Rangeland survey in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Rangeland resource can be documented and evaluated through monitoring and inventory. An inventory is a comprehensive baseline survey of all parts of a management unit. This paper focuses on Saudi Arabia rangelands inventory. Vegetation in northern part of Saudi Arabia was studied on eight hundred fifty nine sites. The Dibdibah area is given here as an example. Sites were selected from satellite images stratified to accommodate heterogeneity of small microhabitats. In each site, species were listed and vegetation cover, composition and density were estimated using three 60-meters transects laid across gradient randomly. Twenty two plant species were recorded. The dominant species in the Dibdibah were annual plants, Stipa capensis and Plantago spp. Perennial vegetation recorded in small none representative sites were Haplophyllum tuberculatum, Fagonia bruguieri, Ziziphus nummularia, Achillea fragrantissima, Astragalus spinosus, Haloxylon salicornicum, and Stipagrostis plumusa. Ziziphus nummularia, Achillea fragrantissima with a narrow ecological amplitude and only characteristic of specialized habitats.