Morphology of protected and non-protected Nitraria retusa coastal nabkha in Kuwait, Arabian Gulf: A comparative study

Abstract Nitraria retusa nabkhas occupy a stretch within the old playa and supratidal sabkha flat along the northern coast of Kuwait Bay. These nabkhas were developed as a result of entrapment of wind transported sediments by N. retusa shrubs that were flourished within this particular stretch. A part of this stretch was protected within a National Reserve that was established in 1990, while the rest are left non-protected. This study aimed at the assessment and comparison of the population density, morphometric parameters and granulometric characteristics of these nabkhas in protected and non-protected areas. Several nabkha fields were selected within both protected and non-protected areas. Nabkha's population density and shrub canopy coverage area were measured using satellite imageries. Morphometric parameters were measured in the field and sediment samples were collected for grain size analysis. Collected data were statistically analyzed. It was concluded that protected nabkhas are well developed while the non-protected nabkhas are severely degraded. Nabkhas in protected area are generally large, display a domal shape, densely populated with a large shrub canopy, while those in the non-protected area are relatively small, elongated, and scattered with a degraded shrub canopy. Degradation of non-protected nabkhas is attributed to drastic reduction of nabkha's shrub canopies which increase proneness of nabkha sediments to wind erosion. The coexistence of sever irrational anthropogenic activities, mainly overgrazing, and harsh climatic conditions, particularly prevailing drought during the last two decades is responsible for such degradation. It is recommended that the present Nature Reserve should be extended to cover the remaining nabkhas in the open area to avoid extinction of N. retusa shrubs in this sensitive coastal ecosystem.