Impacts of Anthropogenic Disturbance on Vegetation Dynamics: A Case Study of Wadi Hagul, Eastern Desert, Egypt

Abstract

Irresponsible human interventions, encroachment of natural habitats, and climate change negatively affect wildlife. In this study, the effects of human influence on Wadi Hagul, an unprotected area in the north of the Egyptian Eastern Desert that has recently been subjected to blatant encroachments of vegetation, were studied. The most important of these threats is the construction of the new road Al-Galala–Wadi Hagul–Zafarana. In Wadi Hagul, 80 species are reported in this study; the most represented plant families are Asteraceae (15 species) and Brassicaceae (6 species). Perennial, chamaephyte and Saharo-Arabian species were recorded in the highest percentage. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis showed that latitude, longitude, altitude, silt, sand contents, pH, and CO32− content are the factors that have the highest effect on vegetation distribution in the studied stands. Several invasive and alien species such as Euphorbia prostrata have been listed; these species typically have a negative effect on native species. The Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI) indicated a decrease in plant cover during the study period, as compared to previous years. In 2013 and 2020, SAVI ranged from −0.02 to 0.42 and from −0.18 to 0.28, respectively. Recently, the violation and destruction of wildlife have increased, therefore, preserving it along with general biodiversity has become an urgent necessity.

Distinguishing features of Lycium L. species (family Solanaceae) distributed in Egypt based on their anatomical, metabolic, molecular, and ecological characteristics

“…Chamaephyte was the most frequent life form, at 39%. This result is largely consistent with several previous studies that were conducted in Wadi Al-Assiuty (Abd El-Galil, 2014) and Wadi Hagul, Eastern Desert, Egypt (Bedair et al, 2021). In semi-arid and arid areas, most of the life forms take the form of chamaephytes (Jafari et al, 2016).…”

“…There were 10 families represented by a single species (Table 8 and Figure 11). Asteraceae was the most prevalent in several previous studies, such as in the Mediterranean North African flora (Queźel, 1978), in Egyptian flora (Täckholm, 1974;Boulos, 2002), and in Wadi Hagul (Marie, 2000;Zahran and Willis, 2009;Abdelaal, 2016;Bedair et al, 2021). Furthermore, Asteraceae is known for having salt-tolerant and xerophytic species (Aronson, 1989).…”

Floristic composition, biological spectrum, and phytogeographic distribution of the Bin Dara Dir, in the western boundary of Pakistan

“…The overall vegetation of the study region is dominated by therophytes with 71 species (50.71%) followed by megaphanerophytes with 27 species (19.28%). The dominance of therophytes shows that the study area is under huge anthropogenic and biotic pressure like grazing pressure and human disturbance (Ullah and Badshah, 2017;Manan et al, 2020;Bedair et al, 2021). Hence, as a result, hemicryptophytes cannot survive in such type of environment.…”

Quantifying Vegetation on a Rock-Ramp Fishway for Fish Run-Up and Habitat Enhancement: The Case of the Miyanaka Intake Dam in Japan

“…Area 5 is a section where stagnant water remains after flowing in from outside, and Area 8 is one where inflow sediment accumulates after more than 3000 m 3 s −1 floods, which occur about once every two years. Upon completion of the rock-ramp fishway in the summer of 2012, abnormal overgrowth of B. frondosa, an alien species [73], was confirmed at the rock-ramp fishway. Consequently, a detailed vegetation survey was conducted in early summer (6 June) and mid-summer (2 August) of 2013 to assess the vegetation status to determine the best time to remove them in the future.…”