Біоморфологічна структура флори городищ Нижнього Придніпров’я

Aim of research – the comprehensive analysis of the complicated psamophytic complex of the national park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava”.Object of research – types of the psamophytic complex of the national park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava”.The following tasks were set for attaining this aim:– to study: the geographical structure: by zonal, regional and oceanic horologic groups;– biomorphological structure: by the big life cycle duration, by the root system type, by surface sprouts type, by vegetation type;– ecological structure: climamorphes, geliomorphes, hygromorphes, thermomorphes;– to elucidate features of the direction and anthropogenic transformation degree of the psamophytic ecocenophyton of the national natural park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava”.Methods. The material was collections of psamophytic plants of flora of the national natural park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava”, revealed at detail-route investigations. There were used cameral methods – herbaria material processing and mathematical statistics methods. To reveal ecophytons’ similar features there was realized the comparison of the taxonomic compositions of studied territories by the Stugren-Radolescu coefficient.For the detail study of features of psamophytic ecocenophyton anthropogenic transformation were used indices (parameters), offered by B. Jackowiak in 1990 that indicate the percent participation of groups by their relation to antropopression in flora or its separate elements.Results and conclusions. In the systematic spectrum the psamophytic florocomplex is characterized by the essential heterogeneity in both family and generic spectrums.In the geographical spectrum in the zonal spectrum prevails the submeridional horologic group, in the regional spectrum – ancient Mediterranean, Eurasian and circumpolar, in the oceanic spectrum – indifferent one.The feature of the psamophyton biomorphological structure is the prevalence of herbal monocarpic plants by the big life cycle duration, types with the core root system – by the root system type, semi-rosette and non-rosette – by surface sprouts type, summer green species – by vegetation type.In the psamophyton ecological structure prevailed: by climatomophes– terrophytes and hemicryprophytes, by geliomorphes – gelophytes, by hygromorphes – xeromesophytes and mesopytes, by thermomorphes – mesothermophytes.Almost all indices, except PS, CS, Pap, Fap, PapS that indicate the degree and direction of anthropogenic transformation of the psamophytic complex of studied flora are essentially lower than correspondent parameters for other psamophytic complexes and protected territories in whole. But they were higher than ones for the national natural park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava” flora in general. Apophytization prevails over anthropophytization in the process of flora synantropization.The relatively high synantropization index proves that the psamophytic complex of the national natural park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava” flora belongs to territories with the high degree of anthropogenic of flora. The high indices of anthropophytization, kenophytization and modernization, apophytization of the flora psamophytic complex comparing with other territories determines the synantropization specificity of the psamophytic complex of the national natural park “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava” flora that is in the prevalence of apophytization process over adventization

