Plant Diversity in the Egyptian Oases of Western Desert

Abstract

Western Desert (WD) occupying about 681,000 km2 about two-third of the total area of Egypt. It extends in the west from the Libyan border (25 °E) to the Nile in the east (31 °E) and from the Mediterranean coast inland (34 °N) to the border of Sudan at latitude 22˚N. The WD includes inhabited oases and depression which are Siwa, Moghra, Qara, Bahariya, Farafra, Wadi Natrun, Kharga, Dakhla and Baris. There are a few others are uninhabited: Qattara Depression, East Uweinat, Kurkur, Dungul. Seven Oases are investigated in these study, these oases are Siwa, Moghra, Bahariya, Wadi Natrun, Kharga, Dakhla and Dungul. The climate of these oases is characterized by hyper arid conditions with rare rainfall occurs in the northern oases, and extremely high temperature (>40 °C). These oases have special ecological conditions and characteristics vegetation. The flora of the Egyptian oases are investigated comprises 187 species including 77 annuals plants, including hydrophytic and reed swamps plants, halophytes and xerophytes. The plant life of these oases and depressions comprises four main types of vegetation namely: reed swamps vegetation, salt marsh vegetation, sand formation vegetation and desert plain vegetation. Halophytic plants are among the most species dominated in these habitats are halophytic plants e.g. Juncus rigidus, Cyperus laevigatus, Juncus acutus, Suaeda aegyptiaca and S. monoica, Cressa cretica, Aeluropus lagopoides, Imperata cylindrica and Tamarix nilotica. Recently, these oases have attracted the attention of government authorities as a possible addition to the cultivated area of Egypt.