Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert

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Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert
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Map of the ecoregion
Ecology
Realm Afrotropical
Biome deserts and xeric shrublands
Borders
Geography
Area62,420 km2 (24,100 sq mi)
Countries
Conservation
Conservation status Critical/endangered [1]
Protected1.58% [2]

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. [3]

Contents

Location and description

In Oman this ecoregion includes the Musandam Peninsula, the enclave of Oman within the UAE on the Strait of Hormuz, the entrance to the Persian Gulf. In the main part of Oman it includes the coastal plain of the Al Batinah Region on the Gulf of Oman continuing along past Muscat to the beaches and dunes of the Ash Sharqiyah Region. From the Ras al Hadd point it runs south along the coast to the desert island of Masirah. It also includes an inland strip running along to the southwest of the Al Hajar Mountains. In the UAE it covers the plains around the Al Hajar mountains in the east, in the emirates of Dubai, Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah, and the country's Al Batinah coast around Fujairah.

This dry ecoregion contains a mixture of habitats including mangrove swamps, lagoons and mudflats on the coast, gravelly plains and savanna with thorny acacia trees inland with a background of the Musandam and Al Hajar mountains. The climate is hot and dry with temperatures up to 49 degrees Celsius (120 °F) and little rainfall, especially on the Persian Gulf coast of the UAE. There is more rainfall on the Gulf of Oman and humidity provides moisture on both coasts.

Flora

The coastal mangrove consists of Avicennia marina , trees of the inland savanna include Ziziphus spina-christi (Christ's Thorn Jujube), Prosopis cineraria (Ghaf) and Vachellia tortilis (Umbrella Thorn), while the mountains are home to Ficus salicifolia (Wonderboom) and Vachellia tortilis. Finally, the traditional flora of the Al Batinah coast is Vachellia tortilis and Prosopis cineraria. Some of these species are found across the Persian Gulf in Iran.

Fauna

The world's largest population of loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) breeds on Masirah Island and other turtles that come to these coasts include the olive ridley (Lepydochelys olivacea), green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the endangered hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). The area is extremely rich in birdlife including a large migration between Asia and Africa. Endemic birds include a subspecies of collared kingfisher. Mammals include the endangered Arabian leopard (Panthera pardus nimr) in the mountains and Arabian tahr, as well as caracals but all these are vulnerable to hunting.

Threats and preservation

Habitats have been degraded by the grazing of livestock, especially camels and goats. The Al Batinah coastal strip of Oman is the country's most densely populated area and is intensively farmed, partly by Oman's large community of Baloch people of Pakistani origin. Urban areas in this ecoregion in Oman include the country's capital and largest city, the historical port of Muscat, and the fishing towns of Barka, famous for its bull-butting, and Sohar, legendarily the home of Sindbad the Sailor, and the resort of Al Sawadi. Other tourist attractions along this coast include the historic castles of Nakhal Fort and Rustaq, the Wahiba Sands and the turtle beaches at Ras Al Hadd and Ras al-Jinz. Cities of the UAE in this ecoregion include the huge commercial centre of Dubai and the nearby city of Sharjah. A popular excursion from Dubai is to the Hajar Mountains enclave of Hatta.

Other threats to the ecoregion include oil spills in the sea, poaching of wildlife and off-road driving to locations such as Wadi Bani Awf. Protected areas include Ras Al Khor in Dubai, famous for its wintering flamingos, and an area of mangroves at Khor Kalba Nature Reserve on the Gulf of Oman in the UAE near the border with Oman.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Oman</span> Geographical features of Oman

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of the United Arab Emirates</span> List of the United Arab Emirates geographical features

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Musandam Peninsula</span> Place

The Musandam Peninsula, locally known as Ruus Al Jibal, is a peninsula that forms the northeastern point of the Arabian Peninsula. It is located to the south of the Strait of Hormuz, between the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. It is inhabited by the Shihuh tribe and is mainly governed by Oman as the Musandam Governorate with certain parts governed by the United Arab Emirates, including Ras Al Khaimah and parts of Dibba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ras al Hadd</span> Place

Raʾs al-Ḥadd is a village in Ash Sharqiyah district in Oman. It is on a point at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masirah Island</span> Omani island

Masirah Island, also referred to as Mazeira Island or Wilāyat Maṣīrah, is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the Arabian Sea, and the largest island of the country. It is 95 km (59 mi) long north–south, between 12 and 14 km wide, with an area of about 649 km2, and a population estimated at 12,000 in 12 villages mainly in the north of the island. It is divided from the mainland by the Masirah Channel.

