Effect of Climate Changes on the Vegetation of Fayoum Protected Areas, Western Desert, Egypt.

Abstract

Climate is the dominant determinant of the spatial distributions of plant species and vegetation in general. As the rate and magnitude of climate change accelerate, understanding the consequences becomes increasingly important. It becomes well known that rapid climate change affects current and future vegetation patterns. Since Protected Areas (PAs) have been established globally as vital areas for in situ biodiversity conservation, the effectiveness of PAs to conserve species distributions under climate change has been questioned. Unfortunately, climate change is likely to alter the species composition of PAs, with significant implications for conservation. For the last decades it has been recognized that species might move into, or out of, parks and reserves as climate changes. So, two PAs were selected; namely, Qaroun PA (QPA) and Wadi El-Rayan PA (WRPA), located in Fayoum, Western Desert, Egypt, to study the effect of climate change on their vegetation.