Vegetation and landforms of the Saint Catherine area, southern Sinai, Egypt

Moustafa, Abdel Raouf A.; Klopatek, Jeffrey M.

doi:10.1006/jare.1995.0033

Cited by 53 publications

(48 citation statements)

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“…Wadi El-Arbae'en) (Said 1990;Moustafa and Klopatek 1995). Six main landforms are recognized in the area: slopes, terraces, gorges, ridges, plains, and Wadis (Moustafa and Klopatek 1995). In terms of vegetation composition, Wadis, which are the most widespread ecosystems in mountainous deserts, are one of the most important and clearly defined ecosystems in the Southern Sinai (Moustafa and Klopatek 1995).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

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Conservation genetics of Sinai’s remnant populations of Moringa peregrina, an economically valuable medicinal plant

2011

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Moringa peregrina is an economically valuable tree of Egyptian deserts. It is used medicinally, provides a highly nutritious supplement to Bedouin diets, provides fodder for livestock, and is used for fire wood. M. peregrina seeds have been a source of high-quality oil for cosmetics and perfumes since antiquity. Due to unmanaged grazing and over-collection, M. peregrina has become one of the most endangered tree species in the Egyptian desert ecosystem. A long-term conservation program is urgently needed to maintain or increase the number and size of M. peregrina populations. Ten populations harboring a total of 130 adult M. peregrina were sampled from three disjunct Wadis in South Sinai (W. Me'ar, W. Fieran and W. Zaghra). Open-pollinated seedlings were electrophoretically analyzed to address two basic questions: (1) how is genetic diversity distributed within and among populations within these three Wadis; and (2) what is the mating system of this species. M. peregrina has a mixed mating system with a selfing rate up to 16% and has limited genetic diversity within and significant genetic differentiation among its populations, the majority of which occurs among Wadis. Direct protection is urgently needed to decrease genetic deterioration within M. peregrina populations and to improve their ability to maintain or improve their population numbers. The priority of in situ conservation should be to conserve a few large well-distributed populations representing different Wadis. Ex situ germplasm collections should be made across the species' range to ensure a representative sample of its genetic variation. Seed orchards designed to maximize cross-fertilization among unrelated individuals should be established to generate propagules to supplement natural populations.

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Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Wadi Feiran, Wadi Me'ar, Wadi Zaghra, and Wadi El-Sheikh) with shorter, narrow and steeper tributaries (e.g. Wadi El-Arbae'en) (Said 1990;Moustafa and Klopatek 1995). Six main landforms are recognized in the area: slopes, terraces, gorges, ridges, plains, and Wadis (Moustafa and Klopatek 1995).…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

Conservation genetics of Sinai’s remnant populations of Moringa peregrina, an economically valuable medicinal plant

2011

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“…The refugial nature of South Sinai's high mountains may explain the discrepancy in the pattern of species richness. Favourable climatic conditions, primarily increased availability and retention of moisture (Moustafa & Klopatek 1995;Moustafa & Zaghloul, 1996), at higher altitudes support increased richness than the comparative extremes of temperature and water stress encountered at mid-to low altitudes. While the temperate flora has largely been lost from much of low-altitude Sinai, in the mountain region of St Katherine remnant species remain only at higher altitudes, leading to a pattern of increasing species richness with increasing altitude (Moustafa, Zaghloul, El_Wahab, & Shaker, 2001).…”

Section: Patterns Of Diversity In the New Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The area is recognized as one of the most important centres of plant diversity in the Middle East (IUCN 1994). Greater botanical diversity has been suggested to occur at higher altitudes in Sinai due to a diversity of habitat types and favourable environmental factors, especially the increased water availability, precipitation and soil moisture retention in high-altitude areas (Moustafa & Klopatek 1995;Moustafa & Zaghloul, 1996).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevation patterns of plant diversity and recent altitudinal range shifts in Sinai's high‐mountain flora

Coals

Shmida

Vasl

et al. 2018

J Vegetation Science

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Questions Is there evidence of recent altitudinal range shifts in a hyper‐arid Middle Eastern desert mountain flora? How do the directions of shift for upper and lower altitudinal range limits of plants vary? Location Hyper‐arid mountain desert, St Katherine Protectorate, South Sinai, Egypt. Method We tested for shifts in both upper and lower altitudinal range limits by comparing a 1970s data set of recorded species’ limits with recent surveys using altitudinal transects across 36 sites. Altitudinal limits between 63 paired upper‐limit and 22 paired lower‐limit values from the 1970s and 2014 were compared using paired t‐tests; binomial tests were used to indicate the dominant direction of change. The upper and lower limits of 22 species were considered together to allow assessment of overall altitudinal range size changes. In order to avoid the potential effect of yearly environmental fluctuations on the distributions of annual species, subsets of upper and lower limit shifts were taken for perennials, and for trees and shrubs. Results Our results show significant overall up‐slope shifts in mean upper altitudinal limits and significant overall down‐slope shifts in mean lower altitudinal limits. A majority of assessed species expanded their altitudinal ranges, but the responses of individual species varied. Conclusions Since perennial herbs/graminoids, as well as trees and shrubs, show strong patterns of change, we suggest there has been a long‐term shift in altitudinal range in South Sinai's mountain flora. More research effort needs to be focussed on the drivers of range shift responses in arid regions.

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“…Wadi Feiran, and Wadi Zaghra) and some are shorter, narrow and steeper, and represent tributaries of the main Wadis (e.g. Wadi El-Arbae'en) (Said, 1990;Moustafa and Klopatek, 1995 …”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Assessmen T and Phenotypic and Fitness Variation of Sinai’s Remnant Populations of Moringa Peregrina

Zaghloul¹,

El-Wahab²,

Moustafa³

2010

Appl Ecol Env Res

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Abstract.Moringa peregrina which is one of the most valuable and economically important medicinal species in the Egyptian desert has become one of the most endangered trees due to unmanaged grazing and over-collection. The present study aims to provide ecological assessment of the species and to investigate whether progeny from the remnant fragmented populations show reduced fitness. Sixteen sites containing a total of 197 trees were sampled upon survey of Wadis in South Sinai, where vegetation parameters and associated species were recorded. Variation in edaphic factors, phenotypic traits, germination, and early life-history fitness were assessed and analyzed. The results indicated that M. peregrina has narrow distribution and grows on cliffs and at the base of hills (300 -800 m a.s.l.) with very rugged topography. Almost all the reproductive trees grow on south facing slopes and crevices of metamorphic rocks. The study clearly showed that the studied populations have very low early stage fitness estimated as an index of maternally affected life-history characters. The study suggested that the deteriorated environmental circumstances have affected negatively the fitness of maternal plants in small populations and the performance of their offspring. It concluded that direct protection is urgently needed to stop further deterioration of the populations and to improve their number and size.

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Vegetation and landforms of the Saint Catherine area, southern Sinai, Egypt

Cited by 53 publications

References 0 publications

Conservation genetics of Sinai’s remnant populations of Moringa peregrina, an economically valuable medicinal plant

Conservation genetics of Sinai’s remnant populations of Moringa peregrina, an economically valuable medicinal plant

Elevation patterns of plant diversity and recent altitudinal range shifts in Sinai's high‐mountain flora

Ecological Assessmen T and Phenotypic and Fitness Variation of Sinai’s Remnant Populations of Moringa Peregrina

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