Impact of Climate Change on Arab Countries - (IPCC) - Working ...

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CHAPTER 8
ECOSYSTEMS AND BIODIVERSITY
I. OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT STATUS
OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE ARAB WORLD
The Arab world houses a unique biological diversity
in terms <strong>of</strong> species and ecosystems represented
by arid, semi arid, and Mediterranean biomes
(Figure 1). The reported number <strong>of</strong> species currently
harboured in the Arab world is listed in
floras, compendiums, and country reports (Table
1). The richest countries documented in terms
<strong>of</strong> plant diversity with more than 3000 species
include Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria,
Algeria, Tunisia, and Somalia, while animal
diversity is highest with more than 5000 species
in Algeria, Lebanon, Syria, and Tunisia (CBD
national reports). The density is estimated at
1000-2000 plant species per 10,000 km 2 in
Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Syria and less
than a 1,000 per 10,000 km 2 for the remaining
Arab countries. The density <strong>of</strong> mammal species
ranges between 21-50 animal species per 10,000
km 2 in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan,
Syria, and Tunisia, with a high range <strong>of</strong> 51-100
in Lebanon and a range <strong>of</strong> less than 20 in the
remaining countries (The Atlas <strong>of</strong> Endangered
Species, 2005).
Many species in the Arab world currently face
major threats which will be augmented in the
future due to the repercussions <strong>of</strong> climate change.
With respect to terrestrial biodiversity and more
specifically plant biodiversity, according to the
2008 IUCN threat categories (Table 2), Yemen
has the highest number <strong>of</strong> threatened species at
159 while the remaining countries either did not
indicate any data or range between 0 to 17
species. With respect to animals, the countries
with the highest number <strong>of</strong> threatened species
according to the 2008 IUCN categories include
Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia,
Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen which all have more
than 80 threatened animal species, with a maximum
<strong>of</strong> 108 species in Egypt. An overall status <strong>of</strong>
threatened species in the Arab world is summarized
per specific taxonomic group in Table 3
(IUCN, 2008).
Marine biodiversity along the coasts <strong>of</strong> the Arab
world shows significant threat levels in selected
areas such as the highly threatened dugongs in
Bahrain whose seagrass foraging grounds around
the archipelago form the world’s second largest
dugong aggregation (a tightly linked group <strong>of</strong>
dugongs, large marine herbivorous mammals,
occupying the same area) after Australia. In
FIGURE 1
EXAMPLES OF SPECIFIC BIOMES IN THE ARAB WORLD
Main biomes
• Desert
• Xeric shrubland
• Semi desert
• Mediterranean
Sub-categories <strong>of</strong> biomes
• Temperate broadleaf and mixed forest with temperate grasslands, savannas and shrubland
in Oman, Jordan and Syria
• Mediterranean forest, woodlands and scrub with scattered temperate conifer forest along the
coastline <strong>of</strong> Morocco and Algeria
• Tropical & subtropical grasslands savannas & in southern Mauritania and Sudan
• Flooded grasslands& savannas in Egypt and Iraq
Sources: SEDAC-Map client; Biomes and Ecosystems, 2008