SURVEY OF WEED BIODIVERSITY IN WADI AL-ARJE OF TAIF, SAUDI ARABIA

Weeds represent the undesired plant biodiversity of an area.This study was aimed at the identification and assessment of weed species in the agricultural lands of Wadi AL-Arje (1500 m above sea level), Taif, Saudi Arabia.A total of 3581 plants were collected during this study belonging to 78 plant species under 40 different plant families.1589 (44.37%) shrub plants were identified from 36 species belonging to 24 families.1571 (43.87%) herb plants were recorded, which were classified under 22 species belonging to 18 plant families.The number of tree plants was 421 (11.76%) belonging to 20 species into 16 plant families.The numbers of wild plants and cultivated plants were observed as 2821 (78.78%) and 760 (21.22%), respectively.The most dominant plant families such as Papaveraceae, Lamiaceae, Brassicaceae, Asteraceae, and Fabaceae had plant densities of 476, 400, 329, 280, and 238, respectively.Argemone ochroleuca, Dracaena cinnabari, Vachellia farnesiana, Cucumis pepo, and Eruca vesicaria were found to be the most prominent weed species with a plant density of 476, 315, 168, 150, and 131, respectively.This study comprehensively presents the current weed biodiversity in Wadi AL-Arje, Taif to devise effective weed control measures.