Plant Existence as a Main Factor Affecting Water Availability in Deserts

Deserts occupy about ninety percent of the area of Egypt. In deserts, water rarely exists, and is quickly lost if found. So, the most important parameters, to study, are soil water holding capacity (WHC) and plant available water (AW), which strongly affect and control irrigation interval and its requirement. Looking for soil with the highest WHC and AW to start with it, in reclamation, should reduce cultivation costs and increase water saving and agricultural production. A remarkable observation is the heterogeneity of deserts especially in their naturally grown or wild plants, which appear in some areas and disappear in other areas at the same location. The research is aiming to study the effect of the existence of wild plants on WHC and AW. To reach the research objective, field study was carried out in Eastern Egyptian desert. Soil samples were collected from plant covered areas and bare ones at different sites. The obtained results indicate significant improvement in both WHC and AW at plant covered areas. The study recommends starting with wild plants covered areas and conducts further studies of the special effects of specific plants to be cultivated in bare desert lands to improve their soil water status for the purpose of further reclamation.