Prioritization of Potential Native Plants from Arabian Peninsula Based on Economic and Ecological Values: Implication for Restoration

Land degradation is one of the most important environmental problems worldwide, including in the Arabian Peninsula. In arid climatic conditions (i.e., high temperature, high evaporation, scanty rainfall and high salinity), anthropogenic factors (i.e., grazing, camping, infrastructure development, etc.) are the major causes of land degradation. Therefore, restoration of degraded lands is urgently needed to achieve sustainable development goals. Moreover, countries in the Arabian Peninsula are suffering from a lack of natural freshwater resources. Therefore, using halophytes could be an environmentally and economically viable option to overcome limited availability of fresh water by substituting the demand of portable water for irrigation as well as restoring salt-affected lands. Saline soils are common in the Arabian Peninsula, therefore, exploring the ecological and economic potential of halophytes and incorporating them in restoration projects could be a sustainable option. In this study, an attempt was made to document the uses of Arabian halophytes through a survey of the literature and prioritizing them based on their use value. Out of the 107 species studied, 4 species, namely Arthrocnemum macrostachyum (Moric.) K.Koch., Alhagi graecorum Boiss., Bassia muricata (L.) Asch. and Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. Ex Steud., were categorized as high priority followed by 36 species under moderate priority. However, when the priority and life form of species was considered for prioritization, three species, namely Alhagi graecorum, Arundo donax L. and Phragmites australis, ranked at the top in the priority list among perennials and Bassia muricata ranked at the top among annuals. This information could be useful for land restoration specialists to use appropriate halophyte species to achieve for different restoration objectives in salt-affected lands. However, there is a need to develop an active monitoring system that strictly concentrates on the recycling of plants that are used in phytoremediation.