Using satellite imagery and field analyses for mapping plant communities in a desert rangeland, Egypt
Paper Details
Using satellite imagery and field analyses for mapping plant communities in a desert rangeland, Egypt
Abstract
Desert rangelands in Egypt like in many countries are being stressed as results of overgrazing due to animal numbers expand to meet the growing human population on a shrinking resource base. The primary objectives of this study were to use vegetation field survey and satellite imagery to identify and map plant communities in the studies areas at the North Western Coast of Egypt, and to study the effect of the different altitude levels on rangeland vegetation composition and attributes. Details botanical survey was conducted at two study areas at the North Western Coast in spring of 2014. Information from these survey included identifying the dominant plant community, the primary native plant species, plant composition, plant cover, and other vegetation measurements. Landsat 8 satellite image was analyzed and NDVI was calculated for the study areas and used as a base map in combination with the field data for the classification vegetation maps in the area. Results indicated that In West Matrouh study area, NDVI values ranged from -0.73 to 0.417 and in East Sidi Barani study area, NDVI values ranged from 0.075 to 0.382. Six plant community were identified in the study areas i.e. one plant community was dominant in each altitude level. In general, average plant density was significantly higher in East Sidi Barani study area compared with West Matrouh study area. There were also significant differences in the average plant cover percentage among the first and the third altitude level at both of the study areas.
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Ahmed H Mohamed, Mohamed A. El Shesheny (2019), Using satellite imagery and field analyses for mapping plant communities in a desert rangeland, Egypt; JBES, V14, N6, June, P309-319
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