a b s t r a c tAbout one third of the earth's land surface is covered by deserts that have low and variable rainfall, nutrient-poor soils, and little vegetation cover. Here, we focus on the goods and services offered by desert ecosystems using the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt extending from Burg El-Arab to El-Salloum as an example. We conducted field surveys and collected other data to identify the goods services and provided by native plant species. A total of 322 native plant species were compiled. The direct services provided by these native plants included sources of food, medicine, and energy; indirect vegetation services included promotion of biodiversity, water storage, and soil fertility. The plant diversity in this ecosystem provided economic service benefits, such as sources of fodder, fuel-wood, and traditional medicinal plants. Changes in land use and recent ill-managed human activities may influence the availability of these services and strongly impact biodiversity and habitat availability. Although deserts are fragile and support low levels of productivity, they provide a variety of goods and services whose continuing availability is contingent upon the adoption of rational land management practices.

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Intra-city railway areas are deemed large greenspaces and are believed to be key in enhancing the diversity and dynamics of urban flora. In the current study, the floristic composition and diversity along intra-city railway and tram tracks in Alexandria were surveyed. The floristic composition of the plant communities in relation to environmental factors, ecological indicators, and level of human impact was analyzed using multivariate analysis (two-way indicator species analysis (TWINSPAN) for classification and detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) for ordination. The multivariate ordination techniques (CCA) revealed differences in the environmental factors and climatic factors influencing the floristic composition of the railway and tram track habitats. Tram tracks suffered higher human impact while maintaining higher vitality and cover compared to train tracks. Species recorded were mainly therophytes, followed by phanerophytes and hemicryptophytes dominated by native species; however, invasive species’ contribution was higher compared to surrounding regions. The number of invasive species was greater in railway areas compared to tram track areas (19 and 15, respectively). The occurrence of two endemic species (Sinapis allionii and Sonchus macrocarpus) with limited national distribution highlights the importance of these habitats as valuable refuge areas for rare and endangered species worthy of conservation action.