Articles

Al-Dawaimah is an ancient Canaanite Palestinian village, occupied in 1948 by Israel, and belongs to inframediterranean to thermomediterranean thermotype and arid, semi-arid, and dry ombrotype. The study presents, a region rich in many plant vascular, and it is part of the Palestinian coast, North Africa, the Negev and the Sinai desert, in addition to the mountainous hills of Palestine located west of the Hebron, Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The objective is to identify and update the flora and vegetation in the area of Al-Dawaimah and its neighboring areas in west Hebron of Palestine. Methodology: More than 270 plant specimens have been taken from Al-Dawaimah and surroundings areas, using Braun-Blanquet, Van der Maarel and Salvador River Martinez methods to study the flora, and phytosociological plants, and 214 x 10 plants plots distributed in area were studied. Result and discussion: Three different plant communities were identified, in different environments between arid, dry- subhumid ombrotype and infra-thermomediterranean thermotype, and different soils as (carbon substrates as brown ruinsenas and terra rossa lands, limestone and others), where more than 214 species of plants have been found, of which 45 (20.02%) are endemic species, and in Raunkiaer's life system, trees represent were, (86; 40.18% trees), (34; 15.88% shrubs), (51; 23.83% chamaephytes), (10; 4.67% geophytes), (16; 7.47% phanerophytes), and (12; 6.54% hemicryptophytes). Conclusion: In Al-Dawaimah area<b>,</b> syntaxonomical performance of these associations are: <i>Quercetalia ilicis</i> Br.-Bl. ex Molinier 1934. <i>Rhamno lycioidis-Quercion cocciferae</i> Rivas Goday ex Rivas-Martinez 1975. 1. <i>Rhamnus palaestinae- Quercetum calliprini</i> ass. nova., <i>Pistacio</i> <i>lentisci -Rhamnetalia alaterni</i> Rivas-Martínez 1975. 2. <i>Ceratonio siliquae -Pistacetum lentisci</i> ass. nova., <i>Junipero</i> <i>phoeniceae- Pinon acutisquamae</i> A.V. Pérez et Cabezudo in A.V. Pérez et al. 1988 corr. Rivas-Martinez. et al. 2002. <i>Pinetalia halepensis</i> Biondi et al. 2014. 3. <i>Junipero phoeniceae- Pinetum halepensis</i> ass. nova.

The reduction of the native forests coverage in mainland Portugal increased in the past centuries, leading to a marked decrease in biodiversity in general, especially on typical species of mature forest environments. However, urban biodiversity seems to resist more effectively than rural to disturbances due to the lower incidence of fires, as well as to agriculture expansion. Thus, in this work, we analyzed the dynamics of the natural vegetation potential in each biogeographic sector, and selected, based on the evolutionary stages of the vegetation, a set of priority taxa for conservation. The criteria used are intended to highlight plants with ornamental value, but at the same time, some of them have high patrimonial value, belonging to the Red List of Vascular Flora of Mainland Portugal or protected by Annexes II, IV and V of the Sectorial Plan of the Natura 2000 Network at the European level. Our analysis resulted in the identification of 62 plants that can be increased in public spaces in order to improve their conservation status. For each biogeographic sector, the plants best adapted to the local edaphoclimatic conditions are presented. Forest habitats can now, through micro-reserves in urban areas, ensure their long-term conservation and greater awareness among the population. An integrated planning, where the socio-ecological strategy is designed for the long term, will benefit the quality of life of citizens in an urban environment. Furthermore, the creation of micro-reserves in urban parks (gardens) can prevent the extinction of many botanical values in the landscapes of the western Mediterranean Basin.

The present study aimed to verify the floristic composition in two distinct areas: reforestation with Eucalyptus and degraded area subjected to fire. Plots of 0.5 m x 0.5 m were demarcated, distributed in transect in the two analyzed areas, were carried out. The analyzed aspects were the following: plant species variability, fresh mass, dry mass and litter. The results showed that the cultivation with eucalyptus was the one with the highest amount of plant species, reaching the number of 17 species, while in the degraded area 11 different species were found. In terms of fresh and dry mass, there was no observed difference between areas. In relation to litter, the cultivation with eucalyptus had the highest weight. It is concluded that the cultivation with eucalyptus showed the highest number of plant species and amount of litter; as for the fresh and dry mass, there were an equivalence in the results of the two areas.