Lebensformen und Florenelemente im Nordafrikanischen Trockenraum

Abstract

It is attempted to determine in detail the boundaries between the extratropical flora (holarctis), the saharo-arabian flora and the tropical flora (palaeotropis) in arid northern Africa on the basis of life forms. The analysis is based on 1258 species selected by a frequency distribution (Fig. 2). The species are classified into 12 groups of different life forms and floristic elements; phanerophytes (Ph), chamaephytes (Ch), hemicryptophytes (H) and therophytes (Th), as well as a tropical fkoristic element (P), a saharo-arabian (S) and an extratropical one (H). Thus, floristic boundaries of the tropics and the extratropical regions could be differentiated for the four life forms concerned (Fig. 4). The eight boundaries separate zones dominated by different floristic elements of any life form. Fig. 4 shows that, e.g., the floristic boundary of tropical phanerophytes runs much further north than equivalent boundaries of other life forms. A more detailed interpretation of fig. 4 is given for the east and west coast and for the Nile valley. The differences between the east and the west coast are explained by different temperature conditions (cold ocean current). For the Nile valley it could be shown that the taller the life forms of tropical species, the further north their numbers are still dominant over the equivalent extratropical life forms. Zonal life form spectra (Fig. 5) are presented for each floristic element. Therophytes and chamaephytes are the dominant life forms in the Sahara. Therophytes dominate on shallow gravelly soils over solid rock, whereas chamaephytes dominate where their roots can penetrate into deeper layers. Some relations between life forms or floristic elements and elimate are shown using correlation analysis. In this connection the physiology of summer and winter therophytes is briefly discussed.