Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

https://www.vincentmounier.com/album/aerial/

The principal topographical features of the Sahara include shallow, seasonally inundated basins (chotts and dayas) and large oasis depressions; extensive gravel-covered plains (serirs or regs); rock-strewn plateaus (hammadas); abrupt mountains; and sand sheets, dunes, and sand seas (ergs).

Dayet, pl. daya: circular basin that collects rainwater on the regs or on the hamadas, when the slope is too low for drainage lines to be created.Dayas vary greatly in size: from a few meters to a few hundred meters in diameter. After rains, their loamy soil can retain moisture for weeks to months.

n mountainous areas, ravines collect runoff water during brief and violent floods. The bed of the wadi is most often made up of large boulders and devoid of vegetation. Trees and bushes preferentially grow at the limit between the bed of the wadi and the foot of the scree. The slopes of the ravines - like the krebs - offer a wide variety of exposures and micro-environments favorable to a sparse but varied flora.

Sebkha: floodable depression whose bottom is covered with a salt crust where no vegetation grows.Chott: edge of the sebkha, covered with vegetation of salt tolerant plants. Sebkhas and chotts are found south of the Tafilalet, in the flood bed of the Ziz wadi. Where the water only passes and deposits silt, we have maader; but where water accumulates, stagnates and then evaporates and deposits dissolved mineral salts, there are sebkhas and chotts.

Erg: desert of fixed dunes of which only the superficial sand is constantly reshaped by the wind. Sidi-Ali (gps: 30.7913, -4.7919)

Jdayed (gps: 30.8462, -4.1713 - altitude: 700/900m)

Fezna (gps: 31.5255, -4.5122)

Prosopis cineraria, also known as ‘Ghaf, It is also the state tree ofRajasthan (where it is known as Khejri), Western Uttar Pradesh (where it is known as Chhonkara) and Telangana (where it is known as Jammi) in India, Shami, Khijro, Janti and Jand.

Vachellia nilotica (commonly known as gum arabic tree,babul, thorn mimosa, Egyptian acacia or thorny acacia)

Tamarix aphylla - The species has a variety of common names, including Athel tamarisk, Athel tree, and Athel pine

Calotropis procera - Common names for the plant include Apple of Sodom, Sodom apple, stabragh[citation needed], king's crown, rubber bush and rubber tree

Ziziphus jujuba, commonly called jujube, red date, Chinese date, is a species in the genus of Ziziphus (some of whose other species are also sometimes referred to as jujube), in the buckthorn family

Salvadora persica (arak, jhak, pīlu, Salvadora indica, toothbrush tree, mustard tree)

Date palm

Distribution also includes Pakistan

Aerva javanica - the kapok bush or desert cotton, is a species of plant in the family Amaranthaceae.

https://v3.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage?taxid=648048

Capparis decidua, known in Hindi as karira or kerda. It is a small much branched tree or shrub of arid regions in Africa, Middle East and southern Asia, including the Thar desert.

Cornulaca monacantha - It is a desert plant found in the Middle East and the Sahara, and the southern end of its range is considered to delineate the edge of the desert. In Arabic it is known as had and djouri, and the Tuareg people call it tahara.

Commiphora wightii, with common names Indian bdellium-tree, gugal, guggul, gugul, or Mukul myrrh tree, is a flowering plant

shurbs or smal trees Haloxylon and its species are known by the common name saxaul. The genus Haloxylon is distributed in southwest and Central Asia, from Egypt to Mongolia and China

Zygophyllum fontanesii - Accepted Scientific Name: Tetraena fontanesii Origin and Habitat: Western Sahara, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Islas Selvagens, Canary Islands (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, Hierro), Cape Verde Islands (Santo Antao Isl., Sao Vicente Isl., Ilha de Sao Nicolau, Sal Isl., Ilha da Boa Vista, Ilha de Maio, Ilha de Sao Tiago, Fogo Isl.).

