Qurm Nature Reserve

Coordinates: 23°37′12″N 58°28′48″E / 23.62000°N 58.48000°E / 23.62000; 58.48000
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Qurm Nature Reserve
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)[1]
Sand flats on the edge of an Arabian city
Qurm wetlands and beach
Map showing the location of Qurm Nature Reserve
Map showing the location of Qurm Nature Reserve
LocationMuscat Governorate, Oman
Coordinates23°37′12″N 58°28′48″E / 23.62000°N 58.48000°E / 23.62000; 58.48000[2]
Area1.72 km2 (0.66 sq mi)[1]
Established1975 (1975)
Official nameQurm Nature Reserve
Designated19 April 2013
Reference no.2144[2]

Qurm Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve in Muscat Governorate, Oman. Located on the Gulf of Oman coast, the reserve protects a mangrove forest and the surrounding wetland in a small estuary within the urban area of Qurm. Established in 1975, the reserve has been designated as an Important Bird Area since 1994, and as a protected Ramsar site since 2013.

Features

Qurm Nature Reserve is a coastal wetland nature reserve in the urban area of Qurm, in Bawshar Province, Muscat Governorate, in northeastern Oman.[3] Both the town and the reserve are named after a local term for the grey mangroves (القرم, al-qurm) that dominate the ecosystem along the coast.[4][5] Established in 1975 by a decree of Sultan Qaboos bin Said,[6]: 1  the reserve protects an area of roughly 172 ha (430 acres)[1] around the estuary and former delta of Wadi Aday,[7]: 24  between the Gulf of Oman coast and the foot of the Hajar Mountains. The reserve was recognized as an Important Bird Area in 1994;[8] 106.8 ha (264 acres) of the lower portion of the reserve were designated as a protected Ramsar site on 19 April 2013.[2]

Moving southeastward from the coast inland, the reserve includes a beach zone that rises to

hot desert climate, with hot summers and more evaporation than precipitation.[7]
: 24–25 

Flora and fauna

The outermost coastal dunes support

halophytes.[7]
: 30, 36–39 

The moderately drained alluvial plain above the sabkha hosts scattered woodland vegetation, featuring

Phoenix dactylifera date palms that have intermingled with the wild vegetation.[7]
: 34 

Aquatic animal species found in the wetland include a variety of crabs, such as

seabream, as well as commercially important shrimp species.[9]: 46–48  The mangroves' shed leaves feed various marine detritivores.[7]
: 37 

One study found nearly two hundred bird species in the reserve, such as Kentish plover, black-headed gull, white-cheeked tern, Caspian gull, dunlin, bar-tailed godwit, Socotra cormorant, greater flamingo, little stint, ruddy turnstone, and slender-billed gull. Terrestrial fauna include the Arabian red fox and Balochistan gerbil; sea turtles are thought to have visited the area until recent increases in human development.[9]: 47–48 

Conservation value

Qurm Nature Reserve protects one of the largest mangrove forests in the Gulf of Oman ecoregion, a biome that supports a diverse variety of marine, terrestrial, and avian wildlife.

tropical storms, and it improves water quality by retaining and filtering storm run-off.[2]

Archaeological studies have found evidence of the presence of Stone Age humans in what is now the reserve as long as 6000 years ago, seasonally harvesting oysters and whelks from the mangrove forests.[7]: 37 

References

  1. ^
    Protected Planet. Archived
    from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Qurm Nature Reserve". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Nature Reserves". Sultanate of Oman Environment Authority. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  4. ^ "Experience Oman". Twitter. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  5. ^ "World of Forestry" (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization. p. 76. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  6. doi:10.1088/1755-1315/151/1/012003
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kürschner, Harald (1986). "A Study of the Vegetation of the Qurm Nature Reserve, Muscat Area, Oman" (PDF). Arab Gulf Journal of Scientific Research. 4 (1): 23–52. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Important Bird Areas factsheet: Qurm Nature Reserve". BirdLife International. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  9. ^
    doi:10.24200/jams.vol1iss0pp41-49
    .
  10. Convention on Migratory Species. United Nations Environment Programme. June 2005. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 30 September 2012.
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