Population status, habitat preferences and predictive current and future distributions of three endangered species under changing climate.

One of the most crucial steps in the practical conservation of endangered endemic mountain plants is to address their population size status and habitat requirements concurrently with understanding their response to future global warming. Three endangered species- Boiss., Boiss.

Clay and climatic variability explain the global potential distribution of Juniperus phoenicea toward restoration planning.

Juniperus phoenicea is a medicinal conifer tree species distributed mainly in the Mediterranean region, and it is IUCN Red Listed species, locally threatened due to arid conditions and seed over-collection for medicinal purposes, particularly in the East-Mediterranean region. Several studies have addressed the potential distribution of J. phoenicea using bioclimatic and topographic variables at a local or global scale, but little is known about the role of soil and human influences as potential drivers.

Trait-Environment Relationships Reveal the Success of Alien Plants Invasiveness in an Urbanized Landscape.

Urban areas are being affected by rapidly increasing human-made pressures that can strongly homogenize biodiversity, reduce habitat heterogeneity, and facilitate the invasion of alien species. One of the key concerns in invaded urban areas is comparing the trait-environment relationships between alien and native species, to determine the underlying causes of invasiveness. In the current study, we used a trait-environment dataset of 130 native plants and 33 alien plants, recorded in 100 plots covering 50 urban areas and 50 non-urban ones in an urbanization gradient in the arid mountainous Saint-Katherine protected area in Egypt.

Phytoremediation Perspectives of Seven Aquatic Macrophytes for Removal of Heavy Metals from Polluted Drains in the Nile Delta of Egypt.

The current study addressed the heavy metals accumulation potentials of seven perennial aquatic macrophytes (, , , , , and ) and the pollution status of three drains (Amar, El-Westany and Omar-Beck) in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Nine sites at each drain were sampled for sediment and plant analyses. Concentrations of eight metals (Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Co, Cd, Ni, and Pb) were determined in the sediment and the aboveground and belowground tissues of the selected macrophytes.

Contrasting alien effects on native diversity along biotic and abiotic gradients in an arid protected area.

Alien impact on native diversity could be a function of both the relatedness of alien species to native community and resources availability. Here, we investigated whether alien plants expand or decrease the functional and phylogenetic space of native plant communities, and how this is affected by alien relatedness to natives and by resources availability. We used a trait-environment dataset of 33 alien and 130 native plants in 83 pairs of invaded and non-invaded plots, covering a gradient of soil resources (organic matter-nitrogen) in Saint-Katherine-Protectorate, Egypt.