Floristic composition of lake Al-Asfar, Alahsa, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The vegetation communities of the shores of Lake Al-Asfar; a large salt lake in Al-Hofouf, Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia; were studied. The aim of the research was to study the relationship between the distribution of vegetation along salt lake shores in relation to soil and climatic conditions. Four distinct lake shore habitats were examined. A total of 72 stands along the study area of the lake were investigated. It was concluded that soil texture, pH, soil moisture content, mineralization as well as the climatic factors were likely to be key factor in determining the distribution of vegetation communities along the shores and habitats of the lake. The study included: list of species and their families, growth forms, frequencies, densities, abundances, recurrence, diversity richness, heterogeneity and evenness in each of the four habitats along the lake. A total of 39 plant species belonging to 20 families were identified from the four studied habitats. More than 61% of the species recorded were perennial shrubs (PSH). Diversity richness indices were 2.02, 2.22, 3.05 and 4.91 in the inundated wet zone (Site I), moist zone (Site II), semi-dry zone (Site III) and arid zone (Site IV), respectively. Heterogeneity was from 2.01-3.10 (Shannon-H') and evenness was 0.89 to 0.98. The heterogeneity in species composition among the sites was moderate indicating that each site has its own unique flora. Those dominant communities occurring on highly and moderate saline soils of the four habitats (I, II, III and IV) along the lake included Phragmites australis, Halocnemum strobilaceum, Zygophyttum mandavittei and Haloxylon salicornicum, respectively. © 2009 Asian Network for Scientific Information.