North Arabian highland shrublands
RESOLVE 832
The North Arabian Highland Shrublands form a discontinuous ecoregion in Saudi Arabia's western Ha'il region, centered on the Shammar mountain range, whose sub-ranges Jabal Aja and Jabal Salma rise above the surrounding gravel plains at the western edge of the Nafud sand desert. One of the greenest pockets of northern Arabia, its slopes and intermontane plains carry desert shrubs such as Haloxylon salicornicum, Zilla spinosa, and Acacia, alongside its flagship sumac, Searsia tripartita, while spring-fed valleys support date palms and ferns. The climate is harshly continental and arid, with summer heat above 40 degrees Celsius, sub-zero winter lows, and erratic rainfall averaging around 150 millimeters a year. The mountains act as a refuge for relict Pleistocene and Mediterranean-affinity plants that have vanished from hotter parts of the peninsula, and harbor Nubian ibex, caracal, and Arabian wolf; Jabal Aja is recognized as an Important Bird Area that hosts the griffon vulture. For gardeners, several drought-hardy native genera familiar in xeric landscaping occur here, including Acacia, Ephedra, and Searsia.
About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome
Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.
Collections for this ecoregion
No curated collection's plants all fit this ecoregion's zone range. We surface a collection only when every member would grow here — partial fits get filtered out rather than mislead. As the catalog and the curated set both grow, this section will fill in.