Distribution also includes Pakistan

Dipterygium glaucum Decne.SynonymsDipterygium scabrum, Pteroloma arabicum, Pteroloma glaucumCommon namesAlqa, Cleome pallida Kotschy

Distribution: for sure in Pakistan...

Ephedra - the genus is found worldwide, in desert regions, but not in Australia. Ephedra lomatolepis is a species of Ephedra that is native to Kazakhstan and to the Tuva region of Siberia.

Occurs mostly in Asia also Spring Valley, California Common name: Leafless Milk Hedge • Hindi: Danda-thor • Telugu: Katte jemudu

Seidlitzia stocksii is distributed in Afghanistan, Pakistan and West India (Punjab, Rajasthan), where it grows on sandy or loamy saline soils (halophyte) and limestone hills. Vernacular name: It is locally known as khar, meaning salty.

Nannorrhops ritchiana, the Mazari palm It is native to southwestern Asia, in the historical region of Balochistan, from the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula east through Iran and Afghanistan to Pakistan, growing at altitudes of up to 1600 m

Desert-willow

Distribution also includes Sahara

It is native to coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and parts of the Middle East and central Asia, where it grows in coastal and inland salt marshes, alkali flats, and other habitats with saline soils.

Ephedra fragilis, commonly named the joint pine, is a species of Ephedra that is native to eastern Mediterranean region of southern Europe and Northern Africa, and from Madeira and the Canary Islands in the Atlantic.Its habitats are rocky hills and stone walls, where it grows to 6 feet

Distribution also includes Pakistan

This species is accepted, and its native range is W. Tropical Africa to NW. India and W. Indian Ocean

It is a plant of arid regions across Africa and Asia, and has been introduced to other parts of the world. It is common across the Sahara and Arabia, from Senegal to Pakistan, and known by a number of common names, most widely as Taman, tuman, or thaman in Egypt and Arabia; merkba or markouba in Mauritania and some Saharan Arabics; and afezu in Tamachek. Other common names include guinchi (eastern Sahara) and du-ghasi (Somalia). It grows on sand dunes in hot, dry climates, and will also grow in latosols.

Stipa capensis, the Mediterranean needle-grass, cape rice grass, Mediterranean steppegrass or twisted-awned speargrass, is an annual grass.

Ochthochloa is a genus of desert plants in the grass family native to the Sahara and Arabian DesertsThe only known species is Ochthochloa compressa.

Dactyloctenium is a genus of Asian, African, and Australian plants in the grass family.[1] A common name for the plants is crowfoot grassesDactyloctenium scindicum - This species is accepted, and its native range is Egypt to Kenya and NW. India.

Lasiurus is a genus of Asian and African plants in the grass family, Poaceae, found primarily in arid regions.The only known species is Lasiurus scindicus, native to drier regions of northern Africa and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Mali to India

Distribution also includes Pakistan

Common names include marvel grass, Diaz bluestem, Kleberg bluestem, Hindi grass, ringed dichanthium, sheda grass, medio bluestem (var. papillosum),jargu grass, Delhi grass, vuda bluegrass, two-flowered golden-beard, Santa Barbara grass (English language), pajón, yerba de vias (Spanish language), hemeira, abu qasaba (Arabic), alabang grass, lindi (Philippines), pitilla (Cuba), climacuna (Colombia), song tha'o to (Vietnam), ya Hindi, ya waen (Thailand), vleivingergras (var. papillosum) (South Africa), zu-uc (Mexico), ebastan (Mali), and lukh (Suda)In India, where it is very important in agriculture, it has many common names, including karad,[2] bansi, daroya, gawat, janewa, jinjva, loari, marvalyan hullu, palvan, sam payen, zinjoo, and zinsma.It is native to tropical Asia, the Middle East, and parts of Africa. It has been introduced to many other parts of the world for cultivation, and it has become naturalized in some places, such as Australia

Desmostachya bipinnata, commonly known in English by the names halfa grass, big cordgrass, and salt reed-grass, is an Old World perennial grass, long known and used in human history. Desmostachya bipinnata is native to northeast and west tropical, and northern Africa (in Algeria, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia); and countries in the Middle East, and temperate and tropical Asia (in Afghanistan, China, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand)

Crotalaria burhia is a herb found in north-west India, mainly in the Thar desert region.

