Jabal Aja Protected Area is a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

in northern

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. It consists of a red granite

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

projecting from a flatter area and is of importance for both plant and animal life. It lies at 27°30'N and 41°30'E close to the town of Ha'il and has a total area of around . Jabal Aja has been designated an

Important Plant Area Important Plant Areas (IPA) is a programme set up in the United Kingdom, UK, by the organisation Plantlife, to provide a framework for identifying and maintaining the richest sites for plant life, possibly within existing protected areas; though th ...

and an

Important Bird and Biodiversity 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 Inte ...

Geography

Jabal Aja is a granite mountain range about long and wide with an area of about . The mountains are criss-crossed by straight valleys that have developed along fault lines and have an altitude varying between . The mountain probably receives more rainfall than the surrounding area where Ha'il averages about . This falls mainly in winter, mostly from storms approaching from the southwest, and frost is not unusual. Jabal Aja is situated to the west and southwest of the town of Ha'il and the protected area has been extended to the northeast to include an area of arid flattish terrain with low sandstone hills and granite outcrops extending to the edge of the

An Nafud An Nafud or Al-Nefud or The Nefud ( ar, صحراء النفود, ṣahrā' an-Nafūd) is a desert in the northern part of the Arabian Peninsula at , occupying a great oval depression. It is long and wide, with an area of . The Nafud is an er ...

desert.

Flora and fauna

Jabal Aja has been designated an Important Plant Area because of the richness of its plant life and the presence of many

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

and

relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...

plant species. The reserve offers a refuge to plants from the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on th ...

and

Irano-Turanian Region The Irano-Turanian Region is a floristic region located within the Tethyan Subkingdom of the Holarctic Kingdom. It is divided into 12 floristic provinces according to the work of Armen Takhtajan, a Soviet-Armenian botanist who created a classifica ...

s in an area that otherwise forms part of the Saharo-Arabian Region. About 355

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...

of plant have been recorded in the reserve, including the plants found in the adjoining desert area of An Nafud. The plains have deep sandy-loam soils and the dominant plant is ''

Haloxylon salicornicum ''Haloxylon salicornicum'' is a shrub or undershrub belonging to the family Amaranthaceae. It is a desert shrub and is found in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Description ''Halo ...

'', with the

desert gourd ''Citrullus colocynthis'', with many common names including Abu Jahl's melon, (native name in Turkey) colocynth, bitter apple, bitter cucumber, egusi, vine of Sodom, or wild gourd, is a desert viny plant native to the Mediterranean Basin and A ...

being common and ''

Asphodelus tenuifolius ''Asphodelus tenuifolius'' is a common weed of fields, particularly of wheat and chickpea fields. It grows in Egypt and in the Sinai peninsula. It's also native to the Mediterranean region, Asia and the Mascarene Islands. It is generally present ...

'' occurring in depressions. The annual plants '' Stipa tortilis'', ''

Picris cyanocarpa ''Picris'' (oxtongues) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. ''Picris'' species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species, such as the grass moth ''Diasemia ret ...

'' and ''

Anthemis ''Anthemis'' is a genus of aromatic flowering plants in the family Asteraceae, closely related to ''Chamaemelum'', and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. ''Anthemis'' are nativ ...

'' appear after rains. On the thin slopes below the rocks, ''

Acacia gerrardii ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' is dominant and is accompanied by other woody shrubs such as '' Searsia'', '' Periploca'', ''

Gymnocarpos ''Gymnocarpos'' is a genus of plants in the family Caryophyllaceae. Selected species It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * ''Gymnocarpos bracteatus'' (Balf.f.) Thulin * ''Gymnocarpos kuriensis ''Gymnocarpos ...

'' and ''

Ephedra foliata ''Ephedra foliata'' is a species of gymnosperm in the Ephedraceae family. It is referred to by the common name shrubby horsetail. It is native to North Africa, and Southwest Asia, from Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Mo ...

''. In the wadis and runnels, more ''Acacia gerrardi'' grows, associated with ''

Lycium shawii ''Lycium shawii'', desert thorn or Arabian boxthorn is a species of thorny shrub adapted to desert environments, and can be found throughout the Arabian peninsula, and some places in Africa. The thin leaved, rigid bush grows up to high, with a l ...

