Marine Ecosystems

Relative to terrestrial and inland ecosystems, Bahrain supports a wider range of marine habitats in spite of the prevailing harsh physical marine environment. They include inertial habitats such as rocky shores, mudflats, salt marshes, mangrove swamps and sandy beaches as well as sub tidal habitats like sea grass beds, sub tidal sands and muds and coral reefs.

The extensive limestone cliffs on some Hawar islands, such as Umm Hazwarah and Al-Wakurs, are the only few examples of classic rocky shores found along the coastline of Bahrain. The distribution of mud flats is usually restricted to low-energy sheltered areas, like Tubli Bay. Mudflats in Bahrain are distinguished by high primary productivity and, thus, provide valuable feeding grounds for a variety of resident and migratory seabirds. The monospecifc mangal of the black mangrove Avicennia marina forms a critical environment in Tubli Bay which is not naturally found no anywhere else around the country. Classic sandy beaches are restricted to the south, south-west and some offshore islands, such as Mashtan. In contrast, the mixed sand/rock habitat formed by a rocky substrate covered with a sand veneer is a dominant coastal habitat both in the intertidal and sub tidal areas.

Sea grass beds are amongst the most distinct key coastal habitats in Bahrain in terms of their environmental and socio-economic importance. Covering extensive areas off the northern and eastern coasts, sea grass beds are important foraging grounds for some threatened species such as the sea-cows Dugong dugong and the green turtle Chelonia mydas. The economic value of sea grass meadows stems from their importance as feeding grounds for the commercially important rabbitfish Siganus canaliculatus, nursery areas for the commercial prawn Penaeus semisulcatus, and a refuge for a high density of the spats of the pearl oyster Pinctada radiata.