Will autogenic succession be sufficient to recover from vegetation cover loss or will soil condition need to be addressed in the arid lands of Kuwait?     

Meshal M. Abdullah  Rusty A. Feagin  Mansour T. Abdullah  Layla Al-Musawi 《Arabian Journal of Geosciences》2017,10(5):111

Intervention is often required for the restoration of damaged arid ecosystems, particularly when the base environmental conditions are no longer suitable for autogenic recovery. Umm Nigga, in Kuwait, was damaged by overgrazing and destructive camping. It is unclear whether its restoration will require remediation of the soil conditions, or whether autogenic succession can occur once the area is fenced and released from this pressure. Thus, in this project, we assessed the current condition of the site by collecting soil samples and vegetation assessment within each ecosystem and determined suitable locations for the re-vegetation of native seeds and seedlings using geographical information system. Our results showed that the vegetation in the coastal portions of the ecosystem was not damaged. However, in the desert ecosystem locations, vegetation cover was very low and composed of very few species in the damaged areas but still, most soil nutrients were in supply similar to that in the control areas. We conclude that soil remediation and re-vegetation are, likely, not necessary to restore the damaged sites in any of these ecosystems. Rather, fencing alone will probably release the ecosystem. With these sites as a model, a conceptual framework is presented for arid ecosystem assessment and restoration planning.  相似文献   

Distribution of hydrocarbons in the oyster,Pinctada margaratifera,along the coast of Kuwait     

Victor C Anderlini  Layla Al-Harmi  Brock W De Lappe  Robert W Risebrough  Wayman Walker  Bernd R.T Simoneit  Amos S Newton 《Marine pollution bulletin》1981,12(2):57-62

Concentrations of total hydrocarbons within the boiling point range of the alkanes n-C₁₄ and n-C₃₂ were determined in oysters, Pinctada margaratifera, from coastal waters of Kuwait. Levels of petroleum-derived hydrocarbons were highest in an area adjacent to the major oil loading facilities. Whether the use of dispersants to treat minor spills increases levels of incorporation of petroleum compounds into the food webs could not be concluded from the data of this study. Levels of total petroleum-type hydrocarbons in the oysters at this site were equivalent to those in mussels, Mytilus sp., from harbours, bays and urban coastal areas of California. The Kuwaiti oysters lacked a C₂₈ pentacyclic triterpane that was present in extracts of mussels from southern California that had been recently exposed to a minor spill or to a natural seepage. Levels of DDE and PCB were comparable to those in relatively unpolluted areas of North America.  相似文献