Limitation and Characterization of Herbal Vegetation in Akkar Plain in Tartous

Abstract

This research was conducted in the Syrian part of Akkar plain of Tartus province during 2018 AD, with the aim of accounting for and characterizing the grassy vegetation. Only two sites were reserved for the necessary measurements due to the great similarity in the apparent specifications of vegetation. The Parker method was used to estimate plant coverage, the squares method to estimate plant density and frequency, after which relative importance was calculated. Thirty-one plant species are found in the study area, belonging to twenty-six species, and spread in eight family. The bean family, Fabaceae, came in first place in terms of the number of plant species

included in the composition of the region’s vegetation, represented by twelve species, followed by the Asteraceae family, represented by seven plant species, then the Brassicaceae family, represented by four plant species, and the Poaceae family, represented by three plant species. The results showed that the average vegetation coverage in the study area was 99.5%, with three species: Silybum marianum Gae, Trifolium hybridum L., and Bromus tectorum L., contributing the largest percentage of vegetation coverage in the study area, reaching 75.41%. The average plant density value was 66 plant/m². It was noted that the highest plant density values were for only two plant species, Trifolium hybridum L. (17 plant/m²) and Bromus tectorum L. (16 plant/m²), which contributed about 50% of the plant density in the study area. The homogeneous spread in the study area was observed for three plant species: Silybum marianum Gae, Bromus tectorum L., and Trifolium hybridum L., where the average specific frequency of these species combined was (92%), represented about (57%) of the region's relative importance. It can therefore be said that the characterization of (57%) of the study area is limited to knowledge of the life and forage characteristics of these three species.