Last updated Desert vegetation in Wadi Rum, southern Jordan.
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.[1]
More recently, in the twentieth century, the Arabian oryx became locally extinct through hunting, and several species of deer and gazelle were reduced to remnant populations. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature was established in 1966 to preserve Jordan's natural resources, a number of protected areas have been set up, and conservation measures and captive breeding programs have been put in place, resulting in an increase in the numbers of these animals. In 1978, 11 Arabian oryx were brought in to Jordan from the US. They were taken care of at the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve. Since then, not only has the oryx population reached to 200, but Jordan is supplying other countries with oryx.[2] Many other mammals are found in Jordan, over four hundred species of bird visit or live in the country and over two thousand plant species have been recorded here. A total of 220 bird species migrate to and from Jordan from, Europe, Asia and Africa. In addition, 150 species are native to Jordan.
Apart from a very short stretch of coastline on the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan is almost completely landlocked. It largely consists of an elevated plateau 700 to 1,200m (2,300 to 3,900ft) high, divided into ridges by valleys and gorges. The eastern part of the country is desert and merges into the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. There are some oases here and some seasonal streams. The western part of the country is more mountainous with a natural vegetation of Mediterranean evergreen forest. The western border is the Jordan Rift Valley, where the Jordan River and the Dead Sea lie hundreds of feet below sea level and form the boundary between Jordan, to the east, and Israel and the Palestinian territories to the west.[3]
The northern part of the Jordan Valley is the most fertile region of the country. The Dead Sea receives the water from the Jordan River and from seasonal streams in the wadis, but has no outflow. It loses water by evaporation, is extremely saline, and supports no animal or plant life.[4] Further south, the country's western boundary is formed by the escarpment at the edge of the Great Rift Valley that continues southward to the Gulf of Aqaba. The climate is hot and dry in summer, and cool in winter, the time of year when all the precipitation occurs.[3]
Jordan has a range of biodiverse habitats and over two thousand species of plant have been recorded in the country; this includes about 150 plant families and 700 genera. Just three of these are gymnosperms; Aleppo pine, Mediterranean cypress and Phoenecian juniper. Somewhere between five and ten species of ferns have been recorded, as well as about 150 species of fungi and lichen.[5]
Many of the flowering plants bloom in the spring after the winter rains and the type of vegetation depends largely on the amount of precipitation. The mountainous regions in the northwest are clothed in natural forests of pine, deciduous oak, evergreen oak, pistachio and wild olive.[6] Further south and east, the vegetation becomes more scrubby and merges into a steppe-type vegetation, and the centre and east of the country are largely hamada, a hard desert plateau with little sand.[5]
The slopes overlooking the rift valley are seared with wadis which run with water in the winter and support a lush growth of trees and bushes in otherwise inhospitable terrain. In the rift valley, the Fifa Nature Reserve includes saltpans and areas of semi-tropical vegetation.[7] Further south is the Qatar Nature Reserve, close to the Gulf of Aqaba, and this area is dry throughout the year and contains steppe-type vegetation with Acacia trees.[8]
Hunting is a traditional sport in Jordan, and in the 1930s, the Arabian oryx was hunted to extinction in the country. Three species of gazelle, the dorcas, goitered and mountain gazelles, were also hunted and greatly reduced in numbers. In 1973, legislation was enacted to control hunting, with a closed season being introduced and quotas being set. The Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, a fenced off area in the deserts of central Jordan, has since been used in a breeding and reintroduction programme for the Arabian oryx,[11] as well as other species such as the Somali ostrich, the Persian onager and gazelles.[12] Other animals that have been released into the wild are the Nubian ibex, wild boar, fallow deer and roe deer.[11]
Five species of turtle are known from Jordan and there are a variety of snakes, mostly colubrids and vipers, but with representatives of seven snake families. Other reptiles include geckos, skinks, agamid lizards, wall lizards, the desert monitor and the glass snake (a legless lizard). Amphibians are limited to a single species of newt, the southern banded newt, and four species of frogs and toads.[5]
The number of freshwater fish species is limited but there are 25 species of native and introduced fish in eight families in the Jordan River and various lakes and dams. The Jordan bream is a species of fish endemic to the rivers and lakes of the Jordan River basin. It has been introduced to several lakes and reservoirs in the region including the Azraq Wetland Reserve, although this oasis in the eastern desert is drying up because excessive quantities of groundwater are being extracted.[16] The critically endangered Azraq toothcarp is also hanging on to existence in this single location, with a population consisting of an estimated few thousand individuals.[17]
Wildlife of Aqaba
Aqaba's gulf is rich with marine life, around 500 - 1000 species of fish inhabit the gulf, many of which are residents, like lion fish and octopus, while others are migratory, appearing mostly during the summer, such as the worlds fastest fish, the sailfish, as well as the worlds largest fish, the whale shark. The Gulf of Aqaba is known for its variety in biodiversity and is home to marine mammals and reptiles who also inhabit the gulf, which include species such as hawksbill sea turtles, green sea turtles, bottlenose dolphins and risso's dolphins. A number of predatory shark species inhabit Aqaba's gulf as well, however over fishing and pollution are a threat sharks of Aqaba are facing. Sharks of the Aqaba gulf are mostly deep water sharks which include tiger sharks, thresher sharks, oceanic whitetip and a small number of reef sharks. The shortfin mako shark is the most common shark caught by fishermen in Aqaba, which is also the world's fastest shark, locally known as "oasaf/قصف", whereas whale sharks have the most common sightings, locally known as "battan/بتان". Most shark species pose no threats to human beings, attacks are extremely rare and are usually a result of miss identification. Conservationists are working hard to protect Aqaba's shark population.[18][19]
The Arabian Desert is a vast desert wilderness in Western Asia that occupies almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. It stretches from Yemen to the Persian Gulf and Oman to Jordan and Iraq. It occupies most of the Arabian Peninsula, with an area of 2,330,000 square kilometers (900,000 sq mi). 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 Shaumari Wildlife Reserve is a Jordanian nature reserve near the town of Azraq, approximately 100 km (62 mi) east of Amman.
