Article
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Biogeography and Conservation in the Arabian Peninsula: A Present Perspective
Version 1
: Received: 11 June 2024 / Approved: 12 June 2024 / Online: 12 June 2024 (11:54:27 CEST)
How to cite: Ghazanfar, S. A. Biogeography and Conservation in the Arabian Peninsula: A Present Perspective. Preprints 2024, 2024060814. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.0814.v1 Ghazanfar, S. A. Biogeography and Conservation in the Arabian Peninsula: A Present Perspective. Preprints 2024, 2024060814. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202406.0814.v1
Abstract
The Arabian Peninsula with its rugged mountains, wadis, alluvial plains, sand dune deserts, and diverse coastlines span over 3 million square kilometres. The Peninsula is situated at the crossroads of Africa and Asia and is a meeting point for diverse biogeographic realms, including the Palearctic, Afrotropical, and In-domalayan regions. This convergence of biogeographic zones has resulted in a remarkably diverse flora and fauna, which is adapted to the harsh and varied climates found throughout the Peninsula. Each of the coun-tries of the Arabian Peninsula are biologically diverse and unique in their own rite, but Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Oman are the most diverse in terms of their landforms and biological diversity. The mountainous regions support a cooler and more moderate climate compared to the surrounding lowlands, thus forming unique ecosystems that function as refugia for plant and animal species and have a high endemism of plant species. The desert ecosystems support a variety of life that are specially adapted to an extreme arid climate. Due to its long history of human habitation and subsistence agriculture, particularly in the mountainous areas, the Arabian Peninsula possesses unique crop varieties adapted to extreme arid climates, making them important genetic resources for the future in the face of climate change. The Arabian Peninsula, though rich and diverse in its biological diversity, has been greatly affected by human activities especially in the last 50 years, including urbanization, habitat destruction, overgrazing, and climate change; these pose significant threats to the biodiversity of the region.
Keywords
Arabian Peninsula; biogeography; conservation; CWR; ecoregions; endemism; floristics; genetic resources
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Plant Sciences
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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