ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Climate Change Heightens the Threat Posed
by the Invasive Prosopis juliflora (SW.) D.C.
in the Jeddah Region, Saudi Arabia
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1
Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University,
P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabi
2
Department of Biology, College of Science, Taif University, P.O. Box 11099, Taif 21944, Saudi Arabia
3
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt
4
Department of Biology, College of Science and Arts, University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-03-18
Final revision date: 2023-07-25
Acceptance date: 2023-08-07
Online publication date: 2023-10-27
Publication date: 2023-12-19
Emad Ali Alsherif
Department of Botany and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Beni-Suef University, Beni Suef, Egypt
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(1):161-172
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ABSTRACT
Some invasive plants threaten native species, limit plant variety, and frequently result in the
extinction of several native species with commercial value. The current study was conducted in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, a semi-arid region where droughts are becoming more severe because of climate change.
The purpose of the current study was to study the effects of Prosopis juliflora on native species as well
as soil parameters. The current results showed that aridity of the study area increased from the period
between 1970 and 2021, as shown by a decline in the Lange, Emberger, and De Martonne aridity indices
by 36%, 33.5%, and 0.5%, respectively. P. juliflora has been observed in a wide variety of habitats,
including sand dunes, marshy wetlands, and inland wadis. P. juliflora enhanced phenolic content,
salinity, salt, potassium, nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter while decreasing soil acidity. More
than 63% of the species in North and South Jeddah associated with the P. juliflora tree disappeared,
and the density of the remaining species decreased by 54% to 97%. Annual species had the largest
percentage of the vanished plants, with 82% in South Jeddah and 66% in North Jeddah. The current
study shows the extent of the P. juliflora threat to local plants, especially that the region is exposed to
greater drought because of climate change, which requires taking the necessary precautions and good
management to limit the spread of this invasive plant. The current study is considered an important step
that can provide important information on the effects of P. juliflora on Asia’s biodiversity.