Uploaded by
National Red List Database
Taxonomic information
Assessed taxon level
Species
Higher level taxonomic groupings
Plants
Flowering Plants
Location and scope
Specific locality or subnational name or regional name
United Arab Emirates (the)
Scope (of the Assessment)
National
Countries included within the scope of the assessment
United Arab Emirates (the)
Does the assessment cover a marine EEZ area(s)?
Not_assigned
Conservation Status
Assessed as
Least Concern
Criteria system used
IUCN
(see Assessment details)
Assessment rationale/justification
Within the UAE, this species is found along the Arabian Gulf coast (Jongbloed et al. 2003), in the Hajar Mountains and foothills, and on the east coast. It is not a common species and is likely to have been impacted by, especially, coastal development. However, it has a large estimated extent of occurrence (EOO) and is considered to be Least Concern.
Assessment details
Assessors/contributors/reviewers listed
UAE National Red List Workshop
Criteria system used
IUCN
Reference for methods given
IUCN. 2012. IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria: Version 3.1, Second edition. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. iv + 32pp pp. And IUCN. 2012. Guidelines for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and National Levels: Version 4.0. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN. iii + 41pp.
Further information
Endemism (according to assessment)
Endemic to region
Not assigned
Taxon distribution as listed in assessment
Within the UAE this species inhabits salt flats around the Arabian Gulf coast (Jongbloed et al. 2003, Al Mehairbi et al. 2019). The species has also been observed in the Ru'us Al-Jibal Mountains to c.1,350 m elevation (Feulner 2011) and in the Wadi Wurayah National Park (Feulner 2016); it is considered typical of the Hajar Mountains (G. Brown pers. comm. 2019), and there is also a record from the east coast in Sharjah. Al Mehairbi et al. (2019) consider the species to be restricted to the Arabian Gulf coast, and even there, absent from large areas. Globally, this species occurs from north-eastern Africa, through the Arabian Peninsula, to Iran and Pakistan (Board of Trustees, RBG Kew 2018).
Is there a map available in assessment?
Yes
Habitat and systems
Ecological system type
Habitat
Habitat details as listed in assessment
The species is annual grass, up to 0.6 m (Al Mehairbi et al. 2019) with lance-shaped leaves. It occurs in sand and salt flats along the Arabian Gulf coast (Jongbloed et al. 2003), in silt in the mountains (Feulner 2011), and in a range of habitats such as wadis, wadi slopes, terraces, gulleys and slopes in Wadi Wurayah (Feulner 2016).
Threats and conservation measures listed
Threats listed in assessment
Impacts from coastal development are likely to have been significant. The species is grazed (Al Hehairi et al. 2019) but the impacts are not thought to be significant.
Publication
Allen, D.J., Westrip, J.R.S., Puttick, A., Harding, K.A., Hilton-Taylor, C. and Ali, H. 2021. UAE National Red List of Vascular Plants. Technical Report. Ministry of Climate Change and Environment, United Arab Emirates, Dubai.