Aim Climate‐modelling exercises have demonstrated that the Cape Floristic Region is highly sensitive to climate change and will apparently lose much of its northern limits over the next few decades. Because there is little monitoring of diversity in this area, ant assemblage structure was investigated within the main vegetation types in the Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor. In particular, we sought to determine how ant assemblage structure differs between the main vegetation types, how restricted ants – and in particular the major myrmecochores – are to the major vegetation types, and which environmental variables might underlie differences in the ant assemblages and in the specificity of species to particular areas.Location Northern Cape Floristic Region, Western Cape, South Africa.Methods Sampling was undertaken during October 2002 and March 2003 across an altitudinal gradient ranging from sea level (Lambert's Bay) toc.2000 m a.s.l. (Sneeukop, Cederberg) and down again to 500 m a.s.l. (Wupperthal) in the Western Cape, South Africa. Pitfall traps were used to sample ants at 17 altitudinal bands, stretching over three vegetation types (Strandveld, Mountain Fynbos and Succulent Karoo). Biotic and abiotic environmental variables were collected at each sampling site. Generalized linear models were used to determine the relationships between species richness, density, abundance and the abundance of the major myrmecochores, and the environmental variables. Redundancy analysis was used to determine the relationship between ant assemblage structure and the environmental variables. The Indicator Value Method was used to identify characteristic ant species for each vegetation type and altitudinal site.Results Temperature explained significant proportions of the variation in species density and abundance, and, together with area and several vegetation variables, contributed significantly to the separation of the assemblages in the major vegetation types and biomes. Four major myrmecochores were identified [Anoplolepissp. (cf.custodiens),Anoplolepissp. (cf.steinergroeveri),Camponotus niveosetosus,Tetramorium quadrispinosum]. The abundances of the twoAnoplolepisspecies were related to vegetation variables, while the abundance of the other two species showed opposite relationships with temperature variables. Fourteen ant species were characteristic of certain vegetation types and altitudes. Several of these species contributed to the differences between the assemblages.Main conclusions There are likely to be substantial and complex changes to ant assemblages as climates change in the northern Cape Floristic Region. Moreover, the importance of ants for ecosystem functioning suggests that these responses are not only likely to be a response solely to vegetation changes, but might also precipitate vegetation changes. The changes that are predicted to take place in the next 50 years in the Cape Floristic Region could be substantially exacerbated by such synergistic effects, which have major implications for long‐term conservation plans. Ongoing monitoring of this transect will reveal the nature and pace of the change as it unfolds.

The main objective of this study is to detect and quantify changes in the vegetation dynamics of each vegetation type at the global scale over the last 17 years. With recent advances in remote sensing techniques, it is now possible to study the Leaf Area Index (LAI) seasonal and interannual variability at the global scale and in a consistent way over the last decades. However, the coarse spatial resolution of these satellite-derived products does not permit distinguishing vegetation types within mixed pixels. Considering only the dominant type per pixel has two main drawbacks: the LAI of the dominant vegetation type is contaminated by spurious signal from other vegetation types and at the global scale, significant areas of individual vegetation types are neglected. In this study, we first developed a Kalman Filtering (KF) approach to disaggregate the satellite-derived LAI from GEOV1 over nine main vegetation types, including grasslands and crops as well as evergreen, broadleaf and coniferous forests. The KF approach permits the separation of distinct LAI values for individual vegetation types that coexist within a pixel. The disaggregated LAI product, called LAI-MC (Multi-Cover), consists of world-wide LAI maps provided every 10 days for each vegetation type over the 1999–2015 period. A trend analysis of the original GEOV1 LAI product and of the disaggregated LAI time series was conducted using the Mann-Kendall test. Resulting trends of the GEOV1 LAI (which accounts for all vegetation types) compare well with previous regional or global studies, showing a greening over a large part of the globe. When considering each vegetation type individually, the largest global trend from LAI-MC is found for coniferous forests (0.0419 m 2 m − 2 yr − 1 ) followed by summer crops (0.0394 m 2 m − 2 yr − 1 ), while winter crops and grasslands show the smallest global trends (0.0261 m 2 m − 2 yr − 1 and 0.0279 m 2 m − 2 yr − 1 , respectively). The LAI-MC presents contrasting trends among the various vegetation types within the same pixel. For instance, coniferous and broadleaf forests experience a marked greening in the North-East of Europe while crops and grasslands show a browning. In addition, trends from LAI-MC can significantly differ (by up to 50%) from trends obtained with GEOV1 by considering only the dominant vegetation type over each pixel. These results demonstrate the usefulness of the disaggregation method compared to simple ones. LAI-MC may provide a new tool to monitor and quantify tendencies of LAI per vegetation type all over the globe.

