Egyptian-Arabian BioProvince

This BioProvince (as defined by Armen Takhtajan) includes the area east of the Nile Valley in Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula, the extratropical part of the Arabian Peninsula, most of southern Palestine, part of Jordan, the southern part of the Syrian Desert and lower Mesopotania where the boundary continues just north of Balad, Kuwait and the Bahrain Islands. The geology is complex but limestone covers much of the area, while the climate is extremely arid and classed as tropical desert. It is difficult to be precise regarding the status of the flora. The checklist for Egypt includes 2145 species together with 220 infraspecific taxa of native and naturalized plants. Of these 60 are regarded as endemic but there are a further 93 near-endemic taxa known from Egypt and one neighbouring country. In Saudi Arabia no families or genera of flowering plants are considered endemic but there are some 246 species regarded as regionally endemic.

The following accounts for this BioProvince have been written or will be written with particular reference to endemic and locally important species. Accounts available are displayed in green or yellow. Those displayed in red are either in the pipeline or awaiting expert contributions.

 

Index
Major Ecosystems
Endemic Vascular Plant Flora
Bryophyte Flora
Fungus Flora
Lichen Flora
Invertebrate Fauna
Amphibian Fauna
Reptile Fauna
Bird Fauna
Mammal Fauna
Conservation Status