Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt
Hamad, H., Abd El_gawad, A., zaghloul, A., yassin, M. (2023). Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt. EKB Journal Management System, 2(1), 1-22. doi: 10.21608/aijes.2023.337724
Hedayat Hamad; Amer Abd El_gawad; asmaa zaghloul; Marwa yassin. "Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt". EKB Journal Management System, 2, 1, 2023, 1-22. doi: 10.21608/aijes.2023.337724
Hamad, H., Abd El_gawad, A., zaghloul, A., yassin, M. (2023). 'Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt', EKB Journal Management System, 2(1), pp. 1-22. doi: 10.21608/aijes.2023.337724
Hamad, H., Abd El_gawad, A., zaghloul, A., yassin, M. Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt. EKB Journal Management System, 2023; 2(1): 1-22. doi: 10.21608/aijes.2023.337724

Ecological studies of Helianthemum plants associated with Desert Truffles in the Mediterranean North Coastal area, Egypt

المجلة العربية الدولية للعلوم البيئية
Volume 2, Issue 1, August 2023, Page 1-22  XML PDF (939.61 K)
Document Type: نشرات عـلمية
DOI: 10.21608/aijes.2023.337724
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Authors
Hedayat Hamad1; Amer Abd El_gawad2; asmaa zaghloul email 1; Marwa yassin1
1Faculty of Science, Zagazig University
2Desert Research Center, Cairo
Abstract
Abstract:
The present study reports on the ecology of desert truffles and their host Helianthemum plants collected from the Mediterranean North Coastal area. It focused on identification of desert truffle species, determination of their geographical distribution, and description of vegetation, edaphic and geomorphological characteristics of their natural habitat. The present study evaluates the effect of environmental variables on the diversity of vegetation and ecological characteristics. Truffles and their host plants were collected from six different locations in North Coast area resulted in the identification of two species of the family Pezizaceae: Terfezia claveryi and Tirmania nivea. These hypogeous ascomycetes live in mycorrhizal association with Helianthemum aegyptiacum and Helianthemum lippii belongs to family Cistaceae. Desert truffles grow in heterogeneous soils of sandy texture, slightly alkaline (7.00 ± 8.01), slightly salinity (38.70 ± 75.70), conductivity (0.31 ± 0.47), moderately Bicarbonate contents (4.1 ± 5.3), moderately Sulphates contents (32.8 ± 59.80), moderately Chlorides contents (22.87 ± 33.00), moderately calcareous (25.30 ± 36.70%), with moderately percentage of organic matter (1.4 ± 10.3), and little contents of Magnesium, Sodium and Potassium. Desert truffle growth is strongly associated with high rainfall. The geomorphological zones which accumulate rainwater promote the growth of both truffles and its host plant.   
Keywords
Key words: Ecology; Desert truffles; Host Helianthemum plants; Mediterranean North Coastal area; Egypt
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