Informations et ressources scientifiques
sur le développement des zones arides et semi-arides

Titre : STUDIES ON THREATENED PLANT SPECIES IN EGYPT, WOODY PERENNIALS

Auteur : FAHMY, AHMED GAMAL EL-DIN MOHAMED.

Etablissement de soutenance : University of Cairo

Grade : Master of Science (MS) in Botany 1990

Résumé
A very important need in plant conservation is information on the state of threatened species ; a National Red Data Book would be the fulcrum against which the plant conservation activities could be weighed. This work is a step towards the preparation of an Egyptian Plant Red Data Book, it includes the threatened woody perennials in the Flora of Egypt. The current work included a list of the threatened ligneous species in the Flora of Egypt ; the families were arranged according to the system of A. Engler ( cited after Tackholm, 1974). For each taxon, the following data were provided : the valid Latin name, synonyms and vernacular names ; short botanic description ; some of the studied genera were provided by keys ; time of flowering and seed maturation ; life form and habitat description ; local and world distribution based on relevant literature and herbarium studies in Cairo University Herbarium (CAI) and that of the Royal Botanic Gardens (K) ; the conservation status according to the IUCN categories ; and the proposed conservation measures. Field excursions were conducted during the period April 1986 - November 1988, and covered areas from El-Sallum to Rafah along the Mediterranean coast, the five oases of the Libyan Desert (Baharya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga and Siwa) and Sinai Peninsula. The writer was .able to trace the sites of 21 threatened ligneous species, the habitat and the associate species of each taxon was studied briefly. Many of the studied species are already known to be of potential value to man. These include : near relatives of important crops, e.g. Gossypium arboreum ; plants that are or have been source of economic products, e.g. Acacia & Moringa,other genera are of evolutionary and scientific value either for the distinctness of their habit or for pecularities of their distribution, e.g. Rhus tripartita & Ebenus armitagei ; others are particularly worthy of conserv¬ation from a scientific point of view, especially monotypic genera, e.g. Crithmum, Podostelma & Prasium. In this work , we concluded that among a total of 454 species of the woody perennials in the Flora of Egypt, 154 species are threatened, of these, 11 species are pre¬sumably extinct, 53 species are endangered, 57 species are vulnerable, 19 species are rare and 14 species are indeterminate. The natural rarity of the investigated species can be attributed to their limited geographical distribution. As Egypt forms the distributional margin for many genera. Notably, the arboreal formations are confined to limited areas which receive higher precipitation : Mediterranean coastal land, the wadis dissecting the Sinai and Gebel Elba massives. Concerning the reasons that led to the species decline, anthropogenic activities are the major threats to the desert vegetation where plant life subsists under adverse conditions of aridity. On the conservation action, the writer proposes a series of conservation sites to the proposed network system of in situ & ex situ preservations. The series includes 7 nature reserves, 6 wildlife sanctuaries and 5 botanic gardens.

Présentation étendue (EULC)