New perspectives, additions, and amendments to plant endemism in the Egyptian flora

Endemism is one among other important concepts in biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation tasks. Based on herbarium specimens kept in some local herbaria, a large number of published literature, and available information; we compiled a comprehensive list, and an updated assessment of the Egyptian endemic and near-endemic taxa. The application of quantitative approaches to the distribution patterns, conservation status, and habitat preference of endemic taxa in Egypt was provided. Comparisons of the near-endemic taxa with other neighbouring flora were explained. For each taxon, the distribution patterns, most preferable habitat, biological spectrum, and taxa among 14 phytogeographical regions (Operational Geographical Units; OGUs) of Egypt were determined. The taxonomic degrees of differentiation among endemic taxa were represented by differentiation indices. Two different indices were used to assess endemism: single-region endemic taxa (SRES), and multiple-region endemic taxa (MRES). The majority of endemic and near-endemic taxa were recorded from the mountainous Sinai (S), and the Mareotis sector of the Mediterranean coastal land (Mm). In this study, 19 endemics (out of 70) and 76 near-endemics (out of 181) are newly added taxa. In general, the most represented families in endemic and near-endemics were: Asteraceae, Caryophyllaceae, Lamiaceae, and Fabaceae. More than 60% of the endemic taxa occurred in the sandy plains and wadies and the rocky plains and mountains. The application of hierarchical cluster analysis to the occurrences of 70 endemic taxa in the 14 studied OGUs revealed 5 main floristic groups (I – V); each characterized by certain OGUs. We provided 8 groups of near-endemic taxa representing their extension in other neighbouring countries. The presented data will help to fill the gap in our knowledge of endemism; a baseline information to understand biogeographical processes.