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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Modi M. Ahmed
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DOI:10.17265/ 2161-6256/2023.01.003
Environmental and Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Kuwait P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait
In Kuwait, the scarcity and irregularity of rainfall, the availability of areas of sand supply and the prevalence of strong north westerly winds significantly influence the stability of the fragile ecosystem. Naturally, grown native shrubs and trees can provide potential shelter to soil surface in desert areas. To study the environmental indicators provided by native plant and their ability to improve quality of life, the morphological properties of the vegetated nabkhas within different areas in Kuwait desert and within protected area were assessed. The vegetated dunes can trap maximum mobile sediments from 10.5 to 0.45 ton thus cost saving per plant estimated to be from 5.5 to 0.24 USD. The arrangements of the native plant from highest efficiency in absorbing carbon dioxides to the least were as follows: Nitraria retusa, Haloxylon salicornicum, Citrullus colocynthis, Tamarix aucheriana, Lycium shawii, Convolvolus oxyphyllus, Rhanterium epapposum, Panicum turgidum, Calligonum polygonoides, Astragalus spinosus, Cyperus conglomerates. The cost saving of CO2 per year estimated to be from 0.95 to 1,542.1 USD. The revegetation enhanced physical and chemical quality of soil and created microenvironments for the flora and fauna. The aim of this paper is to identify the environmental indicators related to native plants for the assessment of quality of life.
Revegetation, rehabilitation, nabkhas, perennial plants, restoration.
Ahmed, M. M., 2023 "Environmental Indicators Related to Native Plants to Assess the Quality of Life in the Degraded Desert Area." Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology A 13 (2023): 40-47.
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