Biodiversity in Israel and Palestine is about the fauna and flora in the geographical region of Israel and of the State of Palestine. This geographical area within the historical region of Palestine extends from the Jordan River and Wadi Araba in the east, to the Mediterranean Sea and the Sinai desert in the west, to Lebanon in the north, and to the gulf of Aqaba, or Eilat in the south.
Jordan is a sovereign Arab state in the Middle East. The capital, Amman, is Jordan's most populous city as well as the country's economic, political and cultural centre.
The wildlife of Djibouti, consisting of its flora and fauna, is in a harsh landscape with forest accounting for less than one percent of its area. Most species are found in the northern part of the country in the Day Forest National Park at an average elevation of 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), including the massif Goda, with a peak of 1,783 metres (5,850 ft). It covers an area of 3.5 square kilometres (1.4 sq mi) of Juniperus procera forest, with many of the trees rising to 20 metres (66 ft) height. This forest area is the main habitat of the critically endangered and endemic Djibouti spurfowl, and another recently noted vertebrate, Platyceps afarensis. The area also contains many species of woody and herbaceous plants, including boxwood and olive trees, which account for sixty percent of the identified species in the country.
The wildlife of Egypt is composed of the flora and fauna of this country in northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia, and is substantial and varied. Apart from the fertile Nile Valley, which bisects the country from south to north, the majority of Egypt's landscape is desert, with a few scattered oases. It has long coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea, the Gulf of Suez, the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. Each geographic region has a diversity of plants and animals each adapted to its own particular habitat.
The wildlife of Niger is composed of its flora and fauna. The wildlife protected areas in the country total about 8.5 million hectares, which is 6.6% of the land area of the country, a figure which is expected to eventually reach the 11% percent target fixed by the IUCN with addition of more areas under the reserve category. The dama gazelle has become a national symbol. Under the Hausa name meyna or ménas the dama appears on the badge of the Niger national football team, who are popularly called the Ménas.
The Azraq Wetland Reserve is a nature reserve located in the town of Azraq in the eastern desert of Jordan. An oasis for migratory birds, the reserve was established in 1978 and covers 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi). The natural springs dried up in 1992 and most migratory birds subsequently moved away from the area. Artificial springs are maintained today in order to keep the site a tourist destination.
There are at least seven nature reserves in Jordan. In 1966, the organization that would later start Jordan's nature reserves, the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, was founded. RSCN's first efforts involved bringing back severely endangered species. In 1973, RSCN, was given the right to issue hunting licenses, giving RSCN an upper hand in preventing extinction. The first step was the founding of Jordan's first nature reserve, Shaumari Wildlife Reserve, in 1975. The primary purpose was to create means to breed endangered species, specifically: the Arabian oryx, gazelles, ostriches and Persian onagers in their natural environment.
The wildlife of Mongolia consists of unique flora and fauna in 3092.75 habitats dictated by the diverse and harsh climatic conditions found in the country. Then the north, salty marshes, fresh-water sources, desert steppes at the centre, and semi deserts, as well as the hot Gobi desert in the south, the fifth largest desert in the world.
The wildlife of Qatar includes the peninsula's flora and fauna and their natural habitats. The country's terrestrial wildlife includes numerous small nocturnal mammals, a number of reptiles which mainly consist of lizard species, and arthropods. Aquatic animals primarily include fish, shrimp and pearl oysters. The desert and the shoreline form an important resting site for a number of migratory bird species during autumn and spring. Urban and agricultural developments have led to an increase in bird species.
Qatar is a peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, bordering Saudi Arabia to the south and surrounded elsewhere by the Persian Gulf. A strait separates Qatar from the island kingdom of Bahrain.
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 wildlife of Yemen is substantial and varied. Yemen is a large country in the southern half of the Arabian Peninsula with several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. As well as high mountains and deserts, there is a coastal plain and long coastline. The country has links with Europe and Asia, and the continent of Africa is close at hand. The flora and fauna have influences from all these regions and the country also serves as a staging post for migratory birds.
The wildlife of Saudi Arabia is substantial and varied. Saudi Arabia is a very large country forming the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula. It has several geographic regions, each with a diversity of plants and animals adapted to their own particular habitats. The country has several extensive mountain ranges, deserts, highlands, steppes, hills, wadis, volcanic areas, lakes and over 1300 islands. The Saudi Arabian coastline has a combined length of 2640 km and consists of the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea to the west while a shorter eastern coastline can be found along the Persian Gulf.
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.
The wildlife of Turkmenistan is the flora and fauna of Turkmenistan, and the natural habitats in which they live. Turkmenistan is a country in Central Asia to the east of the Caspian Sea. Two thirds of the country is hot dry plains and desert, and the rest is more mountainous. Very little rain falls in summer and the chief precipitation occurs in the southern part of the country in the winter and spring. The Caspian coast has milder winters.
The wildlife of Kuwait consists of the flora and fauna of Kuwait and their natural habitats. Kuwait is a country in the Middle East at the head of the Persian Gulf, located between Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
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 Mesopotamian shrub desert is a deserts and xeric shrublands ecoregion in Western Asia. It extends across portions of Israel, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.
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