13. Terrestrial Biodiversity in Arid Environments: One Global Component of Climate Crisis Resilience

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to which Qatar is a signatory, charges countries with preventing the loss of their national biological resources whilst also providing a framework for countries to benefit from their biological resources (Glowka et al., 1994). The CBD emphasizes the protection and promotion of biological resources native and unique to the country. Qatar is blessed with an, as yet largely, unrecognized plant, animal, and microbial-based store of biological diversity that can serve as a global resource for climate crisis resilience.

Climate change is driving an increase in extreme weather events, such as drought and flooding, extreme temperatures (hot and cold), wind events, and even changes in salinity or pH. Thus, most organisms are likely to be exposed to environmental conditions outside of the normal historical range of tolerance. Over the last 30 years in Qatar, there has been a distinct warming trend with increasing daytime and nighttime temperatures (Cheng et al., 2017). Notably, there has been nighttime average and maximum temperature increases. Such nighttime increases in temperatures have been associated with decreased plant and animal success (Bechelet et al., 2016).

Biodiversity can be defined in multiple ways and at different scales from genetic and species diversity to functional and ecosystem diversity (Hamilton, 2005). Biodiversity is traditionally thought of as species richness and biodiversity hotspots were first defined based on plant species richness (Myers, 1988) with tropical forests being the focus. Today, tropical forest areas are still central to conservation efforts and global biodiversity hotspots (Lele et al., 2010). However, with an emphasis shifting to ensuring genetic (Swarup et al., 2021) diversity and functioning ecosystem processes (Bennett et al., 2009), biodiversity protection and conservation efforts are incorporating a new and expanded view.

The role that hot, arid, and saline ecosystems play in current global processes, ecosystem services assessment, and biodiversity is only starting to be fully appreciated (Khan & Weber, 2006). This may be due to conditions which limited earlier expeditions as well as aesthetic notions that may not have valued deserts as highly as other regions. With generally lower productivity and lower biodiversity values (based on current assessment techniques), desert resources are likely to have been simply underestimated (Razgour et al., 2018). Technological advancements, such as remote sensing and robotics, have improved desert access and research into even the most extreme environments (Wettergreen et al., 1999). Advancements in the field of molecular biology, similarly, have brought the adaptations of organisms in extreme environments to the forefront as a genetic reservoir to build resilience to the climate crisis.

The plants of Qatar exhibit a wide range of adaptations to hot and dry conditions. Species migration from Africa, Asia, and Europe is reflected in the unique plant community assemblage. More than 400 species have been recorded in Qatar including native, naturalized, invasive, and those restricted to urban or irrigated areas (Abdel Bary, 2012a, b; Norton et al., 2009) with new species records for Qatar continuing to be published (Richer et al., 2022). However, continued documentation of all species present in Qatar will require regular fieldwork during multiple seasons and multiple years. Unusually abundant rainfall in 2014 resulted in new plant species records for Qatar, most of which are thought to be native (Richer et al., 2022). Additional species are likely to be found in restricted areas or border areas that are protected from direct human stressors. Given the wide variability in rainfall, regular monitoring is necessary to maintain an accurate understanding of species present, their abundance, and population status.

Terrestrial species exhibit a wide range of morphological, physiological, and symbiotic adaptations that confer advantages in extreme conditions. Features such as excreting salt, succulence, photosynthetic adaptations, and resilient protein structures are attributes that can be exploited. Many of the species are adapted to the saline, dry, and hot conditions and display microbial associations that facilitate life in this extreme environment (Abdel Bary et al., 2006; Al-Thani & Yasseen, 2018). Halophytes in particular, those plants adapted to saline conditions, support a range of salt tolerant bacteria associated with plant roots. The bacteria themselves can promote salt tolerance in non-salt-tolerant agricultural species, promoting sustainable food production despite increasing salinization of soils (Etesami & Beattie, 2018). Halophtyic plants are now being utilized as animal feed with increasing global applications (Panta et al., 2014).

