| Mesopotamian shrub desert | |
|---|---|
 Iraq-Jordan border area | |
 Map of the ecoregion | |
| Ecology | |
| Realm | Palearctic |
| Biome | deserts and xeric shrublands |
| Borders | |
| Geography | |
| Area | 211,445 km2 (81,639 sq mi) |
| Countries | |
| Conservation | |
| Conservation status | Vulnerable [1] |
| Protected | 0.75% [2] |
The Mesopotamian shrub desert is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in Western Asia. It extends across portions of Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
The Mesopotamian shrub desert is a transitional region between the semi-arid steppes of the northern Mesopotamia and Levant to the north, and the Arabian Desert to the south.
The western portion of the ecoregion consists of rocky or sandy plateaus, including the Syrian Desert in southern Syria and northern Jordan, and a portion of the Harrat al-Sham black basalt desert in eastern Jordan. The eastern portion of the ecoregion includes central Mesopotamia, and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run through it. [3]
The ecoregion has an arid subtropical climate. Rainfall averages 120 mm per year, concentrated in the winter months. Daytime temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) in the summer months. Winters are cooler, and temperatures can fall below freezing on winter nights. [3]
Typical vegetation is dry shrubland. Shrubs include species of Artemisia, Anabasis , and Haloxylon . Perennial herbaceous plants include Achillea fragrantissima and Astragalus spp., and the grass Stipagrostis plumosa . Fast-growing ephemeral herbs sprout after rains, and quickly set seed before the succumbing to the summer drought. [3]
Poplar trees ( Populus euphratica ), reeds, and bulrushes are found in the seasonal and permanent wetlands along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Native mammals include golden jackal (Canis aureus), Rüppell's fox (Vulpes rueppellii), and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena). Small populations of sand cat (Felis margarita), Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) and Arabian sand gazelle (Gazella marica) are found in a few areas. [3]
The Syrian wild ass (Equus hemionus hemippus) once ranged across the ecoregion, but was hunted to extinction by the early 20th century.
Native birds include the mourning wheatear (Oenanthe lugens), and the Mesopotamian hooded crow (Corvus cornix capellanus) in Mesopotamia. The area around Lake Tharthar, a reservoir between the Tigris and Euphrates, is a wintering ground for several threatened birds, including the Saker falcon (Falco cherrug) and Houbara bustard (Chlamydotis undulata). [3]
Less than 1% of the ecoregion is in protected areas. [2] Protected areas include Azraq Wetland Reserve and Burqu Nature Reserve in Jordan, and Al-Talila Reserve in Syria. [3]
The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into five main regions: the desert, Upper Mesopotamia, the northern highlands of Iraq, Lower Mesopotamia, and the alluvial plain extending from around Tikrit to the Persian Gulf.
Kuwait is a country in West Asia, bordering the Persian Gulf, between Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Kuwait is located at the far northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf. Kuwait is 17,820 square kilometres in size. At its most distant points, it is about 200 km (120 mi) north to south, and 170 km (110 mi) east to west. Kuwait has 10 islands. Kuwait's area consists mostly of desert.
The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness in West Asia that occupies almost the entire Arabian Peninsula with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers (900,000 sq mi). It stretches from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It is the fifth largest desert in the world and the largest in Asia. At its center is Ar-Rub' al-Khali, one of the largest continuous bodies of sand in the world. It is an extension of the Sahara Desert.
The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia that discharges into the Persian Gulf. Its principal rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributaries.
The Eastern Gobi desert steppe is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in Mongolia and northern China. It is the easternmost of the ecoregions that make up the larger Gobi Desert. It lies between the more humid Mongolian–Manchurian grassland on the north, east, and southeast, and the drier Alashan Plateau semi-desert to the west.
The Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-forests, also known as the Eastern Mediterranean conifer-forests, is an ecoregion in the eastern Mediterranean Basin. It covers portions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Palestinian territories, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.
The wildlife of Iraq includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Iraq has multiple biomes from mountainous region in the north to the wet marshlands along the Euphrates river. The western part of the country is mainly desert and some semi-arid regions. As of 2001, seven of Iraq's mammal species and 12 of its bird species were endangered. The endangered species include the northern bald ibis and Persian fallow deer. The Syrian wild ass is extinct, and the Saudi Arabian dorcas gazelle was declared extinct in 2008.
The wildlife of Jordan includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Although much of the country is desert, it has several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. Fossil finds show that in Palaeolithic times, the region had Syrian brown bears, Asiatic lions, zebras, Asian elephants, and rhinoceroses, but these species are all now extinct in this region.
The Mesopotamian Marshes, also known as the Iraqi Marshes, are a wetland area located in Southern Iraq and southwestern Iran as well as partially in northern Kuwait. The marshes are primarily located on the floodplains of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers bound by the cities of Basra, Nasiriyah, Amarah and a portion of southwestern Iran and northern Kuwait. Historically the marshlands, mainly composed of the separate but adjacent Central, Hawizeh and Hammar Marshes, used to be the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. The unique wetland landscape is home to the Marsh people, who have developed a unique culture tightly coupled to the landscape – harvesting reeds and rice, fishing and herding water buffalo.
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.
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.
The wildlife of Syria is the flora and fauna of Syria, a country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Besides its coastline, the country has a coastal plain, mountain ranges in the west, a semi-arid steppe area in the centre occupying most of the country, and a desert area in the east. Each of these zones has its own characteristic animals and plants.
The Caspian lowland desert ecoregion covers the north and southeast coasts of the Caspian Sea, including the deltas of the Volga River and Ural River in the northern region. While the region gets relatively low amounts of precipitation, wildlife is supported by the river estuaries and the sea itself. The wetlands are an internationally important area for bird nesting and migratory resting. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, and the deserts and xeric shrublands biome. It has an area of 267,300 square kilometres (103,200 sq mi).
The Middle East steppe ecoregion stretches in an arc from southern Jordan across Syria and Iraq to the western border of Iran. The upper plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers dominate most of the ecoregion. The terrain is mostly open shrub steppe. The climate is arid. Evidence is that this region was once more of a forest-steppe, but centuries of overgrazing and gathering firewood have reduced tree and grass cover to small areas and along the riverine corridors. Despite the degraded condition of the steppe environment, the ecoregion is important for water birds as the rivers and reservoirs provide habitat in the arid region.
The Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in western Asia. It lies in the lowlands west of the Caspian Sea, and covers portions of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Iran.
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.
The Red Sea Nubo–Sindian tropical desert and semi-desert ecoregion covers extremely arid land along the northeastern Red Sea, the southern Sinai Peninsula, and on a thin strip along the Israel-Jordan border. Most of the coastal land is flat, but there are high mountains in southern Sinai. Biodiversity is limited by the low moisture levels – some areas go for years without significant rain. Portions of the area support a thin savannah-like cover of widely scattered trees and scrub, surrounded by grasses that briefly flourish after a rainfall. Biodiversity is highest in the mountains of Sinai, and in the wadis and gullies that retain moisture.
The Arabian-Persian Gulf Coastal Plain Desert ecoregion covers the desert coastal plain of the northwest Persian Gulf, that is, on the northeast Arabian Peninsula, from Kuwait in the north to a small coastal sector in the United Arab Emirates to the southeast.
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.