Current view: Text account
Site description (1994 baseline):
Site location and context
Sand desert of linear and crescent dunes up to 70 m high with broad swales between dunes, and gently undulating plains and low hills of sand and gravel along the margins. Dominant vegetation is a sparse, low shrubland of
Prosopis cineraria; after good rains the dunes support a good cover of perennials such as
Calligonum bushes,
Tribulus, sedges
Cyperus and grass
Stipagrostis. There are no permanent settlements apart from artificial oases at Montasar (Montesar) (19°27'N 54°37'E) and Dawkah (Dauka) (18°40'N 54°04'E) which are fed by permanently flowing boreholes (the water is sulphurous and unsuitable for agriculture). Similar pools are also found at Fasad (South) and in the Muqshin area. Nomadic pastoralism is the dominant human activity. Major oilfields and important archaeological sites occur in the area.
See box for key species. A representative desert bird community. The following species are known or presumed to breed in the area (counts in brackets refer to individuals unless stated otherwise):
Buteo rufinus (30–34),
Aquila chrysaetos (7–8),
Pterocles coronatus (250+),
P. senegallus (5,000–6,500),
P. exustus (100, April) and
Eremalauda dunni (8 pairs, March). There is a strong passage of
Acrocephalus palustris in spring. There was an intensive ringing study of bird migration at Dawkah in spring 1992.
Non-bird biodiversity: Mammals: Gazella gazella (V) and G. subgutturosa (rare) occur; the latter is the more common.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The area is a proposed National Resource Reserve.
Information compiled by M. I. Evans; summary bird data (for Montasar & Dauka) supplied by Oman Bird Records Committee (per Jens Eriksen).
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Empty Quarter (Oman). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/empty-quarter-iba-oman on 05/12/2024.
