Arid ecosystem resilience to total petroleum hydrocarbons disturbance: A case‐study from the State of Kuwait associated with the Second Gulf War

Al-Ali²,

et al. 2021

Plants

Self Cite

The rapid assessment and monitoring of native desert plants are essential in restoration and revegetation projects to track the changes in vegetation patterns in terms of vegetation coverage and structure. This work investigated advanced vegetation monitoring methods utilizing UAVs and remote sensing techniques at the Al Abdali protected site in Kuwait. The study examined the effectiveness of using UAV techniques to assess the structure of desert plants. We specifically examined the use of very-high-resolution aerial imagery to estimate the vegetation structure of Rhanterium epapposum (perennial desert shrub), assess the vegetation cover density changes in desert plants after rainfall events, and investigate the relationship between the distribution of perennial shrub structure and vegetation cover density of annual plants. The images were classified using supervised classification techniques (the SVM method) to assess the changes in desert plants after extreme rainfall events. A digital terrain model (DTM) and a digital surface model (DSM) were also generated to estimate the maximum shrub heights. The classified imagery results show that a significant increase in vegetation coverage occurred in the annual plants after rainfall events. The results also show a reasonable correlation between the shrub heights estimated using UAVs and the ground-truth measurements (R² = 0.66, p < 0.01). The shrub heights were higher in the high-cover-density plots, with coverage >30% and an average height of 77 cm. However, in the medium-cover-density (MD) plots, the coverage was <30%, and the average height was 52 cm. Our study suggests that utilizing UAVs can provide several advantages to critically support future ecological studies and revegetation and restoration programs in desert ecosystems.

…”

Section: Methodssupporting

confidence: 67%

The Use of Very-High-Resolution Aerial Imagery to Estimate the Structure and Distribution of the Rhanterium epapposum Community for Long-Term Monitoring in Desert Ecosystems

Al-Ali²,

et al. 2021

Plants

Self Cite

“…The recovery of such native desert plant communities could be associated with the soil type, geomorphological features, and total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH)-contamination at the sites. Vegetation regrowth was higher at Petrocalcid soils in Umm Gudair sites [ 12 ], which store high quantities of water, potentially making it available for plant uptake during dry periods [ 13 ]. Petrogypsid soils also show good potential for vegetation growth at Wadi Al Batin [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Vegetation regrowth was higher at Petrocalcid soils in Umm Gudair sites [ 12 ], which store high quantities of water, potentially making it available for plant uptake during dry periods [ 13 ]. Petrogypsid soils also show good potential for vegetation growth at Wadi Al Batin [ 12 ]. The regrowth of some native desert plants was observed over a layer of clean sediment covering the oil layers, as massive remobilization of sand sheets was found in the oil-affected areas (Koch and Le-Baz 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Different Types of Hydrocarbon Disturbance on the Resiliency of Native Desert Vegetation in a War-Affected Area: A Case Study from the State of Kuwait

Kalander

Al-Bakri

2021

Plants

Self Cite

This study assesses the impact of total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) concentration and soil parameters (heavy metals, chemical properties, and water-soluble boron) on the succession process of vegetation survival in the Al-Burgan oil field in Kuwait. A total of 145 soil samples were randomly collected from the three main types of hydrocarbon contamination, including dry oil lake (DOL), wet oil lake (WOL), and tarcrete. Sampling was also extended to noncontaminated bare soils that were considered reference sites. Remote-sensing data from Sentinel-2 were also processed to assess the level of contamination in relation to soil surface cover. The results showed that TPH concentration was significantly higher in WOL and DOL (87,961.4 and 35,740.6 mg/kg, respectively) compared with that in tarcrete (24,063.3 mg/kg), leading to a significant increase in soil minerals and heavy metals, greater than 50 mg/kg for Ba, and 10 mg/kg for V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. Such high concentrations of heavy metals massively affected the native vegetation’s resiliency at these sites (<5% vegetation cover). However, vegetation cover was significantly higher (60%) at tarcrete-contaminated sites, as TPH concentration was lower, almost similar to that in uncontaminated areas, especially at subsurface soil layers. The presence of vegetation at tarcrete locations was also associated with the lower concentration of Ba, V, Zn, Ni, and Cr. The growth of native vegetation was more likely related to the low concentration of TPH contamination at the subsurface layer of the soils in tarcrete sites, making them more suitable sites for restoration and revegetation planning. We concluded that further investigations are required to provide greater insight into the native plants’ phytoextraction potential and phytoremediation.

“…Suitable phytoremediation management procedures require a good understanding of native plant species response to hydrocarbon contamination. Abdullah et al (2020) assessed the ecosystem resiliency to total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contamination in Kuwait using remote sensing and GIS. This study found that autogenic recovery of native desert plants occurred within a few years as 34% of the TPH contaminated areas were re-colonised with native desert plants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant communities and potential native phytoremediator species in petroleum hydrocarbon-polluted desert systems

Al-Ateeqi¹,

Al‐Musawi

Sharma

et al. 2021

Preprint

This paper reported the recovery of desert plant communities after twenty years of oil-derived hydrocarbon contamination in desert habitats of Kuwait, caused by the First Gulf War (1990 – 1991). The hypothesis that certain native desert plant species can tolerate weathered oil-polluted soils with oil breakdown products (i.e., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs)) and have the potential to function as bioindicators and phytoremediator species for oil-polluted soil was tested. A field survey of 200 quadrat sampling plots at seven hydrocarbon-contaminated and unpolluted desert areas in Kuwait was performed that recorded 42 plant species, with Haloxylon salicornicum, Cyperus conglomeratus and Rhanterium epapposum as the most dominant species. Analysis of plant tissues indicated plant uptake and accumulation of some PAHs. H. salicornicum was used as a representative species in a controlled field study that included growth of plants in hydrocarbon-polluted and unpolluted soils in two separate desert areas under similar growth conditions. Results showed a significant decrease in plant biomass in oil-contaminated soil compared to those from the uncontaminated site. However, the plants appeared green and healthy in both sites, and showed no overt stress. The results suggest that some desert plant communities exhibit signs of recovery after severe oil pollution, and that H. salicornicum may serve as a phytoremediator of oil-contaminated desert soils. Our results also demonstrated that some desert plant communities could be cultivated in oil fields to reduce hydrocarbon contamination and provide guide to other ecosystem services through improving soil quality and biodiversity.