Abstract
Vegetation refers to the plants and trees that are found in a particular region. The geographical location and climatic conditions of Libya strongly influence the vegetation status. The diversity of natural vegetation in Libya varies according to the climatic zone and soil types. Acknowledging that most of the country consists of desert dry areas, the fertile regions are mainly present in the coastal zone (including plains and mountains) and scattered depressions and Wadis in the desert. In 2009, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) (LIB/00/004 “Mapping of Natural Resources for Agriculture Use and Planning in Libya Project”) published the first land cover map of the country using Remote Sensing (RS), Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques, GeoVIS Software and Land Cover Classification System (LCCS) which was approved by the FAO. This map shows the main categories of land cover types according to location, quantity, and quality of the natural vegetation cover. This map, as well as its accompanying statistics, is considered one of the most reliable sources of the land cover in Libya. The agricultural land is estimated at about 8.73% of the total area of the country with an arable land area of about 1%. Crop productions essentially depend on the private sector, where most of the farms are relatively small areas with grains and some vegetables, fruits, and forage crops. In this chapter, we summarize the existing information about land cover, land use, and vegetation distribution in Libya.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Al-Idrissi M, Sbeita A, Jebriel A, Zintani A, Shreidi A, Ghawawi H (1996) Libya: Country Report to the FAO International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources. Libya Country Report. Available online: www.fao.org/fileadmin/templates/agphome/documents/PGR/SoW1/east/LIBYA.pdf. Accessed 11 Dec 2019
Azzabi T (1996) Food self-sufficiency and agricultural research in Libya. Cahiers Options Mediterraneennes 1(5)
Ben Mahmoud KB (1995) Libyan soils, 1st ed. National Research Scientific Organization, Tripoli, Libya (Arabic book)
Chen D, Pan Q, Bai Y, Hu S, Huang J, Wang Q, Naeem S, Elser JJ, Wu J, Han X (2016) Effects of plant functional group loss on soil biota and net ecosystem exchange: a plant removal experiment in the Mongolian grassland. J Ecol 104(3):734–743
Department of Environment, Tripoli, Libya (2010) The fourth national report to the convention on biological diversity (Arabic Document)
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2004) Forests and the forestry sector. http://www.fao.org/forestry/country/57478/en/lby/. Accessed 12 Dec 2019
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2005) AQUASTAT Country Profile: Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Land and Water Division. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/nr/water/aquastat/countries_regions/lby/LBY-CP_eng.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2019
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2015) Status of the World’s Soil Resources (SWSR)–Main Report. In: Food and agriculture organization of the united nations and intergovernmental technical panel on soils. FAO, Rome, Italy, p 650
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2019) GIEWS—Global information and early warning system, country briefs: Libya. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy. http://www.fao.org/giews/countrybrief/country.jsp?code=LBY. Accessed 19 Apr 2020
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2020) FAOSTAT Statistical Database, Libya. http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data. Accessed 18 Apr 2020
Government of Libya, Secretariat of Planning, Surveying Department (1978) The National Atlas of Libya. Tripoli, Libya
LIB/00/004 (2009) Mapping of natural resources for agriculture use and planning in Libya Project, Atlas of natural resources for agricultural use in Libya. http://www.fao.org/geospatial/resources/detail/en/c/1024739/. Accessed 11 Apr 2019
Mahmoudzadeh A (2007) Vegetation cover plays the most important role in soil erosion control. Pak J Biol Sci 10(3):388–392
Maselli F, Di Gregorio A, Capecchi V, Breda F (2009) Enrichment of land-cover polygons with eco-climatic information derived from MODIS NDVI imagery. J Biogeogr 36(4):639–650
Nwer B, Zurqani H, Jadour K (2013) Soil productivity rating index model using geographic information system in Libya. In: Proceedings of the Annual International Conference 7th Edition of Geotunis, southern Hammamet, Tunis, 4–12 Apr 2013
Ruiz-Colmenero M, Bienes R, Eldridge DJ, Marques MJ (2013) Vegetation cover reduces erosion and enhances soil organic carbon in a vineyard in the central Spain. CATENA 104:153–160
The Statistical Office of the European Union (EUROSTAT) (2001) Manual of concepts on land cover and land use information systems. Office for Publications of the European Communities, Luxembourg, p 93. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/ramon/statmanuals/files/KS-34-00-407-__-I-EN.pdf. Accessed 18 Apr 2019
Zurqani HA, Mikhailova EA, Post CJ, Schlautman MA, Elhawej AR (2019) A review of Libyan soil databases for use within an ecosystem services framework. Land 8(5):82
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zurqani, H.A., Ben Mahmoud, K.R. (2021). Land Cover, Land Use, and Vegetation Distribution. In: Zurqani, H.A. (eds) The Soils of Libya. World Soils Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66368-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66368-1_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-66367-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-66368-1
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)