In deserts, the biological soil crust can play a dominant role in larger scale ecosystem processes (Al-Thani & Yasseen, 2018), facilitate soil water retention and seed germination, prevent soil erosion, and provide important symbionts for plant species. Thus, the hyper-saline sabkha, a coastal mudflat characterized by high evaporation rates (Barth et al., 2002; Chatziefthimiou et al., 2018) and inland biological soil crust are unique in their beauty as well as in the untapped genetic resources available (Oren, 1998). Cyanobacterial based biological soil crust can cover up to 87% of the land surface in northern Qatar, with a gradient in coverage from north to south (Richer et al., 2012). In addition to conferring improved tolerance to extreme conditions, cyanobacteria in Qatar produce a wide range of bioactive compounds (Metcalf et al., 2015; Richer et al., 2015). Although studies on species present and the compounds they produce are in the primary stages, investment in the study of these microbial communities is sure to produce biological and biomimicry solutions ranging from health care to climate change resilience.

The biodiversity of extreme environments in Qatar provides for ecosystem services, functional diversity, and importantly genetic diversity, which is only beginning to be understood. The marine and terrestrial environments provide examples. The Arabian Gulf supports reef building corals at the extremes of temperature and temperature variability (Howells et al., 2016), and the more we understand the relationship between the host and symbiotic algae, the greater the potential for applying that knowledge to problem solving. Recent work with Arabian Gulf corals has shown that these extreme temperature-adapted corals, when bred with non-adapted corals, can transfer heat tolerance, increasing survival up to 84% (Howells et al., 2021). The same may ultimately be true for fish species as well (Vaughan et al., 2021). The transfer of resilience to environmental extremes has also been illustrated in plants. In recent work, a key enzyme isolated from Salsola laricifolia, when transformed and expressed into Arabidopsis, conferred salt and drought resistance (Wen et al., 2021), thus, illustrating the role that the genetic resources from hot, arid, and saline ecosystems of terrestrial Qatar can provide for global resilience to climate change, particularly for crop species (Swarup et al., 2021).

To fully develop the biological resources of the Qatar desert, investment in protection and research is necessary. Select sites across the country support unusually high diversity for plants in the country (Richer, unpublished data) as well as important sabkha and soil crust areas. The designation of national Important Plant Areas or Important Resource Areas would be an important step to protect those most vulnerable areas that hold disproportionate numbers of species. Additionally, research stations in the field would provide opportunities for long-term studies and intensive resource development programmes.

As a group, mammals are often an important focal group for conservation efforts in general because they play a key role in many ecosystem functions and monitoring the status of the mammalian fauna can provide an indication of the status of the general ecosystem as a whole (Hurlbert, 1997; Landres et al., 1988). However, not only there is a paucity of knowledge with respect to the status of Qatar’s mammalian species, but also even the diversity of the species present, and their distributions, in the country are not fully understood (Richer, 2008). Surprisingly little information exists on the terrestrial mammalian fauna of Qatar in contrast to the country’s avifauna on which a comparatively large amount of information has been compiled (e.g. Avibase the bird checklist of the world: https://​avibase.​bsc-eoc.​org/​checklist.​jsp?​region=​QA). The last mammal survey in Qatar was carried out nearly 40 years ago by Kamel and Madkour (1984), which was not a systematic large-scale survey. A review of Zoology in the Middle East, a peer reviewed journal that specifically publishes zoological information from the Middle East, showed that out of 68 volumes published between 1986 and 2022 only two papers concern terrestrial mammals in Qatar, which are Al-Musfir and Yamaguchi (2008) and Mohedano et al. (2014). At the moment, the Qatar e-Nature lists 20 non-domesticated terrestrial mammals occurring in Qatar (Qatar e-Nature: https://​www.​enature.​qa/​kingdom/​mammals/​) whilst Wikipedia lists 24 non-domesticated terrestrial mammals (Wikipedia: https://​en.​wikipedia.​org/​wiki/​List_​of_​mammals_​of_​Qatar), neither of which, however, provides complete, verified detailed information.

