روضة الشمس في محافظة مرات بوسط المملكة العربية السعودية: دراسة في جغرافية النبات

Abstract EN

Rawdht Ash Shams is one of the most famous rawdhats in the central Saudi Arabia, It is extends between latitudes 24 °51 '29 "– 24 °51 '43 "N and longitudes 45 °39 '31 "–45 °39 '49 "E, and located in Marrat governorate of Riyadh region.

It is characterized by a lack of biodiversity due to its small size, which does not exceed 176983 m2, as well as the homogeneity of its habitat such as landform, soil, and climate.

In order to achieve objectives of the research, which seeks to determine the structure of vegetation in the Rawdht, and the most important plant communities prevailing, and the role of human activities in the degradation, study was based on the descriptive and analytical approach, it was chosen as six separate locations inside the Rawdht for a plant of quantitative and qualitative measurements using squares method (square area 900 m2) and collect soil samples and analyzed in the laboratory, were also used satellite imagery of Rawdah which were processed vie Erdas and Arc GIS software, to extract (NDVI) index.

The fieldwork results revealed that the wild plants in Rawdht Ash Shams amounts to 21 families, 43 geniuses and 50 species, of which are 28 annual species, and 22 perennials.

field measurements also showed Two plant communities in Rawdht Ash Shams, which are Lycium shawii, as well as Acacia ehrenbergiana, and Acacia raddiana.

Generally, vegetation cover is concentrated in the western part of Rawdht Ash Shams, this is because the land surface in the western part is relatively low, so that it collects water flowing from the eastern part.

this research shows that, Rawdht Ash Shams is highly degraded, due to human activities, such as overgrazing, plants cutting, and off-road vehicles driving.

Hiking and camping in Rawdht Ash Shams led to the contamination of its land surface as well as its soil by solid waste, because it is not fenced, and protected like other rawdhats of central Saudi Arabia.