Modern low-mountain-foothill landscapes, as a result of human economic activity, have undergone significant changes in spatial differentiation under the influence of the anthropogenic factor, which is expressed in the depletion of biological resources and the decrease in biodiversity. An analysis of the monitoring of the state of the vegetation cover of the natural environment of landscapes in the foothills of Dagestan was carried out. An up-to-date description of the selected plant communities is given, the main types of vegetation are characterized. The features of the distribution of these communities in the natural and climatic zones of the foothills of Dagestan are described, where the northern region is cooler and more humid, and the southern region is warmer and less humid. The areas of various plant groups have been established. The purpose of the study was to determine the current state of foothill Dagestan, the productivity of steppe landscapes. The predominance of desert vegetation with a certain proportion of meadow vegetation is shown in the lowland part. It is noted that desert, forest and steppe vegetation is developed in the foothills. The dynamics of the productivity of the steppe communities of the foothill zone of Dagestan during the growing season has been determined. The study of the dynamics of productivity was carried out on 5 model plots, which differed in the type of vegetation and in the degree of influence of the anthropogenic factor (grazing). The studied sites were located in Buynaksky, Magaramkentsky (Gaptsakh village), Tabasaransky district (Kar-Kar) and Kumtorkalinsky districts. The studied phytocenoses of the steppe landscapes are formed mainly by dry-steppe grass species with the participation of feather grass, forbs and ephemera, as well as by a semi-desert semi-shrub - Tauride wormwood. Thus, it was noted that wormwood-cereal and wormwood-feather grass communities in Tabasaransky (village Maraga) and Buynaksky (village Gelli) give the highest productivity. The lowest productivity was noted in the valley of the region (Kar-Kar) on meadow solonchak soil covered with wormwood-saltwort vegetation.

The geographical (in accordance to the zonal, regional and ocean chorologic groups), biomorphological (according to the duration of the great life cycle, the type of root system, the type of stalks, type of vegetation) and ecological structure (climatomorphes, heliomorphes, hydromorphes and termomorphes) of halophytic flora complexes was described, and patterns and characteristics of “Biloberezhzhya Svyatoslava” National Park halophytic complex human transformation were identified

Aims: We address the following questions: 1) Which are the main vegetation types that currently occur in the Arid Chaco? 2) Do those vegetation types differ in terms of floristic composition, endemism, chorotypes and life forms? and 3) Is there any spatial association between the vegetation types and the environmental heterogeneity of the Arid Chaco?Study area: The southwestern extreme of the Gran Chaco, in Central-Western Argentina.Methods: The survey was based on a dataset comprising 654 relevés collected according to the Braun-Blanquet method. Data were classified by the hierarchical ISOmetric feature mapping and Partition Around Medoids (ISOPAM), and ordinated through isometric feature mapping (ISOMAP). Bioclimatic and edaphic variables were related to the ISOMAP ordination.Results: We recorded 439 vascular plant species, 62 endemic at the national level and 22 endemic species restricted to the study and surrounding environments in Central-Western Argentina. A total of nine vegetation types, belonging to four major clusters, were identified. The most prominent chorotypes included species distributed in the Chaco region and in the Arid Chaco/Monte phytogeographic units. The predominant life forms were micro- and nano-phanerophytes, followed by hemicryptophytes, chamaephytes and mesophanerophytes.Conclusions: Major results highlighted that xerophytic shrublands are the most common vegetation types in this area as a result of the historical and present use, while old growth forests were constrained to areas with low anthropogenic disturbance in the last decades or to protected areas. Most vegetation types (with the exception of halophytic environments) are poorly differentiated from a floristic point of view; however, they clearly differ in physiognomy. The floristic composition of the vegetation types described revealed numerous species in common with other sectors of the Chaco of northern Argentina, Bolivia and Paraguay. Although the number of species restricted to the Arid Chaco was quite low, the most relevant chorotype included species with Western and Eastern Chaco distribution, conferring a clear Chaquenian identity to this area and discriminating it from other phytogeographic units.Taxonomic reference: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares del Cono Sur (Zuloaga et al. 2008) and its online update (http://www.darwin.edu.ar).Abbreviations: ISOMAP = isometric feature mapping; ISOPAM = isometric partitioning around medoids.

