The study aimed to provide a baseline inventory of the vegetation of the King Abdulaziz Royal Nature Reserve (KARNR), which covers an area of approximately 28,000 km 2 . The identification, mapping, and description of vegetation units across the landscape are crucial to develop scientifically based, ecological management plans and implementing effective conservation strategies. In total, 282 sample plots were surveyed in the dry season. The floristic data were classified into 19 communities with the classification informed by Ward’s cluster analysis and Principal Coordinates Analysis ordinations. Sentinel satellite imagery and digital elevation models were used for habitat mapping. Mean species richness, exponent of Shannon-Wiener, and inverse Simpson’s diversity indices were calculated per community. Life forms and chorological spectra were also compiled for each community. A total of 172 plant taxa were recorded across 37 families and 126 genera, with the Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae , and Amaranthaceae being the most species-rich families, which collectively comprised 46% of all taxa recorded. Structurally, most communities were dominated by the dwarf shrub layer, although the tree layer was prominent in the wadis. The vegetation on the mobile dunes was dominated by the graminoid layer. Diversity parameters showed an approximately ten-fold range across communities, from the lowest diversity on gravel and rocky plains to the highest diversity on escarpments and rocky ridges with their associated wadis . As is commonly found in arid regions, therophytes and chamaephytes were the dominant life forms. The drought-evading therophytes show a high degree of plasticity in size and phenology, whereas the drought-tolerant chamaephytes may exhibit morphological and physiological adaptations to drought. The chorological spectra of all communities were dominated by Saharo-Arabian species. Comparing the communities occurring predominantly in the northern section of KARNR with the predominantly southern communities revealed that the northern communities had a higher percentage of Saharo-Arabian species but a lower percentage of Sudanian species than the southern communities. Currently, the vegetation across large parts of the reserve is degraded due to past heavy grazing. It is recommended that reference sites be identified to monitor vegetation recovery after introducing controlled grazing and reducing livestock numbers.
Rooyen et al. (Tue,) studied this question.
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