A detailed review of available data indicates that there are 150 species of terrestrial wild mammals recorded in the Arabian Peninsula (Harrison & Bates, 1991), of which 19 appear to have been recorded in Qatar (Table 13.1). However, the occurrence of some species, such as honey badger (Mellivora capensis) and golden jackal (canis aureus), may be due to sporadic stray individuals. In addition to those 19 species, six other mammal species may occur in Qatar assessing from the species distribution range and the recorded locations in the Arabian Peninsula, but none has so far been recorded in Qatar (Table 13.2).

Approximately 40% of all recorded mammal species are rodents, and hence not surprisingly, rodents have the largest number of species in the non-domesticated terrestrial mammals in Qatar (Table 13.1). The indigenous gerbils, jerboas, and jirds are all well adapted to the hyper arid environment in Qatar where there is no natural permanent freshwater source on the surface. However, it is almost certain that house mice (Mus musculus), black rats (Rattus rattus), and brown rats (R. norvegicus) have been unintentionally introduced into Qatar by human activities and survive in the country due to the recent changes of land use and increased availability of freshwater resources. When one of the authors (NY) started fieldwork in the northern Qatar in 2010, it was not common to come across a black rat. However, by 2017, they became very common at least around some human settlements and irrigated farms. On the other hand, during the same period, it was relatively common to come across lesser Egyptian jerboas (Jaculus jaculus) at the beginning, and yet, became very difficult towards the later part of the period. Once, the author observed a free-ranging cat hunting a small rodent right in front of his car. As human settlements expand, land-use changes and the population of human-associated animals, such as free-ranging cats, feral dogs, black rats, and brown rats, would increase, the indigenous rodents may likely suffer negative impacts from predation and competition. Although it’s not a rodent, Arabian hares (Lepus capensis) were common in 2007 in the Qatar University campus in Doha. By 2019 they disappeared from the campus.

A recent survey by Qatar University researchers suggests that bats may be more common in the less disturbed southern part of the country (Abdulrahman et al., 2021). Less disturbed roosting sites in caves, sink holes, and rock crevices are essential for the survival of bats in Qatar. Key bats roosting sites need appropriate protection for the continuing survival of bats in Qatar. Urban environments can be designed to support bat populations with appropriately managed roosting sites (Lewanzik et al., 2022).

Although we highlighted the paucity of even the basic information of indigenous terrestrial mammals in Qatar, there is one exception. It’s the Desert hedgehog (Paraechinus aethiopicus). In fact, Qatar is one of the world’s centres of the research on various aspects of the biology of the desert hedgehog. Studies conducted by researchers from the Qatar University found desert hedgehogs go into torpor in spite of the relatively mild winter in Qatar (Al-Musfir & Yamaguchi, 2008), and they often bask in winter (Abu Baker, Reeve, et al., 2016). They have two breeding peaks a year between winter and summer (Yamaguchi et al., 2013), a female gives birth to, on average, 3.3 babies in captivity (Abu Baker, Mohedano, et al., 2016), and captive-bred animals appear to be able to survive in the wild well when they were released (Abu Baker et al., 2018). Desert hedgehogs have much larger home ranges than do hedgehogs in Europe likely due to the lower productivity of the hyper arid environment of Qatar (Pettett et al., 2018). The desert hedgehog does not show a strong sexual size dimorphism, and yet, males tend to have much larger home ranges than do females and appear to keep the large range all year round including the non-breeding season (Pettett et al., 2018). The population density of desert hedgehogs in Qatar is approximately seven per km² in the north of the country where there are many irrigated farms (Pettett et al., 2020). Understandably, desert hedgehogs are heavier, and their home ranges are smaller in an area with many irrigated farms in comparison to those in more “natural” desert environment likely because the available resource level is higher in the former (Abu Baker et al., 2017). In this context, the agricultural land-use change due to the economic miracle of Qatar in the last 50 years may have been helping desert hedgehogs to increase their population, and yet, urbanisation (e.g. building cities and roads) likely increases hedgehog mortality, including traffic accidents, resulting in local extinctions. Wildlife-friendly designs of cities and roads may make human hedgehog coexistence easier in Qatar. Although hedgehogs do not look like long-distance travellers, a genetic study suggests that there appears to be no population division, or clear population structure, amongst desert hedgehogs in Qatar (O’Meara et al., 2021).

