TY - JOUR
T1 - Floral diversity in desert ecosystems
T2 - Comparing field sampling to image analyses in assessing species cover
AU - Ksiksi, Taoufik S.
AU - El-Keblawy, Ali A.
N1 - Funding Information:
The investigators would like to express their sincere appreciation to the United Arab Emirates University for the financial support of this project (Grant No. 01–05-2–12/03). The authors would also like to express their gratitude to the DDCR, especially Hosam El-Algamy and Greg Simkins. Mr Ahmed Ramy was crucial to the proper running of this component of the project. The Biology Department and the Faculty of Science at UAEU are indebted for their support in creating an environment that encourages research. Extended thanks are to all colleagues who helped in conducting this project. Parts of the results discussed above were submitted to the Annual Conference for Research Funded by UAE University and the International Conference on Geographic Information Systems (Paris: 24–26 June 2009).
PY - 2013/6/10
Y1 - 2013/6/10
N2 - Background: Developing a quick and reliable technique to estimate floral cover in deserts will assist in monitoring and management. The present attempt was to estimate plant cover in the UAE desert using both digital photography and field sampling. Digital photographs were correlated with field data to estimate floral cover in moderately (Al-Maha) and heavily (DDCR) grazed areas. The Kruskal-Wallis test was also used to assess compatibility between the two techniques within and across grazing intensities and soil substrates.Results: Results showed that photographs could be a reliable technique within the sand dune substrate under moderate grazing (r = 0.69). The results were very poorly correlated (r =-0.24) or even inversely proportional (r =-0.48) when performed within DDCR. Overall, Chi-square values for Al-Maha and DDCR were not significant at P > 0.05, indicating similarities between the two methods. At the soil type level, the Kruskal-Wallis analysis was not significant (P > 0.05), except for gravel plains (P < 0.05). Across grazing intensities and soil substrates, the two techniques were in agreement in ranking most plant species, except for Lycium shawii.Conclusions: Consequently, the present study has proven that digital photography could not be used reliably to asses floral cover, while further testing is required to support such claim. An image-based sampling approach of plant cover at the species level, across different grazing and substrate variations in desert ecosystems, has its uses, but results are to be cautiously interpreted.
AB - Background: Developing a quick and reliable technique to estimate floral cover in deserts will assist in monitoring and management. The present attempt was to estimate plant cover in the UAE desert using both digital photography and field sampling. Digital photographs were correlated with field data to estimate floral cover in moderately (Al-Maha) and heavily (DDCR) grazed areas. The Kruskal-Wallis test was also used to assess compatibility between the two techniques within and across grazing intensities and soil substrates.Results: Results showed that photographs could be a reliable technique within the sand dune substrate under moderate grazing (r = 0.69). The results were very poorly correlated (r =-0.24) or even inversely proportional (r =-0.48) when performed within DDCR. Overall, Chi-square values for Al-Maha and DDCR were not significant at P > 0.05, indicating similarities between the two methods. At the soil type level, the Kruskal-Wallis analysis was not significant (P > 0.05), except for gravel plains (P < 0.05). Across grazing intensities and soil substrates, the two techniques were in agreement in ranking most plant species, except for Lycium shawii.Conclusions: Consequently, the present study has proven that digital photography could not be used reliably to asses floral cover, while further testing is required to support such claim. An image-based sampling approach of plant cover at the species level, across different grazing and substrate variations in desert ecosystems, has its uses, but results are to be cautiously interpreted.
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U2 - 10.1186/1472-6785-13-22
DO - 10.1186/1472-6785-13-22
M3 - Article
C2 - 23758667
AN - SCOPUS:84878680712
SN - 1472-6785
VL - 13
JO - BMC Ecology
JF - BMC Ecology
M1 - 22
ER -