Eragrostis is a large and widespread [genus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genus) of plants in the [grass family](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poaceae), found in many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands. Eragrostis is commonly known as lovegrass or canegrass.

Distribution also includes Sahara

Lygeum spartum, commonly called esparto grass, cord grassor albardine, which is distributed in arid areas around the Mediterranean Sea

Cistanche tubulosa is a holoparasitic desert plant species in the genus Cistanche.

https://www.sahapedia.org/the-plants-of-the-thar-deserthttps://www.sahapedia.org/the-vegetation-of-the-thar-desert-geography-history-culture-and-conservation !!!

The Thar’s desert sands overlie Archean (early Precambrian) gneiss (metamorphic rocks formed between 4 billion and 2.5 billion years ago), Proterozoic (later Precambrian) sedimentary rocks (formed about 2.5 billion to 541 million years ago), and more-recent alluvium (material deposited by rivers). The surface consists of aeolian (wind-deposited) sand that has accumulated over the past 1.8 million years. The soils consist of several main groups—desert soils, red desertic soils, sierozems (brownish gray soils), the red and yellow soils of the foothills, the saline soils of the depressions, and the lithosols (shallow weathered soils) and regosols (soft loose soils) found in the hills. All those soils are predominantly coarse-textured, well-drained, and calcareous (calcium-bearing). A thick accumulation of lime often occurs at varying depths. The soils are generally infertile and, because of severe wind erosion, are overblown with sand.

e.g.Lal Suhanra National Park

https://www.beautifulworld.com//wp-content/uploads/2016/10/khuri-sand-dunes-jaisalmer.jpg

Hingot/hingoto/hingua/hingorni/desert date

Date palm

Jaal/peelu/dhalu/toothbrush/mustard tree

Rohira

Kharo jaal/bada peelu

Sargado/bitter drumstick

Googal/mukul myrhh

shurbs or smal trees

catclaw mimosa or the wait-a-minute bush, and is endemic to upland regions of Mexico and the Southwestern United States, particularly Arizona, New Mexico and Texas

67% of the territory is bare or sparse vegetation. %9 is shrubland, 8% is herbaceous vegetation, and 9% is cultivated cropland. Below 1,500 meters, the vegetation is steppe in character. From 1,500 to 2,000 meters is found montane open forest of Pistachio trees (Pistacia atlantica), Wild almond (of genus Prunus), and Barberry (Berberis). Lower brush includes Honeysuckle bush (of genus Lonicera), Sage (Artemisia (genus) spp.), and Pashtun juniper (Juniperus macropoda). At higher altitudes there is a transition zone of Sclerophyll trees (woody brush with hard leaves). At still higher elevations are the isolated alpine meadows of other ecoregions.

to checkhttps://postconflict.unep.ch/publications/afg_tech/theme_02/afg_biodiv.pdfhttps://www.cbd.int/doc/world/af/af-nbsap-01-en.pdfHingol National Park the eco-region covers the large semi-desert region of southern afghanistan including the registan Desert and the Siestan Basin. it combines all of Freitag’s (1971, 1972) semi-desert communities in the south-western part of the country. this includes the Haloxylon salicrnicum Semi-de-sert, calliginum-artistida Semi-Desert, chenopodiumrich and amygdalus Semi-Desert communities. Dasht-e-nawar Flamingo and waterfowl Sanctuary is not legally protected by the afghan government and the insecurity that charac-terizes the area limits the realization of practical conserva-tion measures

to check: Hingol National Park

http://atlas-sahara.org/index.html http://atlas-sahara.org/flore/_flore/_flore.html?cat=index

Aldabra is the world's largest raised coral atoll

Somalia

Venezuela

Great Sand Sea, Rebiana Sand Sea,Idehan Ubari

Ecoregion territory (light green, straddling border of Iran and Turkmenistan)