The Shihuh is an Arab tribe living in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman. In the singular, the name is Al Shehhi, a common family name in the UAE and Oman today. Inhabiting the northern part of the Hajar Mountain range, specifically in the Ruus Al Jibal, the tribe has long been influential in the affairs of both the east and west coast settlements of the northern UAE and Oman and has fiercely maintained both its identity and independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Dubai</span>

Dubai is situated on the Persian Gulf coast of the United Arab Emirates and is roughly at sea level. The emirate of Dubai shares borders with Abu Dhabi in the south, Sharjah in the northeast, and the Sultanate of Oman in the southeast. Hatta, a minor exclave of the emirate, is surrounded on three sides by Oman and by the emirates of Ajman and Ras Al Khaimah. The Persian Gulf borders the western coast of the emirate. Dubai is positioned at 25.2697°N 55.3095°E and covers an area of 1,588 sq mi (4,110 km2), which represents a significant expansion beyond its initial 1,500 sq mi (3,900 km2) designation due to land reclamation from the sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hajar Mountains</span> Mountain range in Oman and the UAE

The Hajar Mountains are one of the highest mountain range 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 (31–62 mi) inland from the Gulf of Oman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of the United Arab Emirates</span>

The wildlife of the United Arab Emirates is the flora and fauna of the country on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern end of the Persian Gulf. The country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including the coast, offshore islands, mangrove areas, mudflats, salt pans, sand and gravel plains, sand dunes, mountain slopes, wadis and rocky summits. Because the terrain is so varied, it supports a greater number of species of plants and animals than might have been expected in this relatively small country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildlife of Oman</span>

The wildlife of Oman is the flora and fauna of this country in the southeastern corner of the Arabian Peninsula, with coasts on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. The climate is hot and dry, apart from the southeastern coast, and the country offers a variety of habitats for wildlife including mountains, valleys, deserts, coastal plains and sea coasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawam (region)</span> Historical oasis region in Eastern Arabia

Tawam, also Tuwwam, Tu'am, or Al-Buraimi Oasis, is a historical oasis region in Eastern Arabia that stretched from, or was located between, the Western Hajar Mountains to the Persian Gulf coast, nowadays forming parts of what is now the United Arab Emirates and western Oman. It is marked by the twin settlements of Al Ain and Al-Buraimi on the UAE-Omani border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna</span>

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.

Wadi Qor is a seasonal watercourse in the Hajar Mountains of Ras Al Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates. The wadi runs from the mountain village of Al Qor, near the Dubai exclave of Hatta, through the villages of Huwaylat, Rafaq and Al Nasla before crossing the Omani border and fanning out to the Batinah plain and the Gulf of Oman north of the Omani coastal village of Bu Baqarah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Iran Nubo–Sindian desert and semi-desert</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Hajar montane woodlands</span> Terrestrial ecoregion in Oman and the United Arab Emirates

Al Hajar montane woodlands is a temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands ecoregion in the Hajar Mountains of the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula, which extends across portions of Oman and the U.A.E.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalba Mangrove reserve</span> Protected area in the emirate of Sharjah

Kalba Mangrove reserve is a natural reserve to a protected natural mangrove forest located in Kalba, Sharjah. Conservation efforts around the mangrove have sought to protect the declining populations of white-collared kingfisher birds that inhabit the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Qurm Nature Reserve</span> Estuary and protected area in Muscat, Oman

Qurm Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in Muscat Governorate, Oman. Located on the Gulf of Oman coast, the reserve protects a mangrove forest and the surrounding wetland in a small estuary within the urban area of Qurm. Established in 1975, the reserve has been designated as an Important Bird Area since 1994, and as a protected Ramsar site since 2013.

<i>Euphorbia larica</i> Species of flowering plant

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Wohoosh Desert Conservation Reserve</span> Nature reserve in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Al Wohoosh Desert Conservation Reserve, is a natural protected area of the United Arab Emirates, established in 2014, which is located in the eastern area of the Emirate of Dubai.

References

  1. "Gulf of Oman desert and semidesert". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
  2. "Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert". DOPA Explorer. Accessed 18 April 2021.
  3. "Gulf of Oman desert and semi-desert". Encyclopedia of the Earth. Retrieved November 12, 2020.