The South Arabian fog woodlands, shrublands, and dune is an

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of t ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

. The fog woodlands lie on mountainsides which slope southeastwards towards the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. The mountains intercept moisture-bearing winds from the Arabian Sea, creating

orographic precipitation Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader discip ...

and frequent fogs that sustain unique woodlands and shrublands in a desert region.

Geography

The ecoregion occupies an area of 19,913 km² (7,688 sq mi) in eastern

and southern Oman's

Dhofar Governorate The Dhofar Governorate ( ar, مُحَافَظَة ظُفَار, Muḥāfaẓat Ẓufār) is the largest of the 11 Governorates in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of area. It lies in Southern Oman, on the eastern border with Yemen's Al Mahrah Go ...

. The ecoregion covers four separate areas. The westernmost is the Ureys (or Areys) range, a coastal mountain range that rises east of the town of

Shuqrah Shuqrah ( ar, شُقْرَة), also Shaqrāʾ ( ar, شَقْرَاء) or Shuqrāʾ ( ar, شُقْرَاء), is a coastal town in southern Yemen. It was the capital of the Fadhli Sultanate until the capital moved to Zinjibar in 1962, although the ...

, 150 kilometres northeast of

Aden Aden ( ar, عدن ' Yemeni: ) is a city, and since 2015, the temporary capital of Yemen, near the eastern approach to the Red Sea (the Gulf of Aden), some east of the strait Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000 people. ...

. The range is made up of dark igneous rock, extending about 65 kilometres east and west parallel to the coast. It is named for its tallest peak, Jabal Ureys (1,735 metres), which lies at the western end of the range close to the coast. The rest of the range is an east–west ridge 1,500 to 1,600 metres high, dropping to a dissected plateau 1,200–1,350 metres elevation and 2–3 kilometres wide on the seaward (southern) side. There is a steep escarpment between the plateau and the coast. The largest area is in the

Hadhramaut Hadhramaut ( ar, حَضْرَمَوْتُ \ حَضْرَمُوتُ, Ḥaḍramawt / Ḥaḍramūt; Hadramautic: 𐩢𐩳𐩧𐩣𐩩, ''Ḥḍrmt'') is a region in South Arabia, comprising eastern Yemen, parts of western Oman and southern Sau ...

mountains of Yemen, on the mountainsides above

Mukalla Mukalla ( ar, ٱلْمُكَلَّا, ') is a seaport and the capital city of Yemen's largest governorate, Hadhramaut. The city is in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula on the Gulf of Aden, on the shores of the Arabian Sea, about east o ...

. The Hadhramaut mountains rise up to 2,100 metres elevation. The eastern area is in the

Dhofar Mountains The Dhofar Mountains ( ar, جِبَال ظُفَار, Jibāl Ẓufār) are a mountain range in the southeastern part of the Arabian Peninsula. In a broad sense, they extend from Dhofar Governorate in Oman to Hadhramaut Governorate in Yemen, and ...

, extending from easternmost Yemen to Ras ash Sharbatat in Oman. In between the Dhofar and Hahramaut is a small enclave on Jabal Fartak in Yemen, above the headland of Ras Fartak. The ecoregion is bounded inland by the by the

Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna The Southwestern Arabian foothills savanna, also known as the Southwestern Arabian Escarpment shrublands and woodlands, is a desert and xeric shrubland ecoregion of the southern Arabian Peninsula, covering portions of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Om ...

ecoregion, which includes the drier foothill and mountain forests of southwest Arabia. The ecoregion is bounded on the ocean side by the

Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert The Arabian Peninsula coastal fog desert, also known as the Southwestern Arabian coastal xeric scrub, is desert ecoregion on the southern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, which experiences thick fogs where visibility may be reduced to . It is c ...

, which occupies the coastal strip along the Arabian Sea.

Flora

The predominant plant communities include deciduous woodland with trees ''

Anogeissus ''Anogeissus'' is a genus of trees in the family Combretaceae. The 10''Anogeissus''.
Fl ...

'', ''

Vachellia ''Vachellia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, commonly known as thorn trees or acacias. It belongs to the subfamily Mimosoideae. Its species were considered members of genus '' Acacia'' until 2009. ''Vachellia'' ...

'' and ''

Commiphora The genus of the myrrhs, ''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 th ...

'', shrubland of ''

Olea europaea The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

Dodonaea viscosa ''Dodonaea viscosa'', also known as the broadleaf hopbush, is a species of flowering plant in the ''Dodonaea'' (hopbush) genus that has a cosmopolitan distribution in Tropics, tropical, Subtropics, subtropical and warm temperate regions of Africa ...

