Floristic Diversity of Karak Province and a New Record of Consolida Hispanica to Jordan Flora
Abstract
This study aimed to investigate the floristic composition of Karak province, Jordan and analyze it according to life forms and chorology. This study survey the floristic diversity, life form patterns, and chorological affinities of Karak province located in the southwest part of Jordan. A total area of 2932.7 km2 was studied using the circular grids sampling method. Each selected grid has been used for sampling using the routing and the line-transect methods. The final floristic list includes 387 species of 235 genera and 46 families. Largest families containing the greatest number of species are Compositae (18.6%), Leguminosae (9.0%), Gramineae (8.8%), Labiatae (8.5%), Cruciferae (6.5%), Caryophyllacea (4.9%), Umbelliferae (4.7%), and Boraginaceae (4.1%), followed by Chenopodiaceaee and Liliaceae (3.6%). These ten families represent 72.4% of the total families recognized in the study area, while twelve families represented the least frequent families since each one represented just only one species. Therophyte plants were the most diverse life form and accounted for about half of the recorded species (51.3%), hemicryptophytes (22.4%), chamaephyte (14.4%), and Geophytes (8.8), and the least diverse life form class was the phanerophyte shrub and tree (1.5% and 1.3%, respectively). Moreover, parasite life-form is represented only by one species; Cynomorium coccineum. Chorological characteristics of the recorded flora show that Mediterranean and Irano- Turanian elements constitute (67.5%) of the total flora. A Consolida hispanica specimen was collected and recorded for the first time to the Jordan flora during the work. This research shows that the area has high plant species diversity even with low rainfall and the dramatic expansion of urbanization and cultivation over natural habitat. Based on the obtained results, spending the farthest efforts to conserve such vegetation cover is quite recommended. In addition, we recommended further work on the unexplored area of the Karak province, especially Wadi Al-Mujib.
Keywords: Karak, life form, summer shedding, chorology, bioclimate.
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