Predictors of plant diversity in a hyperarid desert wadi ecosystem

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals include soil conservation as an urgent climate action to be taken; alpine grassland soils, rich in organic matter and particularly vulnerable to climate change, require special attention. In the upper Adamé valley (Italy), the effects of soil and vegetation types and environmental parameters, on soil carbon (SOC) stock and other soil properties were evaluated. Sampling points were chosen starting from the main vegetation types (dominant species: Rhododendron ferrugineum, Nardus stricta, Festuca luedii, Adenostyles leucophylla and Salix herbacea). For each vegetation type, five plots were selected, within which three soil minipits were described and sampled by layers (0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 20–40 cm), at 75 georeferenced points. The results highlighted that: (1) Podzols and Umbrisols showed high capacity to store OC in the top 40 cm (17.3 ± 8.2 kg m−2), whereas Fluvisols and Leptosols demonstrated a low capacity (5.0 ± 3.5 kg m−2); (2) topographical factors indirectly affected the variability of the SOC stock by influencing the spatial distribution of vegetation; (3) 74% of the SOC stock was sequestered in the upper 0–20 cm layer; (4) regardless of soil type, Festuca and Salix were the vegetation types that mostly contributed to the surface SOC enrichment, followed by Rhododendron, Nardus and Adenostyles. Following climate change, a shift of the Salix and Nardus vegetation types in favour of the Rhododendron type is expected in the short to medium term. As a consequence, a possible reduction in the effectiveness of the climate regulation service provided by the soils may occur.

The seasonal changes in the distribution of Glossina morsitans morsitans Westwood (Diptera: Glossinidae) and its main host, cattle, were examined in a cultivated area of the plateau of eastern Zambia. During four consecutive years, the tsetse and cattle populations were monitored along a fly-round transect traversing the two main vegetation types in the study area. These were miombo, a one-storied open woodland with the genera Brachystegia and Julbernardia dominant, and munga, a one- or two-storied woodland where the principal tree genera were Acacia, Combretum and Terminalia. Concurrently, a capture/mark/release/recapture (CMRR) exercise was conducted along two other transects also traversing both vegetation types. The index of apparent abundance of tsetse (IAA) in miombo increased at the beginning of the rainy season (November), reached its peak at the end of the rainy season (April) and was low during the cold season (May to late August), but especially the hot dry season (September to late October). The IAA of tsetse in munga showed a pattern that was the reverse of that in miombo. The seasonal changes in the IAA of tsetse in both vegetation types were in accordance with changes in the movement patterns of tsetse between the two vegetation type as observed using CMRR. The distribution and abundance of cattle along the transect also showed a seasonal trend. This was especially so in munga, during the first three years of observations, where cattle abundance increased gradually from June onwards, reached a maximum at the end of the hot dry season (October-November) and declined steeply at the start of the rainy season (November-December). In both vegetation types, the monthly mean IAA of tsetse was positively correlated with the abundance of cattle in the previous month. It is concluded that the distribution of tsetse in cultivated area of the eastern plateau of Zambia undergoes substantial seasonal changes, which can partly be attributed to changes in the distribution of cattle. The implications of these observations for the control of tsetse are discussed.