'', ''

Pulicaria undulata ''Pulicaria'' is a genus of flowering plant in the sunflower family, native to Europe, Asia, and Africa. In North America ''Pulicaria'' is known by the common name false fleabane. ''Pulicaria'' species accepted by the Plants of the World Onlin ...

'', ''

Ochradenus baccatus ''Ochradenus'' is a genus of plant in family Resedaceae. It contains the following species (but this list may be incomplete): * ''Ochradenus socotranus ''Ochradenus socotranus'' is a species of plant in the Resedaceae family. It is endemic to ...

'' and ''

Zilla spinosa ''Zilla'' is a genus of plants in the family Brassicaceae, that grows in the Sahara-Arabian extreme deserts, in Northern Africa and the Middle East. Species Species include the following, and possibly others: * ''Zilla macroptera'' * '' Zilla ...

''. The combined area of Jabal Aja and Northern Ha'il has been designated an

because of its importance as a centre for migratory birds especially the

demoiselle crane The demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') is a species of crane found in central Eurosiberia, ranging from the Black Sea to Mongolia and North Eastern China. There is also a small breeding population in Turkey. These cranes are migratory birds. Bird ...

(''Grus virgo''). Among the important species resident in the reserve are the

sand partridge The sand partridge (''Ammoperdix heyi'') is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes, gallinaceous birds. This partridge has its main native range from Egypt and Israel east to south Arabia. It is closely related a ...

griffon vulture The Eurasian griffon vulture (''Gyps fulvus'') is a large Old World vulture in the bird of prey family Accipitridae. It may also be known as the Griffon vulture, though it may be used for the genus as a whole. It is not to be confused with ...

Egyptian vulture The Egyptian vulture (''Neophron percnopterus''), also called the white scavenger vulture or pharaoh's chicken, is a small Old World vulture and the only member of the genus ''Neophron''. It is widely distributed from the Iberian Peninsula an ...

desert owl The desert owl or desert tawny owl (''Strix hadorami''), formerly known as Hume's owl, is a species of owl. It is closely related to the more widespread tawny owl and to the range-restricted Omani owl. This species is a part of the family Stri ...

and

pale rockfinch The pale rockfinch or pale rock sparrow (''Carpospiza brachydactyla'') is a small sparrow found in the Middle East and Central Asia. It is the only member of the genus ''Carpospiza''. Some authorities include it in the genus ''Petronia''. Other ...

. Among the migratory species that visit the reserve in passage or over-winter here are

Menetries's warbler Menetries's warbler or Ménétries's warbler (''Curruca mystacea'') is a small passerine bird of Southwest Asia belonging to the genus '' Curruca''. The name of the species commemorates Édouard Ménétries, the French zoologist who described the ...

white-throated robin The white-throated robin (''Irania gutturalis''), or irania, is a small, sexually dimorphic, migratory passerine bird. The vernacular and genus name ''Irania'' alludes to Iran, its type locality, while the specific name ''gutturalis'' is Medieva ...

Finsch's wheatear Finsch's wheatear (''Oenanthe finschii'') is a wheatear, a small insectivorous passerine that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family, Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher of the family Muscic ...

cinereous bunting The cinereous bunting (''Emberiza cineracea'') is a bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a ''passerine'' family now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae. This species was first described by Christian Ludwig Brehm. ...

and several species of

cranes Crane or cranes may refer to: Common meanings * Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird * Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting ** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads People and fictional characters * Crane (surname), ...

. Mammals found in the park include the

grey wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...

sand cat The sand cat (''Felis margarita'') is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a ...

and Nubian ibex, and there are a number of species of reptile and amphibian. In 1973, the country's last known

cheetah The cheetah (''Acinonyx jubatus'') is a large cat native to Africa and central Iran. It is the fastest land animal, estimated to be capable of running at with the fastest reliably recorded speeds being , and as such has evolved specialized ...

s were reported in the vicinity of Ha'il.

References

{{Mountains in the Arabian Peninsula Protected areas of Saudi Arabia

Geography

Flora and fauna

See also

References