The Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert, also known as the Southwestern Arabian coastal xeric scrub, is a desert

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

on the southern coasts of the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula (, , or , , ) or Arabia, is a peninsula in West Asia, situated north-east of Africa on the Arabian plate. At , comparable in size to India, the Arabian Peninsula is the largest peninsula in the world. Geographically, the ...

, which experiences thick fogs where visibility may be reduced to . It is classed as an

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

fog desert

Location and description

This ecosystem exists on a strip along the western and eastern coasts of Arabia. It follows the coast of

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

southward from

Masirah Island Masirah Island (), also referred to as Mazeira Island, is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the Arabian Sea, and the largest island of the country. Administratively, it forms one of the five Provinces of Oman, provinces (''Wilaya ...

and reaches inland to in the Jiddat al Harasisi plateau and the Dhofar Mountains. From here it continues as a very narrow strip (only wide) along the coast of

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

and up the wide the

Tihamah Tihamah or Tihama ( ') is the Red Sea coastal plain of the Arabian Peninsula from the Gulf of Aqaba to the Bab el Mandeb. Etymology Tihāmat is the Proto-Semitic language's term for 'sea'. Tiamat (or Tehom, in masculine form) was the ancient M ...

plain along the

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

coast of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

. In Oman and Yemen moisture is provided by thick fogs coming off the ocean during the summer khareef monsoon, while the hot Tihamah plain is moisturised by some rainfall and the generally high humidity of the Red Sea.

Flora and fauna

Although it rarely rains, the fog provides moisture sufficient to nurture a great deal of

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

s and thick

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

. There are over 60 local species of plants. This coastal strip is of particular importance because further inland where the fog does not have an influence, most of the

is desert. Vegetation varies progressively away from the coast which features dense woodland of '' Terminalia dhofarica'', ''

Senegalia senegal ''Senegalia senegal'' (also known as ''Acacia senegal'') is a small thorny deciduous tree from the genus '' Senegalia'', which is known by several common names, including gum acacia, gum arabic tree, Sudan gum and Sudan gum arabic. In parts of I ...

'' and various thorny ''

Commiphora ''Commiphora'' is the most species-rich genus of flowering plants in the frankincense and myrrh family, Burseraceae. The genus contains approximately 190 species of shrubs and trees, which are distributed throughout the (sub-) tropical regions of A ...

'' trees and shrubs. The richest flora can be found in the Dhofar Mountains which have 900 plants including 60 endemic species. One of these plants, ''

Boswellia sacra ''Boswellia sacra'', also known as ''Boswellia carteri'' and others, and commonly called the frankincense tree or the olibanum tree, is a tree in the genus '' Boswellia,'' in the Burseraceae family, from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap ...

'' (frankincense), was a source of great wealth for Dhofar in antiquity. In Yemen, the side of Jabal Urays facing the sea is covered with '' Euphorbia balsamifera'' shrubs. The many mammals found here include the

Arabian Oryx The Arabian oryx or white oryx (''Oryx leucoryx'') is a medium-sized antelope with a distinct shoulder bump, long, straight horns, and a tufted tail. It is a bovid, and the smallest member of the genus '' Oryx'', native to desert and steppe area ...

''(Oryx leucoryx)'' which was reintroduced to the wild after disappearing,

Arabian Gazelle The Arabian gazelle ''(Gazella arabica)'' is a species of gazelle from the Arabian Peninsula. There are approximately 5,000 – 7,000 mature individuals in the wild.IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group. 2017. ''Gazella arabica''. ''The IUCN Red List ...

and

Nubian Ibex The Nubian ibex (''Capra nubiana'') is a desert-dwelling goat species (Genus ''Capra (genus), Capra'') found in mountainous areas of North Africa, northern and Horn of Africa, northeast Africa, and the Middle East. It was historically considered ...

, a goat antelope. Predators found on the coast include

Caracal The caracal (''Caracal caracal'') () is a medium-sized Felidae, wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and arid areas of Pakistan and northwestern India. It is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long ...

Arabian Wolf The Arabian wolf (''Canis lupus arabs'') is a subspecies of gray wolf native to the Arabian Peninsula—to the west of Bahrain, as well as Oman, southern Saudi Arabia, and Yemen. It is also found in Israel’s Negev and Arava Deserts, Jordan, P ...

Striped Hyena The striped hyena (''Hyaena hyaena'') is a species of hyena native to North and East Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Hyaena''. It is listed by the IU ...

and the critically endangered

Arabian Leopard The Arabian leopard (''Panthera pardus nimr'') is the smallest leopard subspecies. It was described in 1830 and is native to the Arabian Peninsula, where it was widely distributed in rugged hilly and montane terrain until the late 1970s. Today, t ...

''(Panthera pardus nimr)'', which survives on Jebel Samhan in the Dhofar mountains.

Threats and preservation

The main threat to this ecosystem is

overgrazing Overgrazing occurs when plants are exposed to intensive grazing for extended periods of time, or without sufficient recovery periods. It can be caused by either livestock in poorly managed agricultural applications, game reserves, or nature ...

by increasing numbers of cattle and other livestock as well as off-road driving and human encroachment. Urban areas in this ecoregion include: in Oman the port of Duqm and the Dhofar capital of

Salalah Salalah () is the capital and largest city of the southern Omani Governorates of Oman, governorate of Dhofar Governorate, Dhofar. It has a population close to 331,949. Salalah is the third-largest city in the Sultanate of Oman, and the largest ...

; in Yemen, the

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ; ) is a geographic region in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula which includes the Yemeni governorates of Hadhramaut, Shabwah and Mahrah, Dhofar in southwestern Oman, and Sharurah in the Najran Province of Saudi A ...

port capital

Mukalla Mukalla, officially the Mukalla City District, is a seaport and the capital city district of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut Governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the South Arabia, southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of A ...

, the former capital and ancient port of

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

, the Red Sea coffee ports of

Al Hudaydah Hodeidah (), also transliterated as Hodeda, Hodeida, Hudaida or al-Hudaydah, is the fourth-largest city in Yemen and its Hudaydah Port, principal port on the Red Sea and it is the centre of Al Hudaydah Governorate. As of 2023, it had an estimate ...

(the largest town on this coast of Yemen) and Mocha, and the

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

Zabid Zabid () (also spelled Zabīd, Zabeed and Zebid) is a town with an urban population of around 52,590 people, located on Yemen's western coastal plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Yemen, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1993. Ho ...

; and the city of

Jizan Jizan () is a city and the capital of Jazan Province, which lies in the southwest corner of Saudi Arabia. Jizan is situated on the coast of the Red Sea and serves a large agricultural heartland that has a population of 173,919 as of 2022 and over ...

, the ''fruit basket of Saudi Arabia''. Protected areas in Oman include the controversial Arabian Oryx Sanctuary where the reintroduction took place, and Jabal Samhan Nature Reserve established for the protection of the leopards. There are several

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s on the coast of Yemen, but none are officially protected.

References

External links

Google booksBritannica Arabian Desert
{{coord missing, Asia Ecoregions of Asia Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Oman Ecoregions of Saudi Arabia Ecoregions of Yemen Arabian Peninsula Deserts of Oman Deserts of Saudi Arabia Deserts of Yemen Afrotropical ecoregions

Location and description

Flora and fauna

Threats and preservation

See also

References

External links