Landscape ecological analysis of the northwestern arid coast of Egypt: Case study of Burg El-Arab/El-Hammam area

The demand for alternative productive land in Egypt dictated land-use plans that traced short-term solutions. These plans aimed at maximizing economic gain, and lacked understanding of landscape concepts. This resulted in devastating effects on the natural resources and the social fabric, particularly in the western Mediterranean coastal region. The following questions may be raised: (a) What would be the approach for elucidating the interactions between the arid landscape attributes? (b) Which attributes are to be taken into consideration in landscape analysis? (c) By testing the proposed approach in a pilot study area, would it be valid for application in the Mediterranean? (d) How could the adopted approach be modified for better application? Accordingly, the present study adopted the following objectives: (a) to assess the usefulness of landscape ecological concepts in understanding landscape changes. (b) To adopt an approach for evaluating landscape changes in arid coasts and to test its application in a selected pilot area. (c) To elaborate a framework of a landscape-planning model that could be applied to other desert areas of Egypt.; The selected study area is located 20-km west of Alexandria, and expands 20 km westward. It is described in terms of its ecological indices (patch number, size and shape), and visual indices (activity, and diversity).; The present study is an endeavor that may be considered unique to the western Mediterranean region and indeed to other desert areas of Egypt in different aspects. First, it extends the possibilities of data integration, by adopting the holistic approaches of landscape ecology in analyzing arid landscape evolution. Second, it uses innovative methods in analyzing the visual resources of arid landscapes using remotely sensed data and satellite image processing, and sets an example for future analyses of such an incommensurable resource. Also, it integrates different and varied data types in a Geographic Information System and uses statistical and multivariate analyses to explore the interrelationships between different types of landscape attributes. Finally, it sets a framework of a planning model in the form of activities to ensure its applicability and to provide the most significant attributes and information input before and during the plan formulation.