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Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain endemic Schweinfurthia

imbricata in the United Arab Emirates

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DOI: 10.1080/23818107.2021.1905058

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 Botany Letters

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Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain

endemic Schweinfurthia imbricata in the United
Arab Emirates

Sanjay Gairola, Tamer Mahmoud, Hatem A. Shabana & Gary R. Feulner

To cite this article: Sanjay Gairola, Tamer Mahmoud, Hatem A. Shabana & Gary R. Feulner
(2021): Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain endemic Schweinfurthia�imbricata in the
United Arab Emirates, Botany Letters, DOI: 10.1080/23818107.2021.1905058

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/23818107.2021.1905058

Published online: 29 Mar 2021.

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 BOTANY LETTERS
https://doi.org/10.1080/23818107.2021.1905058

Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain endemic Schweinfurthia

imbricata in the United Arab Emirates
Sanjay Gairolaa, Tamer Mahmouda, Hatem A. Shabanaa and Gary R. Feulnerb
a
Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium, Sharjah Research Academy, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates; bDubai Natural History Group, Dubai,
United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

Field studies of the distribution and ecology of endemic species are fundamental for conserva­ Received 22 February 2021
tion planning. Schweinfurthia imbricata A.G.Mill., M.Short & D.A.Sutton is a scarce regional Accepted 15 March 2021
endemic found in the Hajar Mountains of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Northern KEYWORDS
Oman, and their periphery. Based on recent fieldwork by the Sharjah Seed Bank and Conservation; endemic
Herbarium (SSBH) and literature data, this paper presents the first detailed account of the species; gravel habitat; Hajar
distribution, habitat preferences and phenology of S. imbricata in the UAE. Among other things, Mountains; Schweinfurthia
our fieldwork indicates that S. imbricata is more common and widespread in the UAE than has
previously been recognized, including at least 19 heretofore unpublished localities, all hosting
multiple individual plants. The implications of our findings for the conservation status of
S. imbricata in the UAE are briefly discussed.

Introduction
Schweinfurthia A.Braun (Plantaginaceae) is a small
genus consisting of six species distributed in Africa, occupancy, extent of occurrence, quality of habi­
Arabia and Southwest Asia (Miller et al. 1982). Only tat, and/or actual or potential exploitation
two species, Schweinfurthia imbricata A.G.Mill., M. (MOEW 2010). That assessment was based on
Short & D.A.Sutton and Schweinfurthia papilionacea the very small number of UAE records then
(L.) Boiss. have been recorded in the UAE. known, all from within a limited geographical
S. imbricata is endemic to the Hajar Mountains of area, with few plants at each site and mostly in
the UAE and Northern Oman, and their periphery. habitats susceptible to disturbance.
It is a prostrate, spreading annual or biennial herb
S. imbricata is one of six species of Hajar Mountain
with round, dark green, overlapping leaves. The flow­
endemics that are currently known to occur within the
ers are pink and white with darker purple veins and
territory of the UAE (Feulner 2016). The others are
a yellow throat, on short pedicels from leaf axils. The
Launaea omanensis N.Kilian, Lindenbergia arabica (S.
capsules are glabrous and spherical on curved stalks,
Moore) Hartl., Pteropyrum scoparium Jaub. & Spach.,
each bearing many seeds (diaspore size c. 0.25 cm)
Pulicaria edmondsonii E.Gamal-Eldin, and Rumex
with longitudinal and transverse ridges. Within the
limoniastrum Jaub. & Spach. Feulner’s original list of
UAE, S. imbricata has been found primarily in level
eight species also included Desmidorchis arabicus (N.
gravel habitats, often wadi beds or terraces within or
E.Br.) Meve & Liede. and Echinops erinaceus Kit Tan.,
bordering mountain areas, most often as small, loca­
but those two species have since been recognized to
lized populations or individual plants. According to
occur in south-western Arabia as well. Of the six UAE/
Ghazanfar (2015), the distribution of S. imbricata in
Oman endemics, L. omanensis, R. limoniastrum and
Northern Oman encompasses the foothills of the
S. imbricata are considered rare; the others are locally
mountain areas, including Masirah Island. In these
common. Four of them (S. imbricata, L. arabica,
localities, it has been recorded from sandy and gravelly
P. scoparium and P. edmondsonii) are seed banked at
soils and sandy wadi fans.
Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium (SSBH).
An unpublished draft National Red Data List of
UAE flora prepared in 2010 categorized The aim of the present study is to provide new data
S. imbricata as “Endangered” under criterion EN concerning the distribution and habitat preferences of
A3 (c & d) – i.e. on the basis that it was projected the rare endemic S. imbricata, important for red listing
or suspected to suffer future population reductions and conservation strategies.
of more than 50% due to a decline in area of

