Terrestrial Arthropod Diversity in the United Arab Emirates

Despite harsh climatic conditions and low and erratic rainfall patterns, the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) terrestrial arthropod fauna is diverse and extremely well adapted to the local environment, with some species occurring in high abundance. Until recently, the UAE’s terrestrial arthropods were poorly studied. The past two decades have seen the knowledge of arthropod diversity increase dramatically, with more than 4000 species now known to occur in the Emirates, including hundreds of species that were previously unknown for the UAE and had never been recorded globally. With so many species recently added to the inventory of the nation, their ecology (i.e., life cycles, interactions, habitat needs) are yet to be studied. This presents a challenge for conservation planning, but also offers many opportunities for further study of these organisms. Where the life-histories of species are known, they demonstrate that arthropods of the UAE are an integral part of local food webs and contribute essential ecosystem services. As is the case globally, the UAE’s arthropods are under threat from habitat loss and destruction. The lack of long-term monitoring programs means that it is currently not possible to assess whether the trend of arthropod biodiversity loss seen worldwide is echoed in the UAE.