Present Flora as an Indicator of Palaeoclimate: Examples from the Arabian Peninsula

Distribution patterns of the flora, both endemic and relict taxa in the Arabian Peninsula, can serve as indicators of past environments. In particular, the floras of Southwest Arabia (Yemen and Dhofar) and northern Oman, which consist of African and Iranian elements respectively, can be used to reconstruct past vegetation types and serve as proxy indicators of past climatic regimes. Similarities between the present floras of the northern mountains of Oman and that of Baluchistan, indicate that plant species migrated across the Arabian Gulf from their centres of origin in Asia and established themselves there possibly during pluvial times. The restricted distribution of these species to higher altitudes, where the climate is still equable, suggests that they are climatic relicts in an arid land. The presence of species of African origin in both northern Oman and southwest Arabia suggest that a period (or periods) of relatively wetter climate than known today occurred, when these species were perhaps more widespread.