ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to characterize the ecological features of the vegetation along the international coastal road from El-Ajami to Ras El-Hekma, West Alexandria, Egypt. The cluster analysis of 60 stands was performed using the Community Analysis Package program and Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) was used to identify the ecological relationships between the vegetation and the environment along the roadside. The total number of the recorded plant species surveyed in the present study was 84 species belonging to 74 genera and related to 25 families. Asteraceae, Poaceae, Fabaceae, and Chenopodiaceae were the largest families (53.57% of the total species, collectively). Therophytes is the most abundant life forms. Mediterranean chorotype (58.32%) was the most represented. On the basis of the presence values, cluster analysis yielded four vegetation groups. Group A was dominated by Carthamus tenuis, group B by Lactuca serriola, group C by Bromus diandrus and group D by Suaeda pruinosa. The application of CCA showed that the percentages of porosity, organic carbon, CaCO3, Cl-, SO4--, HCO3 and cations are the most effective soil variables. Generally, the coastal sector in Egypt suffers from unplanned development and salinization of the soil, so the development of the highway needs a balance between conservation and development.
ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to assess the selected trace metal pollutants in the sediments of the Moloundou swamp. Sediments from typical swamp around Moloundou area, southeast Cameroon were collected from various depths of sediment profile (from surface to 120 cm depth). Five sites were chosen for this study, Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, Zn, Cu, and Pb were measured in the sediment. Different trace metals indices (enrichment factor, contamination factor, degree of contamination, ecological risk assessment and geo-accumulation index) were calculated. The results showed that all the swamp is slightly polluted and core 3 is the most polluted. Heavy metal indices give some indication for the pollution of sediments of all cores with Cu. The enrichment factor showed that the source of those metals in Moloundou swamp was from natural (Fe, Ni, Zn and Pb) and anthropogenic sources (Cu, Cr and Co). The degree of contamination and contamination factor showed low values along the cores, like the ecological assessment and pollution load index. The geo-accumulation index showed that sediments are more polluted with Cu, Cr and Co. It is urgent to control anthropogenic waste in order to avoid probable pollution in this zone.