Vegetation Ecology Associated with Some Species of Family Zygophyllaceae in Different Regions of Egyptian Desert

Abstract

The Zygophyllaceae is a widespread family of common existence in arid and semi-arid habitats of the Old and New Worlds, especially in seasonally dry deserts. Various members of this family are characterized by high efficient potential for the treatment of broad spectrum health disorders and well known in scientific and folk literature for their medicinal uses. TWINSPAN cluster for the 38 stands yielded four vegetation groups (A, B, C and D) at the 3rd level of classification. These groups were identified after the first dominant species that attained the highest importance value (IV). Group A: Zygophyllum aegyptium, group B: Fagonia cretica, group C: Zygophyllum coccineum and group D: Pulicaria undulata. The vegetation group A characterized sand formation habitats along Deltaic Mediterranean coastal desert, while group B represented roadside habitats of the western Mediterranean coastal desert, group C dominated Wadi Hagul bed and gravel desert habitats of Suez. Furthermore, group D inhabited wadi bed and roadside habitats in Ismailia. Ordination of the vegetation groups along 2 axes was performed using Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), while Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was utilized to determine the relation between the community types and soil factors.