CONTACT Sanjay Gairola sgairola@sra.ae Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium, Sharjah Research Academy, P.O. Box 60999, Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates
© 2021 Société botanique de France

Published online 29 Mar 2021

2 S. GAIROLA ET AL.
Methods
To assemble more comprehensive information on the
distribution and ecology of Schweinfurthia imbricata,
data were gathered from field visits and literature,
including florae and other literature. The field surveys
were conducted during the period 2013 to 2019 as part
of a program of general exploration, in different sea­
sons and in different areas in the UAE. Since all the
located populations of S. imbricata were small, we
used a total counting approach so that all plants were
counted in a particular site. Each site was traversed on
foot and data including the number of individuals of
S. imbricata, associated dominant species, and habitat
were recorded. The identity of associated species was
cross-checked with specimens housed in the herbar­
ium of the Sharjah Research Academy and based on
field characters with the aid of existing flora for the
UAE (Jongbloed et al. 2003; Karim and Fawzi 2007)
and Flora of the Sultanate of Oman (Ghazanfar 2015).
Results and discussion
Prior published information for the UAE documents
what are known or believed to be only single
S. imbricata plants from seven sites (Figure 1): Wadi
Shis (Jongbloed et al. 2000); Wadi Siji (Jongbloed et al.
2003); Wadi Shi (Karim and Fawzi 2007); bulldozed
gravel near Shawkah (Feulner 2012); Jebel Hafit
(Sakkir and Brown 2014); and two in Wadi
Wurayah, one in thin silt behind the Wadi Wurayah
dam, the other along distal surface flow below the
permanent waterfall, an area readily accessible to the
public (Feulner 2016). In addition, Ghazanfar
(MOEW 2010) wrote that “In the UAE [S. imbricata
Figure 1. Distribution records of Schweinfurthia imbricata in the UAE (Circles represent SSBH records and triangles represent records
from the literature and other sources).
is] found in the north at three locations (recorded so
far), with a few plants at each location”; one of those
locations, she wrote, was under development with the
population likely to be lost.
Unpublished records from other researchers have
generally confirmed a similar pattern. Ajmal Hasan of
Sharjah’s Mleiha Archaeological Centre has supplied
field records of a single plant from Wadi Hala, south-
east of Shawkah, and, exceptionally, of circa 20 plants
on the west side of Jebel Faya. Botanist Nuri Asmita of
Fujairah’s Wadi Wurayah National Park (WWNP) has
reported a single small plant, confirmed by G.R.F.,
from a gravel-filled depression beside the access road
to WWNP, near the park headquarters.
Our own field observations, continuing to the pre­
sent, demonstrate that S. imbricata is substantially
more common in the UAE than these other existing
records suggest, although still an uncommon species.
We report here 19 new locations, each with multiple
plants, scattered throughout much of the Hajar
Mountains of the north-eastern UAE (Figure 1 and
Table 1). The sites ranged in elevation from 5 to
550 m, but all are essentially at the base level of the
associated main wadi or the adjacent terrace. In the 19
new localities, we counted a total of c. 174 individual
plants. The highest number of individuals (n = 30) was
recorded in the Hatta-Madam area, along a natural
east-west corridor through the mountains.
According to our field observations,
S. imbricata flourishes in gravel habitats, with
remarkable seed production and vegetative growth
(Figure 2). In some localities, the plant spreads in
size up to 120 cm. The plants found in the totally
man-made environment of the Siji Dam prome­
nade were also in this upper size range. We have
 BOTANY LETTERS 3

