Phytosociological Survey of Mediterranean Endemic Plants in Egypt

IN TERMS of plant diversity, the Mediterranean Basin is the world's second-richest hotspot and one of the most important spots on the planet for endemic species. Henceforth, we aim in the present study to provide a phytosociological overview of Mediterranean endemic vegetation based on an extensive database and formal classification. We further aim to describe the vegetation communities and provide information on their distribution and soil variables affecting their distribution. We built a comprehensive database utilizing all available vegetation plots and soil data of the study area from the meta-data of Tanta Ecology Group and our field surveys. We performed a cluster analysis (TWINSPAN). We visualized the results by detrended correspondence analysis (DECORANA) for the observed vegetation communities. The more associated species with Mediterranean endemic taxa were selected depending on the highest chi-squared values. A Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was performed to estimate the relationship between the soil variables and Mediterranean endemics distribution. Indeed, we distinguished five classes representing Mediterranean endemic vegetation in Egypt: Cyperus capitatus, Echium angustifolium subsp. sericeum, Asparagus stipularis, Zygophyllum album and Fumaria judaica subsp. judaica. In addition, the most effective variables in the distribution of Mediterranean endemics in Egypt were calcium carbonate, sand, silt, and pH, while the organic matter was the least effective variable. pH values showed that most of the soils are alkaline and non-saline. Most soils in the study area had sandy to loamy sandy textures and very low content of organic matter. We present a common classification of Mediterranean endemic vegetation based on cutting-edge methods. Our study forms an important basis for decision-making in nature conservation, global change issues, and further in-depth studies on Mediterranean endemic vegetation.