Contents 



Page 



Acknowledgments 1 



Introduction 3 



Physical description of Libya 6 



General features 6 



The coastal plain 7 



The coastal escarpment 7 



Pre-Saharan or steppe 7 



Hamadas 8 



Sand seas 9 



Serirs 9 



Fesh-fesh 10 



Depressions 10 



Mountainous areas of the interior 10 



The Cyrenaican Plateau 11 



The Tripolitanian Gebel 11 



Geology 12 



Tripolitania and Cyrenaica 12 



Fezzan 13 



Volcanic activity 14 



Climate 14 



Libyan interior 14 



Arid or desert type 14 



Semiarid or steppe type 15 



Mediterranean littoral 16 



Coastal uplands 17 



Additional meteorological data 17 



Phytogeography 18 



General features of the Saharan flora 18 



Phytogeographic characteristics 19 



Systematic composition 19 



Endemism 20 



Adaptation to the desert environment 20 



The vegetative cover of Libya 21 



Coastal plain 21 



Cyrenaican Plateau 22 



Tripolitanian Gebel 23 



Saharan steppe 23 



Sand seas, hamadas, and serirs 23 



Depressions or sebchets 24 



Oases 24 



The grass cover of Libya 25 



Mammalian Faunal Areas 26 



Mediterranean Faunal Area 27 



Saharan Steppe Faunal Area 30 



Saharan Desert Faunal Area 30 



