Species diversity assessment from camera traps in a hyper-arid desert ecosystem in central Saudi Arabia

The current biodiversity loss is alarming. Protected areas can be a key strategy to halt and reverse the downward trend. To evaluate their efficiency and to conduct global biodiversity assessments, the availability of reliable data on species occurrence, diversity, and abundance is critical. Camera traps provide these data and have been used extensively in areas with high species richness, such as, temperate and tropical ecosystems, and are currently becoming more prominent in hyper-arid regions. We augment the data from hyper-arid regions by providing one of the first studies on biodiversity of terrestrial mammals and birds using camera traps at sites in central Saudi Arabia. From the deployments at 64 locations in 1.5 years, we observed a total of 59 vertebrate species with 12 species categorized as threatened on the IUCN Red List and an additional 12 that are deemed to have a high conservation priority in Saudi Arabia. This information can contribute to global biodiversity assessments and confirms the importance of the study sites as regional places of refuge. Results from this study also provide information that can support conservation management. We show that water provision was especially important to the sand gazelle. Additionally, observations of newborns of reintroduced species and the presence of predators contribute to evaluating the effectiveness and suitability of reintroduction programs to restore native biodiversity.