The ecoregion includes the upper elevations of the Hajar Mountains. The mountains form an arc from northwest to southeast through portions of Oman and the U.A.E., extending over 500 kilometres (310 miles) in length. The mountains run parallel to the coast of the Gulf of Oman, with the Al Batinah Region in the coastal plain between the mountains and the sea.[1]
Al Hajar al Gharbi, or the Western Hajar, extend from the Musandam Peninsula at the northeastern tip of Arabia, through the eastern UAE and northern Oman. Al Hajar ash Sharqi, or the Eastern Hajar, extends eastwards towards Ras al Hadd, the easternmost point in Oman and Arabia. The Sama'il Gap separates the eastern and western portions of the range. The limestone massifs of Jebel Shams (2,997m (9,833ft)) and Jebel Akhdar (2,980m (9,780ft)), located just west of the Sumail Gap, are the highest peaks in the range. The highest peak in the eastern Hajar is 2,152 metres (7,060 feet).[1]
The ecoregion has a semi-arid temperate climate, transitioning to subtropical at lower elevations. The coolest months are December through March, when the mountains receive thunderstorms, rain, hailstorms and occasional snow, particularly at higher elevations. April to September are warmer, with occasional rainstorms brought by the Indian Ocean monsoons.[1]
Flora
The natural vegetation types include shrubland and open woodland and the flora varies with elevation and underlying geology.
Montane woodlands occur on the high peaks between 2,100 and 3,000 metres elevation. Juniperus seravschanica[3] is the characteristic tree, sometimes mixed with Olea europaea.[1]
On the Musandam Peninsula, semi-evergreen woodlands above 1,300 metres elevation were formerly dominated by Sideroxylon mascatense, but now Dodonaea viscosa is predominant in the degraded woodlands. Between 1,800 and 2,000 metres elevation, Prunus arabica forms woodlands with Ephedra pachyclada and a dense ground layer of the shrub Artemisia sieberi.[4]
Ceratonia oreothauma ssp. oreothauma is an endemic subspecies of the tree found only in a single valley on Jebel Aswad in the eastern Hajar. The other subspecies occurs in Somalia.[5]
The Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) is endemic to the region. Other large mammals occur in small numbers, including the Mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), particularly in the Wadi Sareen Reserve, Arabian wolf (Canis lupus arabs), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) and Arabian wildcat (Felis lybica lybica).[1]
The ecoregion is threatened by overgrazing from camels, goats and feral donkeys. Overgrazing has limited the ability of the Ceratonia woodlands and juniper woodlands below 2,400 metres to regenerate.[1]
Protected areas
1.27% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. Protected areas include Hatta Protected Area, 28km2 (11sqmi), in the United Arab Emirates, and Al Sareen Nature Reserve, 780.49km2 (301.35sqmi), and Al Jabal Al Akhdar Scenic Reserve, 296km2 (114sqmi), in Oman.[2]
Oman is a country on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula, situated in West Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf, between Yemen and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The coast of Oman was an important part in the Omani empire and sultanate.
The United Arab Emirates is situated in the Middle East and West Asia, bordering the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf, between Oman and Saudi Arabia; it is at a strategic location along the northern approaches to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for world crude oil. The UAE lies between 22°50′ and 26° north latitude and between 51° and 56°25′ east longitude. It shares a 19 km (12 mi) border with Qatar on the northwest, a 530 km (330 mi) border with Saudi Arabia on the west, south, and southeast, and a 450 km (280 mi) border with Oman on the southeast and northeast.
Pristurus is a genus of geckos native to Arabia and Socotra Island as well as the Middle East and the Horn of Africa. Species of Pristurus are commonly known as rock geckos .
The Jebel Akhdar Mountains is a mountain range approximately 80 km (50 mi) long and 32 km (20 mi) wide, that is part Hajar Mountains in Ad Dakhiliyah Governorate of Oman.
The Musandam Peninsula, locally known as Ruus Al Jibal, is a peninsula that forms the northeastern point of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Arabian tahr is a species of tahr native to eastern Arabia. Until recently, it was placed in the genus Hemitragus, but genetic evidence supports its removal to a separate monotypic genus, Arabitragus.
The Southwestern Arabian montane woodlands is a xeric woodland ecoregion in the southwestern Arabian Peninsula.
The Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert is a coastal ecoregion on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman in Oman and the United Arab Emirates at the northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The climate is hot and dry, with gravelly plains and savanna with thorny acacia trees inland from the coast. Along the coast there are mixture of habitats that include mangrove swamps, lagoons and mudflats. The mangrove areas are dominated by Avicennia marina and the savanna by Prosopis cineraria and Vachellia tortilis. Masirah Island is an important breeding area for the loggerhead sea turtle and other sea turtles also occur here, as well as a great variety of birds, some resident and some migratory. There are some protected areas, but in general the habitats have been degraded by the grazing of livestock, especially camels and goats; they are also at risk from oil spills, off-road driving and poaching.
The Hajar Mountains are one of the highest mountain ranges in the Arabian Peninsula, shared between northern Oman and eastern United Arab Emirates. Also known as "Oman Mountains", they separate the low coastal plain of Oman from the high desert plateau, and lie 50–100 km inland from the Gulf of Oman.
Asaccus arnoldi is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. It, along with all other species in the genus Asaccus, is endemic to the Hajar Mountains of northern Oman.
Asaccus gallagheri, also known commonly as Gallagher's gecko or Gallagher's leaf-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. The species is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and occurs in Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Asaccus margaritae, or Margarita's leaf-toed gecko, is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. It is endemic to the Arabian Peninsula and occurs in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. It was first described in 2016.
Asaccus montanus, also known as the mountain leaf-toed gecko is a species of lizard in the family Phyllodactylidae. It is endemic to Oman.
Pristurus gallagheri, also known as Gallagher's rock gecko or Wadi Kharrar rock gecko , is a species of lizard in the family Sphaerodactylidae found in Oman.
Omanosaura cyanura, also known commonly as the blue-tailed lizard and the blue-tailed Oman lizard, is a species of lizard in the family Lacertidae. The species is native to the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula.
The Somali montane xeric shrublands is a desert and xeric scrubland ecoregion in Somalia. The ecoregion lies in the rugged Karkaar Mountains, which run parallel and close to Somalia's northern coast on the Gulf of Aden, and follows coast from Cape Guardafui south to Eyl on the Arabian Sea.
The South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert ecoregion covers the northern coastal plain of the Persian Gulf and the inland desert hills south of the Zagros Mountains of Iran. The region also has extensions reaching into southeastern Iraq, and eastward into southwestern Pakistan. The region is one of hot sand deserts, shrubland, and open thorn woodlands inland. Mangrove forests and swamps are found along the coast.
Juniperus seravschanica is a species of juniper. Common names include Pashtun juniper.
Sideroxylon mascatense is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapotaceae.
Euphorbia larica is a semi-succulent shrub or subshrub native to southern Iran and the south-eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In the United Arab Emirates it is commonly known as isbaq.
↑ Adams, R.P., Al-Farsi, A. & Schwarzbach, A.E. (2014). Confirmation of the southern-most population of Juniperus seravschanica in Oman by DNA sequencing of nrDNA and four cpDNA regions Phytologia 96: 218-224.
↑ Kürschner H. (1998) Biogeography and Introduction to Vegetation. In: Ghazanfar S.A., Fisher M. (eds) Vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula. Geobotany, vol 25. Springer, Dordrecht. doi:10.1007/978-94-017-3637-4_4
↑ Hillcoat, D., G. Lewis, and B. Verdcourt. "A New Species of Ceratonia (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae) from Arabia and the Somali Republic." Kew Bulletin 35, no. 2 (1980): 261-71. Accessed December 4, 2020. doi:10.2307/4114570.
1 2 Takhtajan, A. L. (1986). Floristic Regions of the World. University of California Press, Berkeley. QK 101.T313 1986 ISBN 0-520-04027-9
↑ Sanjay Gairola, Tamer Mahmoud, Hatem A. Shabana & Gary R. Feulner (2021) Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain endemic Schweinfurthia imbricata in the United Arab Emirates, Botany Letters, 168:4, 512-516, DOI: 10.1080/23818107.2021.1905058
↑ Darrin W. Duling, Ghazanfar, S. A., & Hew D. V. Prendergast. (1998). A New Species of Ziziphus Mill. (Rhamnaceae) from Oman. Kew Bulletin, 53(3), 733–739. https://doi.org/10.2307/4110494
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