Some mammals, including the Arabian sand gazelle (Gazella marica), have likely become extinct in Qatar (Al Hamar & Almutai, 2001; Vine & Casey, 1992). However, recently some species have been bred in captivity in Qatar with re-introduction into the wild as one of its goals. The Arabian sand gazelle has been re-introduced into the Al-Reem Biosphere Reserve, one of the two largest terrestrial protected areas in Qatar, and the Arabian Oryx (Oryx leucoryx) may be released as well in the future (Al Hamar & Almutai, 2001; IUCN SSC Antelope Specialist Group, 2017a, 2017b; Sillitoe et al., 2010). Ultimately, successful re-introduction requires appropriate habitat recovery and protection.

Such re-introduction likely plays an important role in re-establishing key ecosystem functions including seed dispersal, which sadly has been threatened by the declines in animal populations, limiting the potential for plants to adapt to climate change by shifting their ranges (Del-Claro & Dirzo, 2021; Fricke et al., 2022). Different ungulates tend to disperse a different assemblage of plant species with little overlap in a Middle Eastern desert (Polak et al., 2014). Especially, the Arabian oryx are the key dispersers of seeds of Vachellia tortilis (which is commonly found in Qatar), and oryx-ingested seeds planted with oryx pellets had a germination success 250 times higher than non-ingested seeds planted without pellets (Polak et al., 2014). It is important to re-introduce all the species lost (e.g. Arabian oryx) as a restorative process of the ecosystem functions lost even when other species from the same guild may still exist in the wild.

Domesticated or feral mammals commonly found in Qatar are dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius), horse (Equus caballus), donkey (Equus asinus), sheep (Ovis aries), goat (Capra hircus), dog (C. familiaris), and cat (F. catus). Amongst them, feral dogs and seemingly a large number of feral cats are likely causing negative impacts on indigenous wildlife population due to predation. The Qatar Animal Welfare Society (http://​www.​qaws.​org/​newsite/​) has been working on improving dog welfare and reducing feral dog population in the country. Domesticated grazers and browsers have placed particular stress on important native plant species including Panicum turgidum and Rhanterium eppaposum.

Birds and humans have been interconnected for thousands of years. Birds bring inspiration, entertainment, and food and even clothe humans. They have strongly associated with humans throughout the cultural development of our societies. Birds provide both cultural and provisioning ecosystem services. For example, in the form of bird art and eggs, more so falconry in the Middle East, as an entertainment and lucrative hobby, these are commodities that can be bought and sold. There are indirect services associated with birds too. For instance, they help maintain components of ecosystems that we depend on for food, shelter, and services like disease management (vultures) and pest control (owls, insectivores). These indirect services facilitate other ecosystem services in promoting biodiversity.

Birds play an important role in the stability and functioning of the environment. This can be seen in pollination and seed dispersal, which is crucial to any environment, and many plant species are dependent on birds for their dispersal both locally and beyond. Loss of these seed dispersers can seriously impact larger environment services (Del-Claro & Dirzo, 2021; Fricke et al., 2022). If seeds are not dispersed, germinating seedlings will crowd the parent plant and compete for light, space, water, and nutrients. Since plants cannot migrate, they need to rely on other means of seed dispersal. Due to the ability of birds to traverse large distances in a relatively short time, they are a terrestrial plant’s most reliable seed disperser. The health and wellbeing of habitats rely heavily on a good strong biodiversity of creatures to maintain the environment, birds play a substantial role in this maintenance. Declines in avian pollinators and seed dispersers would indirectly affect many other human uses of plants and the habitats in which they occur.

