Exploring Ruderal Vegetation Dynamics and Site Factors in Managed Habitats of North East Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

In two new urban cities established in the Egyptian eastern desert, the floristic/soil relationship of representative habitats were evaluated. Overall, sixty-six plots were surveyed and thirteen soil parameters were analyzed in four principle habitats (house gardens, lawn lands, waste grounds and bordering desert) from inner cities toward outskirts. Generally, 138 cultivated plants, 63 weed species, 44 xerophytic plants and 4 wild shrubs and trees represented the main flora with total number of 249 plant species. The greatest diverse habitat was the lawn lands (173 species), house gardens (143 species), then bordering desert (62 species) and the waste grounds (39 species). Sixteen plant communities were recognized in the four habitats under investigation, and their controlling environmental variables were analyzed. The Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) yielded analogous pattern to that of the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA), confirming that clay, pH, organic matter, bicarbonates and calcium are highly associated with weed/cultivated plant communities in the human-disturbed habitats; whereas, pH, organic matter, potassium and chlorides are highly associated with the halo/helophytes communities in the waste grounds, and clay-sand gradient with the xerophytes communities in the bordering desert.