Quercus suber, Quercus ilex and Quercus coccifera (Cork, Holm and Kermes oaks, respectively) are common evergreen oak species that coexist in the landscapes of the western part of the Mediterranean basin. Rodents are the main acorn predators and thus one of the main factors for understanding recruitment patterns in oaks. In this paper we analyse to what extent mice prefer acorns from one oak species over another in three oak species studied using acorn removal experiments and video tape recordings. Twenty labelled acorns from each of the three Quercus species (60 acorns) were placed in 40 cm×40 cm quadrats on each plot. Because selection might vary as a result of the vegetation context, we performed the trials in the five main vegetation types within the study area (four replicates in each vegetation type) in order to control for habitat influences on rodent acorn preferences (a total of 20 plots). The removal of 1,200 acorns occurred within 68 days. Mice removed 98.7% of the acorns. Q. ilex acorns were preferred over Q. suber and Q. coccifera in all vegetation types except in pine forest, where no acorn preferences were detected. Acorn removal rates differed with vegetation type, correlating positively with shrub cover. The distance at which acorns were displaced by rodents (mean =4.6 m±5.1 SD) did not differ between acorn species, but varied among vegetation types. Bigger acorns of Q. coccifera were selected only after Q. ilex and Q. suber acorns were depleted, while no size selection was detected for the latter two species. Thus, we conclude that rodents show preference for some oak acorns and that landscape context contributes significantly to rodent activities and decisions.

Plant primary production is a key factor in ecosystem dynamics. In environments with high climatic variability such as the Mediterranean region, plant primary production shows strong seasonal and inter-annual fluctuations, which both drive and interplay with herbivore grazing. Knowledge on the responses of different vegetation types to the variability in both rainfall and grazing pressure by wild and domestic ungulates is a necessary starting point for the sustainable management of these ecosystems. In this work we combine a 15 year series of remote sensing data on plant production (NDVI) with meteorological (daily precipitation data) and ungulate abundance (annual counts of four species of wild and domestic ungulates: red deer, fallow deer, cattle, and horses) in an iconic protected area (the Doñana National Park, SW Spain) to (i) estimate the impact of intra- and inter-annual variation in rainfall and herbivore pressure on primary production, for each of four main vegetation types; and (ii) evaluate the potential impact of different policy (i.e., herbivore management) strategies under expected climate change scenarios. Our results show that the production of different vegetation types differed strongly in their responses to phenology (a surrogate of the effect of climatology on vegetation development), water availability (rainfall accumulated until the phenological peak), and grazing pressure. Although the density of domestic ungulates shows a linear, negative effect on the primary production of three of the four vegetation types, differences in primary production and phenology among vegetation types increase ecosystem resilience to both climatological variability and grazing pressure. Such resilience may, however, be reduced under the conditions predicted by climate change models, if the moderate predicted reduction in rainfall levels combines with moderate to high densities of domestic ungulates, resulting in important reductions in primary production that may compromise plant regeneration, leading to irreversible degradation. New management strategies taking advantage of habitat heterogeneity and phenological alternation, more flexible stocking rates, and the redistribution of management units should be considered to mitigate these effects. The use of available remote sensing data and techniques in combination with statistical models represents a valuable tool for developing, monitoring, and refining such strategies.

Extensive studies have investigated the relationships between climate change and vegetation dynamics. However, the geographic controls on vegetation dynamics are rarely studied. In this study, the geographic controls on the trends and variation of vegetation greenness in middle and eastern Inner Mongolia, China (mid-eastern Inner Mongolia) were investigated. The SPOT VEGETATION 10-day period synthesis archive of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from 1999 to 2007 was used for this study. First, the maximum value compositing (MVC) method was applied to derive monthly maximum NDVI (MNDVI), and then yearly mean NDVI (YMNDVI) was calculated by averaging the MNDVIs. The greenness rate of change (GRC) and the coefficient of variation (CV) were used to monitor the trends and variation in YMNDVI at each raster grid for different vegetation types, which were determined from a land use dataset at a scale of 1:100,000, interpreted from Landsat TM images in 2000. The possible effects of geographic factors including elevation, slope and aspect on GRC and CV for three main vegetation types (cropland, forest and steppe) were analyzed. The results indicate that the average NDVI values during the 9-year study period for steppe, forest and cropland were 0.26, 0.41 and 0.32, respectively; while the GRC was 0.008, 0.042 and 0.033 per decade, respectively; and CVs were 10.2, 4.8 and 7.1%, respectively. Cropland and steppe shared a similar trend in NDVI variation, with both decreasing initially and then increasing over the study period. The forest YMNDVI increased throughout the study period. The GRCs of the forest also increased, although GRCs for cropland and steppe decreased with increasing elevation. The GRCs of cropland and steppe increased with increasing slope, but the forest GRCs were not as closely related to slope. All three vegetation types exhibited the same effects in that the GRC was larger on north-facing (shady) slopes than south-facing slopes due to differences in water conditions. The CVs of the three vegetation types showed different features to the GRC. The CVs for all three vegetation types were not affected by aspect. The CVs for forest and cropland showed minor effects with changes in elevation and slope, but the CV for steppe decreased with increasing slope, and increased with increasing elevations to 1,200 m, before decreasing at higher elevations. Our findings suggest that the role of geographic factors in controlling GRC should also be considered alongside climate factors.