Birds and birding in Qatar have grown remarkably in the last decade. Interest from locals and tourists in seeing Qatar’s birding hotspots is an important development for biodiversity in Qatar. It is quite remarkable that 297 bird species are recorded in Qatar, which is a small state of 11,521 sq km, with no rivers, lakes, or natural surface water. Most of the bird species found in Qatar are visitors on their migratory routes, hosting some brightly coloured birds in the form of Bee-eaters (Merops apiaster, Merops persicus and Merops orientalis) and Rollers (Coracias garrulus), to mention but a few. Although Qatar has no endemic birds, it does host some special Arabian endemics such as the Arabian Scops owl (Otus brucei).

Qataris have a long history of falconry, and the country is the natural habitat of a few falcon species (e.g. Saker). This natural inclination of Qataris to falcons suggests that with more education on the broader needs for avian biodiversity and wild avian species richness, they should be willing and in fact be driven to protecting the Important Birding Areas. The importance of which is so great, that international organisations, such as Birdlife International, have come to this small country to help secure Qatar’s avian biodiversity. These organizations understand the importance of bird population health as an indicator of the health of regional biodiversity, reflecting species’ richness. Changes in bird populations can provide a useful indication for broader environmental change. Hence the avian component used in environmental impact assessments is crucially important.

For some international and national background to biodiversity conservation: Qatar joined the world to recognize the need to maintain biodiversity at the UN conference on environment and development in Brazil in 1992. The Earth summit continued the concerns about the global loss of biological diversity and the need for sustainable use of the components of biodiversity prompted 150 nations including Qatar to sign the Convention on Biological Diversity. The State of Qatar ratified the convention in 1996 through Act No 90. Qatar’s Environment and Natural Reserves (SCENR) was responsible to conserve biodiversity under its jurisdiction. However, now the responsibility of biodiversity conservation is now held with the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change with 3 aims; conserve biodiversity, sustainable use of the components of biodiversity, and sharing the benefits arising from commercial and other use of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way.

With the awarding of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar has ventured out to pursue stronger environmental protection and growth in its state (see Chap. 4). In pursuit of this biodiversity conservation need, Qatar has established grants to conserve its Important Birding Areas. Some of the best birding areas with the highest species sightings included: Irakhiya farm, Abu Nakla, Al Khor, Al Ruwais, Al Sailiya Ponds, Al Karanah treatment Lagoons, Al Wakra beach, Al Thakhira, and Simaisma. These locations are all available to visit except for Abu Nakla, a large water treatment plant, which was closed down in 2016/2017 to a massive outcry from the local birding community. But for infrastructurally strategic reasons, the plant was closed down and water was no longer pumped into the man-made lake. However, the expansion of Al Karanah water treatment lagoons now compensates to some extent for the loss of Abu Nakla.

For people interested in birding and research on bird sightings and locations in Qatar, there is a website where this information can be accessed (ebird.​org). This site is actively updated with the latest citizen scientists (birders) who log their sightings on the eBird app. This shows that to date 297 species have been observed within the borders of Qatar. Another important source of local birding information is the book Common Birds of Qatar (Eriksen et al., 2010).

Despite its harsh, arid environment, Qatar can provide excellent birding from August to May, with the right wind conditions in spring and autumn and even winter can bring thousands of migrants flooding into the country. A great time to be in Qatar for birding is in spring, when a regionally important bird migration takes place, as part of the West Asia-East Africa Flyway (Kirby et al., 2008). The peak periods to visit Qatar for birding are reported to be from September–November and February–April. Qatar’s coastal habitats including mangroves are the most important and equally the habitats needing the most protection. Human encroachment on the coastal habitats needs to be closely monitored and more legislated protections would be helpful to meet the biodiversity conservation needs of the country.

Urban areas also host an array of invasive and introduced Arabian-Asian species including White-eared (Pycnonotus leucotis) and red vented bulbuls (Pycnonotus cafer), and even parrot species like Alexandrine (Psittacula eupatria) and Ring-necked parakeets (Psittacula krameria). From the parks and gardens of the city of Doha, many species can be seen and heard. However, it’s the rural areas, beaches, and farmlands that bring birders the joys of variety and the satisfaction of finding some of those more elusive species like the Namaqua doves, Lilith owls. and the notoriously unpredictable and sort after Hypocolius (Hypocolius ampelinus).