Carissa spinarum ''Carissa spinarum'', the conkerberry or bush plum, is a large shrub of the dogbane family (Apocynaceae), widely distributed in tropical regions of Africa, Southern Asia, Australia, and various islands of the Indian Ocean. It is most well known ...

'' and ''Rhus somalensis'', succulent scrubland including ''

Aloe ''Aloe'' (; also written ''Aloë'') is a genus containing over 650 species of flowering succulent plants.WFO (2022): Aloe L. Published on the Internet;http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-4000001341. Accessed on: 06 Nov 2022 The most wid ...

Caralluma ''Caralluma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, consisting of about 120 species. In 1795 William Roxburgh published the name '' Stapelia adscendens'' for a plant found in India. He commented that the name for the plant ...

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

Adenium ''Adenium'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1819. It is native to Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Cultivation and uses ''Adenium obesum'' is grown as a houseplant in temperate and tropica ...

'' and ''

Cissus ''Cissus'' is a genus of approximately 350 species of lianas (Woody plant, woody vines) in the grape family (Vitaceae). They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics. Uses Medicinal ''Cissus quadrang ...

'', as well as semi-desert grassland. '' Anogeissus dhofarica'' is

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 elsew ...

to the ecoregion and is the characteristic tree of the woodlands. ''A. dhofarica'' is a tall tree which can grow up to twelve metres in height. It is dry-season deciduous, losing its leaves in November or December at the start of the winter dry season and re-leafing when the

khareef ''Khareef'' ( ar, خَرِيْف, Kharīf, autumn) is a colloquial Arabic term used in southern Oman, southeastern Yemen, southwestern Saudi Arabia and Sudan for the southeastern monsoon. The monsoon affects Dhofar and Al Mahrah Governorates f ...

(southwest monsoon) brings summer rains. '' Anogeissus bentii'' is endemic to the Hadhramaut and Ras Fartak areas. In the Ureys range, semi-evergreen forests grow on the seaward plateau and escarpment between 800 and 1,200 metres elevation, dominated by ''Olea europaea'' subsp. ''cuspidata'' and ''

Tarchonanthus camphoratus ''Tarchonanthus camphoratus'' (known as camphor bush for its scent, or leleshwa in Kenya), is a shrub or small tree, widespread in Africa south of the Sahel. Description The camphor bush can reach up to 6 meters in height. The twigs and younger ...

'', with '' Acokanthera schimperi,

Cordia monoica ''Cordia monoica'', the sandpaper saucer-berry, or snot berry, is a species of flowering tree in the borage family, Boraginaceae, that is native to India, Sri Lanka and in African countries from Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Zimbabwe down to ...

'', ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''schimperi'', ''Searsia flexicaulis'' and ''Searsia glutinosa'' subsp. ''abyssinica''. Escarpment gorges with more year-round water shelter evergreen trees ''

Rotheca myricoides ''Rotheca myricoides'' (butterfly bush – also a name for ''Buddleja'' species) is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae. It is native to Africa and widely cultivated elsewhere. In cultivation, it is frequently known by one of its ...

'', '' Ficus ingens'', ''Nuxia oppositifolia'' and '' Mimusops laurifolia'', which are generally found in the forests of eastern Africa. The ecoregion is home to 850 species of plants, of which 90 are endemic. There is one endemic genus, ''Dhofaria''. Other endemic species include ''Aloe dhufarensis, A. mahraensis'' and '' Blepharis dhofarensis''. Endemics in the Ureys range include ''Cystostemon kissenioides, Salvia areysiana'' and ''Kleinia deflersii.'' The ecoregion is home to ''

Boswellia sacra ''Boswellia sacra'' (commonly known as frankincense or olibanum-tree) is a tree in the Burseraceae family. It is the primary tree in the genus ''Boswellia'' from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested. It is native to the Arabian ...

'', the shrub from which aromatic

frankincense Frankincense (also known as olibanum) is an aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species o ...

is harvested.

Ecoregion delineation

In the 2001 Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World (TEOW) system, "a biogeographic regionalization of the Earth's terrestrial biodiversity", the region was divided between the

and

ecoregions. In 2017, some of the authors of the 2001 system proposed a revised ecoregion system for the Arabian Peninsula, which designated the South Arabian fog woodlands, shrublands, and dune as a separate ecoregion.Eric Dinerstein, David Olson, et al. (2017). An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm, BioScience, Volume 67, Issue 6, June 2017, Pages 534–545

/ref>

External links

Dhofar: Oman’s vertical fog oasis on the edge of the unknown (Natural History of Ecological Restoration)

References

{{reflist Afrotropical ecoregions Ecoregions of Oman Ecoregions of Yemen Tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrublands South Arabia