Arabian Desert

A hot desert ecoregion of about 2.33 million square kilometers covering most of the Arabian Peninsula, from Yemen to the Persian Gulf across Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and neighboring states. It is the world's fourth-largest desert, holding the vast Rub' al-Khali sand sea and limestone escarpments, and receives only around 100 millimeters of rain a year against extreme temperature swings. Arabian oryx, gazelles, sand cats and spiny-tailed lizards survive on scattered drought-resistant plants that anchor a sparse food web, with caracals and red foxes occupying the desert's higher trophic levels. Overgrazing, off-road vehicle damage, poaching and habitat destruction press on an ecoregion where only about 4 percent is formally protected.