TESIS DOCTORAL ESTRATEGIAS DE DISPERSIÓN DE PLANTAS EN DIFERENTES HÁBITATS ECOLÓGICOS DE LOS EMIRATOS ÁRABES UNIDOS PLANT DISPERSAL STRATEGIES OF DIFFERENT ECOLOGICAL DESERT HABITATS OF UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Doctorando Hatem Ahmed Mahmoud Shabana Directores Prof. Dr. Teresa Navarro Del Aguila Prof. Dr. Ali Ali El-Keblawy Departamento de Biología Vegetal Departamento de Biología Aplicada Facultad de Ciencias Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Málaga Universidad de Sharjah Departamento de Biología Vegetal Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Málaga 2018 AUTOR: Hatem Ahmed Mahmoud Shabana http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8502-5669 EDITA: Publicaciones y Divulgación Científica. Universidad de Málaga Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial- SinObraDerivada 4.0 Internacional: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode Cualquier parte de esta obra se puede reproducir sin autorización pero con el reconocimiento y atribución de los autores. No se puede hacer uso comercial de la obra y no se puede alterar, transformar o hacer obras derivadas. Esta Tesis Doctoral está depositada en el Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Málaga (RIUMA): riuma.uma.es Prefacio Las investigaciones que han conducido a la redacción de la presente Tesis Doctoral se han de lasorealizado en el Departamento de Biología Vegetal de la Universidad de Málaga, en el ámbit actividades del Grupo de Investigación RNM115 “BIODIVERSIDAD, CONSERVACION Y tanRECURSOS VEGETALES” - del Plan Andaluz de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación de la Ju de Andalucía-, asi como en la Sharjah Research Academy (SRA) y el Sharjah Seed Bank and (Herbarium (SSBH) de Sharjah (Emiratos Arabes Unidos). El presente trabajo ha estado financiado por The Sharjah Research Academy (SRA) y el Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium (SSBH), Sharjah (Emiratos Arabes Unidos). ACKNOWLEDGMENT Thanks to ALLAH who bestowed on me, enabled completing this work and being a haven in my troubled time and success is from God. First, I express my sincere thanks and appreciation to His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi for his support of scientific research and research in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Dr. Teresa Navarro “Department of Plant Biology, University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain” and Prof. Dr. Ali El- Keblawy “Department of Applied Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates” for their continuous support during my PhD study, their motivation and immense knowledge. Their guidance helped me throughout all the time and writing of this thesis and they worked hard to provide me with the academic time to pursue those goals. Especially grateful to Sharjah Research Academy (SRA) and Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium (SSBH) for supporting this project and providing the equipments to make the experiments. Great gratitude is due to Prof. Dr. Amr Abdel-Hamid “General Director of SRA”. Special thanks are due to the team of SSBH, Mr. Tamer Mahmoud and Dr. Sanjay Gairola, Mohamed Abo Al Nour and Mohamed Fiaz” who have worked with me in this research in addition to all colleagues in SRA. Deep thanks to University of Málaga, the head of Department of Plant Biology, Professors, Staff and specially Prof. Dr. María del Mar Trigo Pérez and Prof. Dr. Ana Carmen Duran (Coordinator of the PhD program from Málaga University) for their help and support all the time. Many thanks to Sharjah University and Dr. Kareem Mosa for giving the chance to work under his guidance for three months in “DNA Barcoding of UAE plants” Many thanks to Prof. Dr. Kamal Shaltout, Prof. Dr. Laila Sadek, Mr. Tamer Khafaga and Dr. El Bially Hatab for their continuous encouragement. All thanks to all dear friends for their supporting encouraging efforts. Special thanks to my friend M. Nasef for helping in editing some photos of the thesis. Last but not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents, brothers and sisters “Esraa, Taha, Abdel Haleem, Amira, Mohamed, Ahmed, Hagar and Aya” whose love and guidance are with me in whatever I pursue and supporting me spiritually throughout writing this thesis and my life in general. I also would like to express many gratitude to my wife's family for their support and cooperation. Most importantly, I wish to thank my supportive wife “Ghada” who helped and assisted me in all parts of this thesis and my two wonderful children “Ahmed and Aser” who provide unending inspiration and carrying difficult times with me. Index INDEX Subject page I. ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………….. 1 II. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………... 23 III. RESULTS…………………………………………………………………..... 62 IV. DISCUSSION………………………………………………………………... 