Methodology
A controlled field experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis following two major approaches. First, we undertook a survey of plant communities and soil conditions in oil-damaged desert habitats in Kuwait. We utilized a multivariate classification approach that has been successfully applied elsewhere in studies of desert plant ecology (e.g., Ali et al. 2000), to determine the vegetation present in relation to quantified total petroleum hydrocarbon (TPH) contents in desert soils. Secondly, we conducted controlled experiments to evaluate the potential to establish native plant species communities on oil-polluted soils, as detailed below.