Progress towards an updated checklist of the Farasan Archipelago flora

Abstract

The Farasan Archipelago is an Important Plant Area near the Arabian Peninsula. The islands are small, low-lying and subject to considerable tourist and industrial development, putting their native flora at risk. Here, we report an updated checklist covering 52 families, including 152 genera and 245 species, which is being published online for the first time. This inventory was performed by a baseline survey of the literature followed by field surveys across the entire archipelago. Taxonomic updates result in four new family reports: Cleomaceae, Asphodelaceae, Loranthaceae and Asparagaceae. Forty percent of the flora has been reclassified at the family, genus or species level based on modern treatments, and the remaining sixty percent remains unchanged. This checklist will help to focus conservation efforts and provide a framework for research, conservation and policy development for The Farasan Archipelago flora.