66 1. Chapter 1: Dispersal traits in the hyper-arid hot desert of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)……………….…………………………………….… 70 1.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 70 1.2. Material and Methods……………………………………………………….. 71 1.2.1. Study area……………………………………………………………………. 71 1.2.2. Species selection…………………………………………………………….. 72 1.2.3. Dispersal, phenological and phytogeographical traits’ measurements……… 72 1.2.4. Data analyses………………………………………………………………… 74 1.3. Results………………………………………………………………………… 74 1.3.1. Dispersal spectrum…………………………………………………………… 75 1.3.2. Variation of diaspore size (diaspore length) among APG IV phylogenetic groups and dispersal traits………………………………..………………….. 76 1.3.3. Relationships between dispersal modes, APG IV phylogenetic groups, growth forms and dispersal phenology………………………………….…… 80 1.3.4. Relationships between spatial dispersal, APG IV phylogenetic groups, growth forms, phytogeography and dispersal phenology…………………… 82 1.4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………. 85 1.4.1. Conclusions………………………………………………………………….. 87 1.5. References……………………………………………………………………. 87 1.6. Appendices…………………………………………………………………… 93 2. Chapter 2: Seed mass and germination traits relationships among different plant growth forms with aerial seed bank in the hyper-arid hot desert of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) ……………………………..… 116 2.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 116 2.2. Material and Methods………………………………………………………… 118 I I Index Subject page 2.2.1 Study species…………………………………………………………………. 118 2.2.2. Study area…………………………………………………………………….. 119 2.2.3. Seed collection……………………………………………………………….. 119 2.2.4. Germination experiment……………………………………………………… 121 2.2.5. Data analyses………………………………………………………………… 122 2.3. Results……………………………………………………………………….. 122 2.3.1. Seed size and mass variations……………………………………………….. 122 2.3.2. Effect of storage condition and growth form on germination traits………….. 123 2.3.3. Correlations between seed and germination traits……….………………… 126 2.3.3.1. All species………………………..………………………………………… 126 2.3.3.2. Among growth forms………………………………………………………… 126 2.4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………. 127 2.4.1. Conclusions………………………………………………………………… 129 2.5. References……………………………………………………………………. 130 3. Chapter 3: Delayed seed dispersal in the hyper-arid hot desert of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)………………………………………………. 135 3.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 135 3.2. Material and Methods…………………………………………………….... 136 3.2.1. Study area………………………………………………………………….…. 136 3.2.2. Bradychoric species identification…………………………………….…… 137 3.2.3. Studied plant traits………………………………………………….……... 137 3.2.4. Data analyses………………………………………………………….……… 138 3.3. Results………………………………………………………………………... 138 3.3.1. Bradychory species groups and related studied traits………………………... 139 3.3.2. Relationships between bradychory and dispersal traits (spatial dispersal)…... 140 3.3.3. Relationships between bradychory, and main growth forms and plant habits.. 141 3.3.4. Relationships between bradychory and the antitelechoric mechanisms……... 143 3.3.5. Bradychory and seed release time……………………………………………. 143 3.3.6. Relationships between bradychory and studied habitats…………………… 143 3.4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………. 144 3.4.1. Conclusions………………………………………………………………… 147 3.5. References……………………………………………………………………. 147 II Index Subject page 3.6. Appendices…………………………………………………………………… 154 4. Chapter 4: Effect of maturation time on dormancy and germination of Citrullus colocynthis (Cucurbitaceae) seeds from the hyper-arid hot desert of United Arab Emirates (UAE)……………………………........... 159 4.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 159 4.2. Material and Methods………………………………………………………... 161 4.2.1. Study area……………………………………………………………………. 161 4.2.2 Seed collection……………………………………………………………….. 161 4.2.3. Germination experiment……………………………………………………... 162 4.2.4. Data analyses………………………………………………………………… 163 4.3. Results…………………………………………………………………….….. 163 4.3.1. Germination of fresh seeds………………………………………………….. 163 4.3.2. Effects of dry storage………………………………………………………… 166 4.3.2.1. March seeds………………………………………………………………….. 166 4.3.2.2. December seeds……………………………………………………………… 166 4.3.3. Effects of scarification and water soaking on March seeds………………….. 166 4.4. Discussion……………………………………………………………………. 168 4.4.1. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………... 170 4.5. References……………………………………………………………………. 170 V. CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………….. 176 III List of tables LIST OF TABLES Subject page Table II.1. The relationships between the plant functional traits used in this PhD study and ecosystem attributes. ……………………………………...…. 24 Table II.2. Challenges faced by plant species and functional traits (Weiher et al. 1999)…………………………………………………………………… 25 Table II.3. Functional traits and related functions