Table 1. Details of the newly reported populations of Schweinfurthia imbricata in the UAE.
Approx. #
Altitude of indiv.
Locality (m.) Habitat description plants Associated species
Al Khudairah, Sharjah 126 Wadi Gravel 26 Aizoon canariense, Cleome scaposa, Citrullus colocynthis, Polycarpaea
repens, Rhazya stricta
Wadi Al Helo, Sharjah 455 Wadi gravel 15 Aerva javanica, Lycium shawii, Argyrolobium roseum, Asphodelus
tenuifolius, Rumex vesicarius
Kharous Al Khanfarya, 311 Wadi gravel 13 Chrozophora oblongifolia, Crotalaria aegyptiaca, Diplotaxis harra,
Ajman (Madam- Reichardia tingitana, Reseda aucheri
Hatta road)
Wadi Siji, Fujairah 218 Wadi gravel 9 Amaranthus albus, Chrozophora oblongifolia, Forsskaolea tenacissima,
Rumex vesicarius, Tephrosia apollinea
Wadi Shees area, 541 Wadi gravel 8 Aerva javanica, Blepharis ciliaris, Cleome noeana, Cucumis prophetarum,
Sharjah Forsskaolea tenacissima, Ochradenus aucheri, Pulicaria edmondsonii,
Reseda aucheri, Tephrosia apollinea
Shawkah, RAK 302 Wadi gravel 4 Convolvulus glomeratus, Pulicaria arabica, Pulicaria glutinosa
Wadi Al Ain 270 Wadi gravel 3 Anastatica hierochuntica, Cenchrus setigerus, Corchorus depressus,
Heliotropium lasiocarpum, Lactuca serriola, Leptochloa fusca, Morettia
parviflora, Ochradenus aucheri, Rumex vesicarius, Taverniera glabra
Madam-Hatta road, 204 Gravel plain 30 Aristida adscensionis, Farsetia aegyptia, Plocama aucheri
Dubai
Al Shwaib, Abu Dhabi 241 Gravel plain 7 Aerva javanica, Argyrolobium roseum, Asphodelus tenuifolius, Plantago
ciliata, Rumex vesicarius
Mezairaa, Ajman 406 Gravel plain 6 Cleome noeana, Cometes surattensis, Diplotaxis harra, Medicago
(Madam-Hatta road) laciniata, Tephrosia apollinea
Zubarah, Fujairah 5 Peri-anthropic waste 3 Aizoon canariense, Chrozophora oblongifolia, Fagonia sp., Heliotropium
ground europaeum
Fili, Sharjah 222 Dam silt 10 Aerva javanica, Cleome noena, Haplophyllum tuberculatum, Rhazya
stricta
Mudainah Dam, RAK 245 Dam silt 7 Aerva javanica, Asphodelus tenuifolius, Reichardia tingitana
Wadi Nahwa, Sharjah 240 Gravel plains and wadis 12 Aerva javanica, Asphodelus tenuifolius, Cleome noeana, Euphorbia
granulata, Reseda aucheri
Al Munay’i, RAK 300 Gravel plains and wadis 3 Aizoon canariense, Morettia parviflora, Physorrhynchus chamaerapistrum,
Pulicaria glutinosa, Tephrosia apollinea
Sharjah-Kalba road, 350 Alluvial silt and sand 6 Lycium shawii, Rumex vesicarius, Tephrosia apollinea, Trichodesma
RAK enetotrichum, Viola cinerea,
Siji Dam promenade, 225 Interstitial among bricks of 6 Aristida adscensionis
Fujairah pedestrian walkway
atop dam
Mahafez, Sharjah 142 Compact Sand 3 Aerva javanica, Plantago ovata, Prosopis cineraria, Schweinfurthia
papilionacea
Mleiha, Sharjah 78 Stony/sandy 3 Anastatica hierochuntica, Euphorbia granulata, Notoceras bicorne,
Sclerocephalus arabicus

