Atlantic coastal desert

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Atlantic coastal desert
Acantilado en Dajla.jpg
The desert in Dakhla, Western Sahara
Ecoregion PA1304.png
Location of the Atlantic coastal desert (in purple)
Ecology
Realm Palearctic
Biome Deserts and xeric shrublands
Borders Mediterranean Acacia-Argania dry woodlands, North Saharan steppe and woodlands, Saharan halophytics, and Sahelian Acacia savanna
Geography
Area39,137 km2 (15,111 sq mi)
Countries Mauritania and Western Sahara
Conservation
Conservation status Relatively stable/intact
Protected6,872 km² (18%) [1]

The Atlantic coastal desert is the westernmost ecoregion in the Sahara Desert of North Africa. It occupies a narrow strip along the Atlantic coast, where the more frequent fog and haze generated offshore by the cool Canary Current provides sufficient moisture to sustain a variety of lichens, succulents, and shrubs.

Contents

Geography

It covers 39,900 square kilometers (15,400 sq mi) in Western Sahara and Mauritania. It is bounded on the west by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east by the North Saharan steppe and woodlands, on the north by the Mediterranean Acacia-Argania dry woodlands, and on the south by the Sahelian Acacia savanna. [2]

Climate

The cool ocean current gives an even higher atmospheric stability in the desert, by cooling air at the base. This increase in atmospheric stability serves to further reduce the amount of rainfall. Therefore, the climate is extremely dry with some 30 mm of annual precipitation in Dakhla, Western Sahara and 40 mm of annual precipitation in Nouadhibou, Mauritania. Several years may pass without any rainfall at all. The climate is very sunny year-round with around 3,200 hours of annual bright sunshine, though far less sunny than in other parts of the desert of North Africa due to fog and haze. Air in the Atlantic coastal desert is rather moist and the relative humidity is generally over 60% while farther in the interior, it quickly lowers to 30% or less. Temperatures are also much more moderated in this coastal desert and are relatively warm to truly hot in all seasons. Averages daily temperature is 20 °C (68 °F) in Dakhla. Maximum average high temperatures are 27 °C (80.6 °F) while minimum average low temperatures are 13 °C (55.4 °F) in Dakhla. [3]

Ecology

This bioregion is fairly rich in endemic plants but has no endemic fauna. The flora consists of a variety of lichens, succulents and drought-resistant shrubs. The Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) is found here and the broad bays are important over-wintering grounds for large numbers of Palearctic wading birds. Greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus) and many other waterbirds congregate on the wetlands during their migrations. Mammals found here include the Dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), golden wolf (Canis lupusater), fennec fox (Fennecus zerda), Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppelli), sand cat (Felis margarita), honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena). [2]

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North Saharan steppe and woodlands Ecoregion (WWF)

The North Saharan steppe and woodlands is a desert ecoregion, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome, that forms the northern edge of the Sahara. It extends east and west across Northern Africa, south of the Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe ecoregion of the Maghreb and Cyrenaica, which is part of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Winter rains sustain shrublands and dry woodlands that form an ecotone between the Mediterranean climate regions to the north and the hyper-arid Sahara Desert ecoregion to the south.

Mediterranean woodlands and forests Ecoregion in Northern Africa

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South Saharan steppe and woodlands South Sahara desert ecoregion

The South Saharan steppe and woodlands, also known as the South Sahara desert, is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of northern Africa. This band is a transitional region between the Sahara's very arid center to the north, and the wetter Sahelian Acacia savanna ecoregion to the south. In pre-modern times, the grasslands were grazed by migratory gazelles and other ungulates after the rainfalls. More recently, over-grazing by domestic livestock have degraded the territory. Despite the name of the ecoregion, there are few 'woodlands' in the area; those that exist are generally acacia and shrubs along rivers and in wadis.

Tibesti–Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands desert ecoregion in Africa

The Tibesti-Jebel Uweinat montane xeric woodlands is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in the eastern Sahara. The woodlands ecoregion occupies two separate highland regions, covering portions of northern Chad, southwestern Egypt, southern Libya, and northwestern Sudan.

Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna

The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southern Arabian Peninsula, covering portions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Oman.

Red Sea coastal desert

The Red Sea coastal desert is deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion of Egypt and Sudan.

References

  1. Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545; Supplemental material 2 table S1b.
  2. 1 2 "Atlantic coastal desert". WWF. Retrieved 25 November 2016.
  3. "Climate: Dakhla". Climate.data.org. Retrieved 25 November 2016.