Qatar has grown its Protected Area (PA) designations, which will go a long way to securing a stable and growing biodiversity. However, a publication in 2016 (Zogaris & Kallimanis, 2016), doing rapid assessment surveys of bird species richness and abundance during the spring migration, highlighted the need for further protection of the coastal habitats. There is abundant evidence that anthropogenic pressures and threats to natural habitats concentrate on coastal zones. The important sites for biodiversity, like coastal lagoons and mangroves, are under imminent threat (Al-Khayat & Balakrishnan, 2014).

The link between biodiversity conservation, avian functional families, and ecosystem services is becoming more and more evident. Some standard bird functions, like scavenging by vultures, nutrient deposition by seabirds, and vertebrate predation by raptors, are declining rapidly due to the decline of bird species in these groups. Affording better protection to the bird species will help the natural healing of the environments in which they live, and fundamentally allow for a stronger biodiversity and enrich our lives.

How can the people of Qatar help with protecting the biodiversity of the country and its ecosystems? There are many small farms located throughout Qatar, these little green “oasis” locations scattered around are the house of many species and give birds the opportunity to reside, breed, feed, and shelter in the harsh Qatar environment, they create in a way mini-protected areas. The same applies to the gardens in the urban sprawl of the cities, with the catching term “Urban Rewilding”. The planting bird friendly trees and bushes, with fruits, berries, and seeds help create an increased biodiversity within the Urban environment. This helps to secure species that would otherwise be in decline and/or regionally extinct. If we all work together and play even the smallest part in the restoration of biodiversity conservation at all levels, our lives, and the lives of all the species we share our country and environment with will be better for it.

Biological invasions are mostly caused by human activities deliberately (or accidentally) moving non-native “alien” species to areas outside their “natural” ranges where they flourish, which is one of the main environmental problems today. Qatar is one of the only few countries with no permanent surface freshwater source where no indigenous amphibian likely occurs. However, the recent massive increase of freshwater resources and associated land-use changes in Qatar have likely provided comfortable new homes for African common toads (Sclerophrys regularis), which may have been introduced from Egypt (Yamaguchi et al., 2019). Interestingly, toads were present in sites where water was supplied from outside sources by irrigation pipes and/or water transportation vehicles more frequently than in sites where water was provided exclusively from inside sources (wells) (Abdulkarim & Yamaguchi, 2021). The distribution pattern of toads in Qatar may suggest that toads were initially introduced to eastern parts of the country and have dispersed from there through water transportation networks (Abdulkarim & Yamaguchi, 2021).

Reptiles are surprisingly diverse in desert ecosystems. With adaptations that allow them to withstand arid conditions, lizards and snakes are thought to be widely dispersed across Qatar and are important components in maintaining ecosystem balance. In addition, they provide benefits by helping control “pest” species (insects and rodents) and maintaining biodiversity and habitat quality by dispersing plant seeds. Habitat requirements include microenvironments where they can seek refuge from temperature extremes (shade from plants or rock formations, crevices between and under rocks, and soil requirements to be able to dig underground burrows). Habitat loss to land development and agricultural use, including over-grazing of livestock, is considered the greatest threat to reptiles across the Arabian Peninsula (Cox et al., 2012). Over-harvesting of reptiles for consumption (Spiny-tailed Agama) and pet trade and the persecution and killing of snakes and large lizards is also a threat (Cox et al., 2012), although the extent of these issues in Qatar remains unknown.

Lizards are the most common reptile group in Qatar, with 21 species documented in the most recent and comprehensive survey by Cogălniceanu et al. (2014). Seven different families of lizards were documented from this study (Gekkonidae, Lacertidae, Agamidae, Scincidae, Varanidae, Trogonophiidae, and Sphaerodactylidae), with geckos being the most diverse group. Most lizards are carnivorous, feeding on insects and arthropods, and help keep invertebrate populations under control. In contrast, the Spiny-tailed Agama, or Dhub (Uromastyx aegyptia microlepus) is primarily herbivorous and an important seed disperser of desert plants with the seeds of nearly 40 species recorded in the faeces (Conkey et al., 2010). Large and easily identified and captured, Dhubs are well studied and were a supplemental food source for people (Monchot et al., 2014). Dhubs are also popular in the exotic pet trade and for the production of medicinal oils in Malaysia, which has led to over-harvesting in some regions (Ching & Chng, 2016).

