Wild Plant Species in Egyptian Gardens of the Nile Region: Conservation Viewpoint

Abstract

The present study aims to evaluate the role of Egyptian gardens in the Nile Region for wild plant conservation, focusing on threatened species. For this evaluation an outline of their life forms, geographical distributions, economic uses, environmental benefits, conservation categories, and local threats in their natural habitats is given. One hundred and ninety-four trips were conducted to cover 183 gardens in the study area (summer 2012 to winter 2018). Ninety-six species were recorded, they belonged to 76 genera and 43 families. Fabaceae was the most recorded families and Acacia was the most represented genus. Phanerophytes was the most represented life form (39.6%). Nile region was the most represented (75 species, 78.1 %) (out of them 20 species were restricted to it). Beside, 21 species were conserved in gardens from other phytogeographic regions as Sinai, Mediterranean, Gebal Elba and Deserts. Medicinal plants (58 species) were the most represented economic uses, while nitrogen fixers (37.9 %) were the most represented environmental benefits. Eighty- seven species suffer from at least one threat at their natural habitats, over-collecting species (70.1 %) were the most represented threats. The recorded species classified into 73 native and 23 aliens. Seven species were IUCN threatened species (5 least concerned, 1 endangered and 1 vulnerable). Our results show an unlimited role of botanic and public gardens in the Egyptian Nile Region; for plant diversity conservation, as they not only help conserve the threatened species in the study area but also help conserve wild plant species from other geographic regions.