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Ecosystem spotlights

Microbial life at the extremes

In-depth features on the unique microbial life within MENA’s deserts, seas, and extreme environments. More detailed spotlights will be added here.

  • Wind-sculpted sand dunes stretching to the horizon under a clear sky

    Rub’ al Khali · 20°N 50°E

    Hyper-arid deserts

    The Empty Quarter covers some 650,000 km² across Saudi Arabia, Oman, the UAE and Yemen. Its soils and biological crusts hold microbial communities that survive extreme heat, intense sunlight and long dry spells, offering clues for dryland agriculture and soil restoration.

  • Pink and orange soft corals with shoals of small reef fish

    Red Sea · 22°N 38°E

    Coral reefs

    Red Sea reefs thrive in conditions that would stress corals elsewhere. Studying the microbial partners of corals here helps explain how reef ecosystems respond to heat, and informs efforts to protect reefs worldwide.

  • Pale mangrove roots rising out of shallow water beneath green leaves

    Arabian Gulf coast · 24.4°N 54.4°E

    Mangrove forests

    Grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) line sheltered coasts of the Gulf. The microbes in their waterlogged sediments drive carbon storage and nutrient cycling in one of the region’s most productive coastal habitats.

  • A white salt formation in turquoise hypersaline water, seen from above

    Dead Sea basin · 31.5°N 35.5°E

    Hypersaline waters & sabkhas

    From the Dead Sea to the coastal sabkhas of the Gulf, salt-saturated environments are home to halophilic microbes and layered microbial mats, organisms with unusual biochemistry and long histories of interest to biotechnology.

  • A hot spring channel coated in orange, green and cream microbial mats in a rocky desert valley

    Across the region

    Hot springs

    Thermophilic microbes in the region’s hot springs produce enzymes that stay stable at high temperatures, a long-standing source of tools for research and industry.

  • A gloved hand pushing a steel corer into oil-stained desert soil beside sample bags and tubes

    Across the region

    Oil-impacted soils

    Soils and sediments exposed to oil host microbial communities able to degrade hydrocarbons, the basis for bioremediation approaches suited to local conditions.

A field notebook with sketches of colonies, printed newsletters, petri dishes and a brass loupe on a wooden bench

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A spiral chain of phytoplankton cells under the microscope