Effect of some Environmental Factors on the Distribution and Spread of Artemisia scoparia Waldst. et Kit. in Basrah Governorate

Abstract

Abstract This study was conducted during the period from October 2021 to November 2022, and four stations were selected: Hammar Musharraf, Al-Tuba, Artawi and Safwan, which are located in the southern desert of Basra Governorate, during which the distribution of the Artemisia scoparia plant was determined and the physical and chemical properties affecting it were studied. Heavy elements were also measured for the summer seasons. And winter for the two stations of Safwan and Hammar Musharraf. The highest air temperature was recorded at 49 C in July in Safwan station, and the lowest was 10 C in January for most of the study stations. As for the soil temperature, the highest was 46.2 C in the month of August in Al-Tuba station, and the lowest was 12 C in January in Safwan. As for air and soil humidity, the highest percentage was 62% and 10.2% in January at Hammar Musharraf station, and the lowest was 0.1% in June and September at Safwan and Artawi stations, respectively. The highest value of pH was recorded for the soil of the studied stations, which was 8.58 in Al-Tuba station in July, and the lowest was 6.01 in December in Hammar Musharraf. The highest soil salinity was 8.81 mg/L in Safwan in July, and the lowest was 0.01 mg/L in Hammar Musharraf and Al-Tuba in November and December, respectively. As for the organic matter, it was the highest of 0.13 gm in Hammar Musharraf in January, and the lowest was 0.01 gm in Artawi and Al-Tuba for most months of the year. As for the heavy elements, the highest presence in the soil of the aluminum element was recorded in Safwan, which amounted to 264.105 ppm in the summer, followed by the iron element of the same station in the summer as well, as its concentration reached 228.761 ppm, while the lowest concentration was in a donkey honorable in the winter of arsenic. It reached 0.005 ppm, and the highest concentration was in the summer of Safwan station, with a concentration of 57.4463 ppm, while the lowest concentration was in winter, with a concentration of 33.9196 ppm in Safwan. As for the concentrations of heavy elements in plants, the highest and lowest concentrations of zinc were recorded in Safwan in the summer and winter seasons, which amounted to 14.7 and 0.002 ppm, respectively. Winter season, with a concentration of 1.3902.