In the rural areas of developing countries palms are major sources of many products. One of these is palm wine, which has an important role for nutrition, income and social life. In the Cote d'Ivoire (West Africa), palm wine is extracted from three different species: Borassus aethiopum Mart., Raphia hookeri Mann & Wendland and Elaeis guineensis Jacq. As the extraction methods are destructive, palm stands are locally threatened by extinction. This could have serious consequences not only for the nutritional situation of the population but also for their income. Field visits were conducted in order to assess the degree of sustainability of palm wine extraction in eight villages of Cote d'Ivoire's three major agro-ecozones. Based on the annual palm wine need for consumption and commercialisation and on the availability of palms, a sustainability index was calculated for each palm species in each village. The occurrence of palm trees depends on the vegetation type. B. aethiopum is a typical savanna tree (> 20 palms per hectare) and is almost absent in other vegetation types. In 75% of the villages the exploitation of B. aethiopum is not sustainable. The preferred vegetation type for R. hookeri is the forest along the rivers (> 33 palms per hectare) compared to the other vegetation types of the forest zone (< 5 palms per hectare). Due to the high preference for the palm wine of this species its exploitation is not sustainable in any of the selected villages. The distribution of E. guineensis depends mostly on human activities, the main vegetation types being plantations (34 palms per hectare), fallow land and cultivated fields (15 palms per hectare) and the forest along the rivers (31 palms per hectare). The exploitation of this species is in general sustainable throughout all ecozones with some rare exceptions.