recorded S. imbricata from compact sand as well,
but in that habitat plant growth is retarded, seed
production is limited and the size of the plants is
less than 20 cm. We did not observe any incidence
of grazing of this species in the field. Plant species
associated with S. imbricata are most often com­
mon gravel dwellers, annual or perennial, includ­
ing Aerva javanica, Rumex vesicarius, Cleome
noeana, Asphodelus tenuifolius and Tephrosia apol­
linea (Table 1).
Jongbloed et al. (2003) described the normal
flowering period in the UAE as March to May
and September to November, but subsequent
experience demonstrates that flowering is more
opportunistic and may occur throughout the year:
Feulner has recorded plants in flower in December
and January, at different sites and in different win­
ters, whereas Mahmoud and Gairola observed flow­
ering and fruiting in July–August in a population
in the Al Khudairah area, Al Dhaid. In the latter
population, the average number of seeds per cap­
sule was about 50 (n = 25–75 seeds/capsule).
Average seed mass (g) of 100 seeds was
0.02952 ± 0.0003SE.
Preliminary experiments at SSBH have shown that
most seeds of S. imbricata are viable at maturity and, as
is the case for many desert plant species, a fraction of
those seeds germinate immediately after dispersal.
However, storage at room temperature for 10 months
resulted in an increase in the germination percentage (c.
30%). This strategy likely allows for dispersal of the
germination risk over time and ensures that some
seeds germinate when the conditions are favorable for
germination and seedling survival (Gutterman 2002).
Semachory is the dispersal mode generally reported
for Schweinfurthia species, and also the dominant dis­
persal mode reported for UAE plant species generally
(Shabana et al. 2018). Under this dispersal mode, the
diaspore unit (seed or fruit) has no obvious aids for
long-distance transport and merely falls by agitation of
the parent plant caused by external agents such as
wind, rain or animals (Bonn et al. 2000; Vittoz and
Engler 2007). The diaspores of S. imbricata are light­
weight and rough-surfaced and can be readily trans­
ported locally (secondary dispersal) by wind or water,
although they lack specific structures that are recog­
nized to facilitate long-distance dispersal. Often, how­
ever, a single plant species can use several different
4 S. GAIROLA ET AL.
dispersal methods, depending on the specific ecologi­
cal context and the availability of dispersal agents
(Poschlod et al. 2013). The widespread distribution
of S. imbricata coupled with the local occurrence of
closely spaced individuals suggests that it may use
multiple approaches for seed dispersal. Given our lim­
ited current knowledge, this hypothesis remains spec­
ulative but worthy of further investigation.
Effective field conservation of rare and endemic plant
species requires a good understanding of their particular
habitat requirements. Existing records suggest that
S. imbricata behaves like a ruderal species, inhabiting
disturbed sites such as dam basins, open wadi beds,
roadside gravel, and even man-made substrates. In the
circumstances of the modern UAE, therefore, the species
could well be expanding its presence, although this can
only be absolutely confirmed by continued monitoring
and further exploration. As a short-lived plant found in
some short-lived habitats, it would also be very useful to
ascertain more about its seed dispersal and to understand
the mechanism that underlies its occurrence in small,
localized populations.
With respect to the UAE conservation status of
S. imbricata, it appears that according to IUCN Red
List categories and criteria (IUCN 2012), the origin­
ally proposed criteria for endangered status (EN A3
(c & d)) are no longer defensible, but others might
apply. For example, the number of known plants is
still below 250, so EN D(1) could be applicable.
Incomplete information on the distribution of rare
Figure 2. Schweinfurthia imbricata, a species endemic to the Hajar Mountains of the UAE and Oman, that has recently proven to be
more widespread in the UAE than previously recognized. (A: Large plants in gravelly habitat; B: Plant growing in stony/sandy habitat;
C: Reduced plant growth observed in compact sand; D: Typical plant habit; E: Flowering stem; F: Seed capsule arrangement; G: Seeds).
species with relatively unspecialized habitat require­
ments can make the conservation assessment of
those species particularly challenging. Maintaining
up-to-date and realistic geographical distribution
maps is paramount to guide conservation manage­
ment strategies.
Our study substantially updates information about
the regional endemic S. imbricata in the UAE. The
national Red Data List needs to be revised for this species,
and the data presented here have been contributed to the
UAE plants Red Data List assessment (National
Workshop for Plants and Selected Marine Species Red
List Assessment, September 2019, Dubai, sponsored by
the UAE’s Ministry of Climate Change and Environment
and IUCN). These findings provide a scientific reference
for decision-making bodies regarding conservation
assessment and management. The example of
S. imbricata emphasizes the value of continuing explora­
tory fieldwork by knowledgeable researchers.
Acknowledgments
The SSBH authors would like to thank Prof. Amr Abdel-
Hamid, Director General of Sharjah Research Academy, for
encouragement and support, and SSBH colleagues who
provided assistance during this study. The authors would
also like to thank Dr. Ali Hassan Al Hmoudi, Park Manager
of Wadi Wurayah National Park, for his continued encour­
agement and support for the investigation of UAE biodiver­
sity within WWNP.

Disclosure statement
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the publica­
tion of this article.
Author contributions
S.G., T.M. & H.A.S. designed the study and wrote the first
draft of the manuscript. G.R.F. reviewed and edited the
manuscript. T.M., H.A.S., S.G. & G.R.F. made the field
trips and collected the data. All authors have read and
reviewed the final version of the manuscript.
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