I have a broad range of research interests and have published extensively, mainly in the following fields: (1) Flora and vegetation of the Arabian Peninsula (including Socotra); (2) Desertification and climate change, and effects on biodiversity; (3) Habitat restoration techniques of degraded desert ecosystems; (4) Biogeography of plants in the Arabian Peninsula; (5) Adaptation of plants to their natural environment; (6) Flora and vegetation of extreme habitats (mountains, deserts, heavy-metal contaminated sites, oil-polluted sites, inselbergs); (7) Critical species groups; (8) Lichen flora of the Arabian Peninsula. I also have a strong, long-standing interest in ornithology. Much of this work is carried out in collaboration with scientists in both the Arabian Peninsula and Europe. At present, I am collaborating with a colleague in Germany to finish a book on the vegetation ecology of the unique island of Socotra, Yemen (often described as the “Galapagos of the Indian Ocean”). Very recently, I have begun a fruitful collaboration with Professor A. Kacimov, Department of Soils, Water and Agricultural Engineering at SQU, in the field of ecohydrology, including vegetation patterning in recharge dams in northern Oman.