The Ecuadorian Andes in northwestern South America are well known for being among the hot spots of global vascular plant diversity due to their complex topography (uplift of the mountain chain), varying climatic conditions and different vegetation types. Despite its high biodiversity level, the Ecuadorian Andes represent a most threatened and poorly studied landscape. Especially the páramo and mountain ecosystems are subject to overgrazing, burning, cultivation and deforestation caused by the expansion of human activity during the last decades. The knowledge of palaeoecology and landscape dynamics is important in order to understand past processes that played a major role in the development of the ecosystems and Ecuadorian landscapes of today. Nevertheless only a limited number of palaeoecological studies are available from the Ecuadorian Andes. This thesis presents palynological analyses carried out at three different sites in the central and southern Ecuadorian Andes region to better understand the past vegetation changes, climate and fire dynamics as well as human impact since the late Pleistocene. The analysis of the sediment core El Cristal, located on the eastern slope at the Protective Forest Corazón de Oro in southeastern Ecuador reveals changes in the vegetation distribution, climate, fire regime and human impact since late Pleistocene. During the late Pleistocene mountain forest was the main vegetation type. In particular, there is evidence of a Polylepis forest which does not occur today. Nevertheless there is also evidence of relatively high proportion of páramo, which suggest that an open mountain forest occupied the region. The presence of páramo taxa during the late Pleistocene, points to an upper forest line (UFL) at a markedly lower elevation. The transition from the late Pleistocene to the early mid-Holocene was characterized by mountain forest and a stable proportion of páramo vegetation. However, after ca. 4000 cal yr BP, the Polylepis forest decreased, probably because of an increase in fire frequency. During the mid- to late Holocene the composition of the vegetation changed. The mountain forest was less frequent and the páramo vegetation expanded. Higher proportions of Asteraceae and Muehlenbeckia/Rumex (since ca. 1380 cal yr BP) reflect landscape disturbance probably by human impact. Fires were recorded throughout the late Pleistocene but were more frequent during the wetter late Holocene, which suggests that they were of anthropogenic origin. The pollen record from Cajanuma valley, in the western slope at the Podocarpus National Park, southern Ecuador, reveals environmental changes since the late Glacial. During the late Glacial, herb páramo rich in Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Gentianaceae covered the area. The UFL occurred at a much lower elevation than today. The early to mid-Holocene is characterized by partial replacement of treeless páramo by a mountain forest (Symplocos taxa), which moves into higher elevations where it is today. During the mid- to late Holocene there is evidence of a vegetation change. The páramo re-expanded with the dominance of Poaceae and high presence of Huperzia and Cyatheaceae. During the late Holocene páramo was the main vegetation type that covered the area. Fires became frequent since the late Holocene. The Anteojos valley pollen record, which is located in the western slope at the Llanganates National Park, central Ecuadorian Andes, yields a detailed environmental reconstruction of the past ca. 4100 years. Páramo vegetation had a dominant and stable occurrence in the study area (Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Asteraceae); especially between ca. 4100 to 3100 cal yr BP. Between ca. 3100 to 2100 cal yr BP páramo decreased followed by a slight expansion of mountain forest (Moraceae/Urticaceae, Trema, Celtis and Macrocarpaea). From ca. 2100 cal yr BP to the present páramo once again became more frequent with stable occurrence of mountain forest taxa. Low frequencies of fires were evidenced throughout the record but there is evidence of a slight increase during ca. 4100 to 3100 cal yr BP.

A recent floristic and environmental survey was undertaken on the roadside verges along the main highway between El Arish and Rafah (31° 10’N, 33° 48’E and 31° 17’N, 34° 15’E) that extend for about 45 km on the northeastern Mediterranean coast of Sinai (Egypt). 63 stands were studied at 700-m intervals to represent the variation of vegetation, and to compile the floristic composition of the study area. Four main landform zones were distinguished (from the seashore inwards) and run parallel to the roadway: (A) coastal plain, (B) saline depressions, (C) sand plains and (D) sand dunes. There is a gradual increase in the total number of recorded species in the recognized landform units. Application of TWINSPAN analysis yielded 18 vegetation groups (VG) that comprised 7 main vegetation types (VT). These vegetation types were (I) Artemisia monosperma in the sand dunes, (II) Artemisia monosperma-Echinops spinosus in the sand plains, coastal plain and sand dunes, (III) Cyperus capitatus-Ammophila arenaria in the sand dunes, (IV) Ammophila arenaria-Pancratium maritimum in the coastal plain, (V) Zygophyllum album, (VI) Arthrocnemum macrostachyum and (VII) Arthrocnemum macrostachyum-Zygophyllum album in the saline depressions. Ordination techniques of Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were used to examine the relationship between the roadside vegetation and the 8 studied environmental variables: total soluble salts (TSS), pH, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), sand, fine fractions (silt and clay), distance from the seashore (DFS), landform units (LF) and altitude (Alt). Both ordination techniques indicated that soil salinity, calcareous sediments, soil texture, landform, altitude and distance from seashore were the most important factors for the distribution of the vegetation pattern along the road verges in the study area. These gradients were related closely to the first three CCA axes, and accounted for 72.4% of the species relationship among the stands. Low species richness in the vegetation types of the coastal plain and saline depressions may be related to their high soil salinity, while the high species diversity and the highest share of alien weeds of vegetation types characterized the sand dunes may be related to the high disturbance of their substrates as a result of agriculture practising, farming processes and other excessive human disturbances.