EFFECT OF NEGATIVE HUMAN ACTIVITIES ON PLANT DIVERSITY IN THE JABAL AKHDAR PASTURES

Author(s): Masoud MM Zatout

Abstract

The limited natural resources in several of pastures regions of the southern Mediterranean are threatened by rapid development and a growing human population. Inhabitants are faced with shrinking livestock grazing grounds and consequent overgrazing, depleting water supplies, loss of soil fertility, moving sand dunes, and salinisation of agricultural land. Libya is most of its area is considered arid and semi-arid. Like other zones in the North Africa it has suffered extreme degradation. This is mainly due to overgrazing, fires or sometimes converting pastures areas to agricultural uses. In general, the negative human activities like overgrazing in Libya is not a new phenomenon especially in the Jabal Akhdar regions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of negative human activities on the biological diversity have been investigated using the Shannon-Wiener diversity index in south of the Jabal Akhdar. The study area is located in North Eastern part of Libya. Based on data from extensive field surveys, were carried out in the study during 2014, included the grazed and protected by fencing. This study showed that different significant diversity between the grazed and protected by fencing sites.

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