Pflanzengeographische Zonen in der Marmarika (Nordwest-Ägypten)

Summary In the course of vegetation surveys in the Marmarica (NW-Egypt), between the Mediterranean coast near Mersa Matruh and the Qattara-Depression, numerous lists of plant species were compiled. The phytogeographical evaluation of these species lists made it evident that the Saharo-Arabian element is dominant in the whole area under investigation, and that the domination nearly equally extends over several different life-forms. In the coastal area both the Mediterranean and the steppic element of Irano-Turanian origin contribute in rather high proportion to the total number of species, the former decreasing rapidly with increasing distance from the sea. Both elements consist mainly of Therophytes, but they never dominate the physiognomy of the landscape. The Sudanian element, only scarcely represented on the Libyan Plateau, shows a remarkable occurence at the margins of the Qattara-Depression, esp. near the Qara oasis. The various existing maps of phytogeographical regions within NW-Egypt (Fig. 2) are discussed; a new regional classification is proposed for the area investigated.