NUTRIENT EVALUATION OF SOME ARID RANGE PLANTS IN SAUDI-ARABIA

Sixty-one desert range plant species collected from the Harrat al Harra Protected Area of the Al-Jauf region in the northern Saudi Arabia were analysed to evaluate nutritional status and to identify the suitability potentials of some of the species for rehabilitation in the arid region. Plant samples were analysed for N, P, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn concentrations. The study showed higher nitrogen concentration in the Cruciferae species than the leguminous species. Of the species examined, 90% were palatable out of which 11% showed a high to very high class index for the NPK group of macro nutrients. The annual herbs Carrichtera annua, Diplotaxis acris (Cruciferae), Centaurea pseudosinaica (Compositae) and Hyoscyamus desertorum (Solanceae) showed high to very high NPK levels. Phagnalon barbeyanum, a perennial herb, had the highest concentration of all micro-nutrients followed by Astragalus kahiricus, an annual herb. Astragalus kahiricus and Atriplex leucoclada had high indices of total nutrient concentration. Three of these species were, however, rare in occurrence on the scale of abundancy ratings and face the possible threat of extinction.