Premium
Vegetation dynamics of coastal sand dunes near Malindi, Kenya
Author(s) -
Musila W. M.,
Kinyamario J. I.,
Jungerius P. D.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
african journal of ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.499
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1365-2028
pISSN - 0141-6707
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2028.2001.00294.x
Subject(s) - vegetation (pathology) , plant community , geography , sand dune stabilization , ecology , ipomoea , plant species , forestry , botany , biology , medicine , pathology , ecological succession
This study describes the composition, structure and distribution of coastal dune vegetation near Malindi, Kenya. The vegetation was made up of 156 plant species. Sixty families were recorded with Gramineae (seventeen species) and Papilionaceae (sixteen species) being the most widely represented. Fifteen plant communities were described in the different geomorphologic units. The plant communities exhibited a distinct zonal distribution. Halopyrum mucronatum and Ipomoea pes‐caprae plant communities were common in the unstable geomorphologic units. Cordia somaliensis and Pluchea dioscoridis plant communities were common in the more stable geomorphologic units. Most of the plants in the more stable geomorphologic units were shrubs and trees. Succulent herbs were identified in the slacks and the drowned valley, which have moist and damp environments.