Mediterranean Sea in the north (c. 970 km) and the Red Sea in the east (c. 1100 km), Egypt has attracted the attention of explorers and botanists for very many years. Hundreds of studies on the vegetation of Egypt have been published which when assembled together and integrated, as attemped here, would form a valuable scientifi c base for further studies.

In the numerous descriptions of vegetation and plant communities given in this book it has inevitably been necessary to rely heavily on accounts compiled by many authors. The majority of these accounts follow the Anglo-American School of phy-tosociology, referring to dominant and associated species, and characterizing com-munities by their dominants or co-dominants. Some accounts, however, of types of vegetation are in accordance with continental phytosociology and original descrip-tions are necessarily followed here.

In general, types of communities are distinguished mainly on the basis of fea-tures of the plants, including their structure, the fl oristic composition of the vegeta-tion and its overall appearance (physiognomy). Characteristics of the habitat are, however, also taken into account, including, for example, the geomorphology.

Among important structural features of the vegetation are the number of layers which may be recognized: often a tree layer, shrub layer, subshrub layer or suffru-tescent layer and a ground layer, but one or more of these may be lacking The layer containing the dominant, which usually constitutes the major part of the perennial plant cover, normally has the greatest effect on the physiognomy. The habit of the plant may also be distinctive e.g. succulents, grasses and woody species. Important characters of the habitat concern the nature of the substratum and geomorphological features such as the situation of the community or the stand (a visually fairly homogeneous unit of vegetation, often of a single species) in relation to drainage systems and the nature and depth of surface material or deposits forming the soil. The texture and depth of soil control the capacity for the storage of water; a shallow soil soon dries after the rainy season whereas a deep soil may provide a subsurface reserve of moisture.

This book is divided into nine chapters. The fi rst presents Egypt as a part of the arid region of the world and describes how far the River Nile is important to its life and fertility.

In Chapter 2 the physiography of Egypt including its main geological and geographical characteristics, climatic features and soil-vegetation relationships are described.

xviii Introduction

The main subject of the book, the description of the vegetation types of Egypt, is covered in four chapters entitled the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, the Sinai Peninsula and the Nile region.The chapter on the Western Desert is in four parts:

1. The western section of the Mediterranean coastal land, i.e. the coast of the West-ern Desert;

2. The Inland Oases and Depressions;3. Gebel Uweinat (Uweinat Mountain);4. The Gelf Kebir.

There are two parts in the chapter on the Eastern Desert:

1. The Red Sea coastal land;2. The inland desert.

The chapter on the Sinai Peninsula is in two parts:

1. The coastal belts:

(a) The eastern section of the Mediterranean coastal land of Egypt;(b) The west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba and the east coast of the Gulf of Suez;

2. The inland desert and mountains.

The chapter on the Nile region is a short account of the plant life of the River Nile and its banks from Aswan northwards to its mouth in the Mediterranean Sea. It describes also the vegetation of the northern lakes and that of the middle (deltaic) section of the Mediterranean coastal land of Egypt.

In each of the four main chapters, before descriptions of the vegetation types, the local geomorphology, climate and habitat types of that particular region are described.

A concluding chapter provides an account on the history of the vegetation, indi-cates fi elds in plant ecology on which further research is needed and give a sum-mary of the main types of vegetation in Egypt.

For the second edition of the book, apart from the above mentioned chapters of the 1st edition of the book, two more chapters are added. Chapter 8 entitled “Remote Sensing and Vegetation Map of Egypt” and Chapter 9 entitled: “Sustain-able Development of Egypt’s Deserts”. Also, updating of the ecological information has been considered.

Introduction xix