Little documentation exists on the snake species of Qatar. A review of the book Snakes of Arabia (Egan, 2007) and an 18 March 2022 web-search on Reptile Database (www.​reptile-database.​org) and Google Scholar (https://​scholar.​google.​com/​) revealed no published scientific literature for snakes in Qatar, other than two articles referencing venomous snakebites (Elmoheen et al., 2020; Haidar & Deitch, 2015) and a survey of citizens, asking if they had seen sea snakes in the waters of Qatar (Castilla et al., 2017). Qatar eNature lists 11 terrestrial snake species, two of which are venomous, but no citations are given for species documentation within Qatar (www.​enature.​qa, accessed 18 March 2022).

The biological wealth in the reptiles of Qatar remains largely unknown. Options to promote protection and knowledge-based practices include conducting and publishing standardized and periodic reptile surveys and habitat assessments (including terrestrial snakes) and developing and implementing best practice guidelines for land development and agricultural/grazing practices to minimize impacts on habitat.

Invertebrates represent a large and important portion of most ecosystems, yet they are often overlooked and lack study. Since 1979, a few insect surveys in Qatar have been published. Abdu and Shawmar (1985) documented 170 insect species across Qatar in various habitats using several different trap types over a 34-month period. Abushama has conducted several surveys (1997, 1999, 2002, 2006), with the 2006 survey lasting an entire year of both daytime and nighttime sampling of small flying insects in the urban city of Doha. Eleven different insect orders (Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, Collembola, Odonata, Psocoptera, Thysanoptera, Mecoptera, Lepidoptera, and Neuroptera) were documented, and on average, less than 10 species were collected per month. Most recently, AlHajri (2013) documented 110 different insect species from June to December 2012 using pit-fall ground traps in four different habitat types (no vegetation, vegetated, hedge row, and farm) in northern Qatar.

Because of the ease of sampling and their important place in the food web, biodiversity surveys of insects and other arthropods are often used as indicators of environmental health. When their abundance or diversity changes, it is often a signal that impacts to other flora and fauna maybe seen in the ecosystem. Thus, standardized arthropod surveys are good options for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem health. In addition, monitoring invertebrates is critical for human health. Mosquitoes, flies, and ticks are the most common vectors that transmit diseases from animals to humans. Qatar’s National Malaria Surveillance System is a good example and can be used as a model for other zoonotic diseases (Chehab et al., 2018; Schaffner et al., 2021). Domestic livestock, pets, exotic animals, and wild animals could all be disease hosts (Barradas et al., 2020; Chavshin & Seyyed-Zadeh, 2021; Lima et al., 2019; Schaffner et al., 2021; Seimenis, 2008; Wernery, 2014), thus, a “One Health” approach to include human, animal, and environmental factors in a national zoonotic disease management programme would help keep Qatar healthy.

Options to promote protection and knowledge-based practices include developing standardized periodic arthropod surveys to monitor ecosystem health and a National zoonotic disease surveillance, planning, and management programme. Harvesting the biological wealth of arthropods includes pursuing biomimicry in the development of desert-adapted infrastructure.

The range of communities and organisms from microbial to plant and animal in Qatar remains with few detailed studies. However, these organisms are uniquely adapted to extreme conditions of temperature, aridity, and salinity. At all levels of the biological hierarchy, these adaptations provide a wealth of biological resources that can be used directly to build climate change resilience through genetic engineering and breeding, promote human health with novel bioactive compounds developed from plants, animals, and microbes, and serve as a biomimetic resource. The last century has seen the discovery of the fossil biological resources (fossil fuel energy resources) in the region and the technology to develop those resources has brought great riches. The next century will surely see the next wave of wealth comes from the living biological resources of the amazing desert.