Thewildlife of Syria is the flora and fauna ofSyria, a country at the eastern end of theMediterranean Sea. Besides its coastline, the country has a coastal plain, mountain ranges in the west, a semi-arid steppe area in the centre occupying most of the country, and a desert area in the east. Each of these zones has its own characteristic animals and plants.
Syria is located in theMiddle East at the eastern end of theMediterranean Sea. It is bordered byTurkey to the north,Lebanon andIsrael to the west,Jordan to the south andIraq to the east. Thetopography consists of a narrow coastal plain in the west which rises up to theSyrian Coastal Mountain Range which runs parallel with the coast. South of this is theHoms Gap, beyond which areMount Lebanon and theAnti-Lebanon Mountains which separate Syria from Lebanon. Further east is a large area ofsteppe or Badia in the centre of the country. This is divided by theEuphrates river, on which a dam was built in 1973 creating a reservoir,Lake Assad, which is the largest lake in Syria. In the east and south of the country is theSyrian Desert and in the far south is theJabal al-Druze Mountain Range.[1]
The coastal mountains and the coast have a Mediterranean climate. Here the winter is mild and wet, with up to 1,000 mm (40 in) of annual precipitation, and the summer, from May to October, hot and dry. Further inland, the rainfall levels decrease rapidly, being 250 to 500 mm (10 to 20 in) on the steppes and less than 130 mm (5 in) in the desert. There is also a much greater variation between maximum and minimum temperature inland, with frosts sometimes occurring at night and temperatures rising as high as 45 °C (113 °F) by day in summer.[2]
Around 3,100 species offlowering plant have been recorded in Syria as well as about 112gymnosperms.[3] The country can be considered to be at a crossroads between various vegetation zones and the flora shows influences from three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. Theice ages pushedPalearctic species further south, and when the climate ameliorated, some species clung on in mountainous regions of Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The prevailing westerly winds bring greater precipitation near the coast and the vegetation on the western side of the coastal mountain ranges differs from that on the eastern side, which differs again from inland mountain ranges and once again from the drought-resistant plants that grow on the eastern plateau.[4]
In the west of the country, mild wet winters and hot dry summers provide ideal conditions for theEastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests of the region which include evergreen oaks,Aleppo pines and other conifers. Where the trees have been removed for timber,sclerophyllous scrub predominates, such asmaquis shrubland, andgarrigue in calcareous areas.[5] At the beginning of the twentieth century, forests covered about one third of the country, but a hundred years later, this had reduced to about 3%.[3] The remaining forest cover is mostly in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range and consists of thorny and glossy-leaved trees such ascommon box,Myrtus communis,broom,terebinth,strawberry tree andwild olive.[5]
Plants found in the semi-arid and arid regions include bulbous plants such astulips,fritillaries,Asphodeline damascena,Asphodeline lutea,crocus,iris,Drimia maritima,Colchicum hierosolymitanum andAsphodelus aestivus, and other plants such asPapaver dubium,Papaver rhoeas,Malva parviflora,Plantago ovata,Plantago coronopus,Paliurus spina-christi,Ziziphus lotus,Adonis aleppica,Adonis palaestina andEryngium maritimum.[6] Theterebinth tree (Pistacia palaestina) grows in semi-arid areas and is a traditional source ofturpentine,[7] and the shrubCaroxylon vermiculatum, which regenerates with as little as 70 mm (2.8 in) of rainfall, provides good fodder forlivestock.[8]
Syria has a diverse fauna with 125 species of mammal, 394 of bird, 127 of reptile, 16 of amphibian and 157 of freshwater fishes recorded in the country.[3] Human activities have affected the biodiversity of the fauna. TheAsiatic lion andcheetah,Caspian tiger andleopard (subspeciesP. p. nimr andP. p. tulliana) used to be present, but they have died out in the country, and so thebrown bear and thegray wolf are the largest carnivores remaining. Also present are thered fox,striped hyena,golden jackal,Egyptian mongoose,least weasel,marbled polecat,honey badger,Caucasian badger andEuropean otter. Thecat family are represented by thecaracal,jungle cat,sand cat andwildcat. Grazing animals include themountain gazelle and thegoitered gazelle, theroe deer,wild goat,Nubian ibex andArabian oryx. There are alsorock hyrax, hedgehogs, hares, shrews and bats. The many species ofrodents includesquirrels,dormice,jerboas,gerbils,hamsters,mole-rats,jirds,voles,rats,mice andspiny mice.[9][10]
Ten species of whale have been recorded off the coast as well as the endangeredMediterranean monk seal. Four species of turtle are sometimes seen, the most common being theloggerhead sea turtle, and about 295 species of marine fish have been recorded in Syria.[3]
Of the nearly four hundred species of bird recorded in the country, many are migrants, particularly visiting the coastal mountain range, the Euphrates valley and seasonalsalt lakes that form in arid regions.Sabkhat al-Jabbul is a nature reserve at one of these salt lakes and is visited by migratinggreater flamingoes. Endangered breeding birds include a few pairs ofnorthern bald ibis in the north of the country, thelesser kestrel and thegreat bustard. Rare visiting species include thecorn crake,Dalmatian pelican,white-headed duck andeastern imperial eagle.[8]
