Volume 3, January 2015, Pages 433–447
Open Access
Original research article
Goods and services provided by native plants in desert ecosystems: Examples from the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt
- Under a Creative Commons license
Abstract
About
one third of the earth’s land surface is covered by deserts that have
low and variable rainfall, nutrient-poor soils, and little vegetation
cover. Here, we focus on the goods and services offered by desert
ecosystems using the northwestern coastal desert of Egypt extending from
Burg El-Arab to El-Salloum as an example. We conducted field surveys
and collected other data to identify the goods services and provided by
native plant species. A total of 322 native plant species were compiled.
The direct services provided by these native plants included sources of
food, medicine, and energy; indirect vegetation services included
promotion of biodiversity, water storage, and soil fertility. The plant
diversity in this ecosystem provided economic service benefits, such as
sources of fodder, fuel-wood, and traditional medicinal plants. Changes
in land use and recent ill-managed human activities may influence the
availability of these services and strongly impact biodiversity and
habitat availability. Although deserts are fragile and support low
levels of productivity, they provide a variety of goods and services
whose continuing availability is contingent upon the adoption of
rational land management practices.
Keywords
- Deserts;
- Ecological services;
- Medicinal plant;
- Egypt
