Climate–Vegetation Relationships: Perspectives

Abstract

Climatic changes not only produce latitudinal shifts in different ecological belts, equally significant is the diverse pattern of minute but extremely important changes observed in the mountains of the arid land regions of the world. These areas of greater elevation enjoy a higher local rainfall even today and during periods of wetter climate, rainfall values increase appreciably creating large islands of, relatively, rich vegetation and attractive landscapes (Butzer and Twidale, 1966). The preceding pages of Chapters 1 and 2 of this book confirm this statements. The variation in climatic conditions prevailing on the Afro-Asian Mediterranean-Red Sea coastal lands recognizabl affect their plant life, the species of which exhibit special adaptation in structure, ecology, and associations (Kassas, 1996). Here are some concluding remarks on the relationships between climate and plant life of these coastal lands, discussing it under the two themes of climatic features and vegetation forms.