This research was conducted in the Syrian part of the Akkar Plain of Tartous Governorate during the year 2018 AD, with the aim of estimating the forage productivity and pastoral capacity in the region. As a result of reconnaissance tours in the study area and considerable similarity in the apparent specifications of vegetation, only two sites were reserved for the necessary measurements. Parker's method was used to estimate plant coverage, the squares method to estimate plant density and frequency, after which relative importance was calculated. Also using the squares method, both forage productivity and pastoral capacity of the studied area were identified. Thirty-one species in the region in both locations, belonging to twenty-six genres, are distributed in eight families. Fabaceae family ranked first in the number of species in the vegetation composition represented by twelve species, followed by Asteraceae family, represented by seven species, hence Brassicaceae and Poaceae family represented by four and three species respectively. It should be noted that in conducting tours of the plain to determine the study area, dispersed individuals belonging to Poaceae family such as Cynodon dactylon and Poa annua were observed but did not appear during the measurements. The results showed that the average vegetation coverage in the study area was 99.5%, and that the number of plant species involved in the composition of the area's vegetation was fourteen. Silybum marianum Gae., Trifolium pratense L. and Bromus tectorum L. contributed the largest percentage of vegetable coverage of the study area, reaching 75%. Results of statistical analysis (ANOVA) showed a significant difference between sites (P≤0.05) in plant density values. The plant density at the first site was approximately 70 plants/m2, and at the second site 61 plants/m2. There was no significant difference in the values of plant density between the three sectors either in the first site or in the second site. The average of plant density was 66 plants/m2. It was observed that the highest values of plant density were for only two plant species, Trifolium hybridum (17 plants/m2) and Bromus tectorum (16 plants/m2), where they contributed 50% of the plant density in the study area. Homogeneous distribution in the study area was noted for three plant species: Silybum marianum Gae., Trifolium pratense L. and Bromus tectorum L. The average frequency for these three species together, was (92%), accounted for approximately 57% of the region's relative importance, and therefore it can be said that the characterization of 57% of the study area is limited to knowledge of the life and scientific characteristics of these three species. The pastoral capacity in the study area was 3.59 animal units per hectares per month, equivalent to 17.95 sheep per hectare per month.
|