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Effect of protection and controlled grazing on the vegetation of a Mediterranean desert ecosystem in Northern Egypt

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Abstract

The present study provides preliminary assessments of the effect of protection and controlled grazing on the vegetation composition and phytomass in a Mediterranean desert ecosystem, 80 km W of Alexandria.

Plots were fenced in 1974 and 1977, and different degrees of grazing pressure (no grazing, 25 and 50% of the grazing pressure freely practiced by the inhabitants) were applied. Changes in density, cover, frequency, phytomass and the phenological sequence of species were recorded and compared to those of the same species outside the fenced plots.

Density and cover of perennials, frequency and presence of annuals, and total phytomass increased as a result of protection and controlled grazing. The arrangement of stands along ordination axes correlated with the degree of grazing pressure, which indicated that the distribution of species in the study area was more related to overgrazing than to the factors of the physical environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Egypt

    M. A. Ayyad & H. F. El-Kadi

  2. Egypt Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt

    M. A. Ayyad & H. F. El-Kadi

Authors
  1. M. A. Ayyad
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  2. H. F. El-Kadi
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Additional information

Nomenclature of vascular plants follows Täckholm, V., Student's Flora of Egypt, Cairo University Press, 1974.

This study was carried out within the framework of the Project of ‘Regional Environmental Management of Mediterranean Desert Ecosystems of Northern Egypt (REMDENE), sponsored by the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, and supported by grants from the USA ‘Environmental Protection Agency’ and the Ford Foundation.

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Ayyad, M.A., El-Kadi, H.F. Effect of protection and controlled grazing on the vegetation of a Mediterranean desert ecosystem in Northern Egypt. Vegetatio 49, 129–139 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123837

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00123837

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