Ecology of Invasive Species in Saudi Arabia, <i>Calotropis procera</i> (Ait) W.T. Ait.: Floristic Composition and Associated Plant Communities

Yassin Mohamed Al-Sodany; Nawar Sunaydih Al-Juaid; Anwar Abdel-Karim Kahil

doi:10.11648/j.ijee.20160103.20

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Ecology of Invasive Species in Saudi Arabia, Calotropis procera (Ait) W.T. Ait.: Floristic Composition and Associated Plant Communities

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International Journal of Ecotoxicology and Ecobiology
Volume 1, Issue 3, December 2016, Pages: 127-140
Received: Oct. 20, 2016; Accepted: Nov. 29, 2016; Published: Dec. 27, 2016

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Authors

Yassin Mohamed Al-Sodany, Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, KSA; Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Kafr El-Sheikh University, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt

Nawar Sunaydih Al-Juaid, Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, KSA

Anwar Abdel-Karim Kahil, Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taif University, Taif, KSA; Legums Research Department, Field Crops Research Institute, ARC, Giza, Egypt

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Abstract

The present study aims at evaluating the state of Calotropis procera to adapt different environmental conditions; surveying the associated wild plants and recognizing the plant communities which are associated with it. Seventy five stands were selected along Taif region and its adjacent area to represent the environmental variations that are associated with the distribution of Calotropis procera. The abundance of species, life forms, chorotype and economic uses were determined. Two trends of multivariate analysis were applied: classification (TWINSPAN) and ordination (DECORANA). The total number of recorded species associated with Calotropis procera in the study area is 55 species belonging to 48 genera and 27 families. 74.5% of the recoded species are perennials and 25.5% are annuals. The families Fabaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae have the highest contributions followed by Asteraceae and Zugophyllaceae. Chamaephytes life form had the highest contribution followed by therophytes, phanerophytes and gephytes, while hemicryptophytes were the lowest. The economic uses of the recorded species could be arranged descendingly as follows: grazing → medicinal→ fuel → other uses→human food. The mono-regionals species were the highest followed by pluri-regional species, while the bi-regional and cosmopolitans were the lowest. Ten of the mono-regional species are Sudano-Zambezian species and 6 species are belonging to Saharo-Arabian and Mediterranean regions. The application of TWINSPAN on the cover estimates of 55 species recorded in 75 stands led to the recognition of 7 vegetation groups (A: Themeda triandra, B: Cynodon dactylon, C: Commicarpus ambiguus, D: Amaranthus viridis, E: Acacia tortilis, F: Argemone ochraleuca and G: Verbesina encelioides groups).

Keywords

Calotropis procera, Saudi Arabia, Invasive, Multivariate Analysis, Medicinal Plants

To cite this article

Yassin Mohamed Al-Sodany, Nawar Sunaydih Al-Juaid, Anwar Abdel-Karim Kahil, Ecology of Invasive Species in Saudi Arabia, Calotropis procera (Ait) W.T. Ait.: Floristic Composition and Associated Plant Communities, International Journal of Ecotoxicology and Ecobiology. Vol. 1, No. 3, 2016, pp. 127-140. doi: 10.11648/j.ijee.20160103.20

Copyright © 2016 Authors retain the copyright of this article.
This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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