Iran

Asia

253

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Iran is one of the most diverse countries in western Asia because it combines two mountain ranges that act as barrier and refuge, the Zagros and the Alborz, with two seas and two great interior deserts. On the northern slope of the Alborz, facing the Caspian, grow the Hyrcanian forests, a relict temperate rainforest tens of millions of years old that survived the glaciations and keeps trees absent from the rest of Eurasia. Inland, the Dasht-e Kavir and the Dasht-e Lut alternate salt crusts, yardangs and dune fields, and in the Lut the highest surface temperatures on the planet have been recorded. The south descends to the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, with mangroves, reefs and turtle nesting beaches. Iran keeps the largest Persian leopard population in the world.

The nature of Iran

National animal: The Persian lion, now extinct in the country, is the historic emblem; the Asiatic cheetah is the national conservation symbol

Did you know?

The Asiatic cheetah, which once ran from India to the Arabian peninsula, survives today only in Iran, with a few dozen animals scattered across the arid plains of the centre and east. Its situation is so critical that at the 2014 football World Cup the Iranian squad wore its image printed on their shirts to draw attention to the species, and its monitoring relies almost entirely on camera traps.

Biodiversity profile

Oriente Medio / Asia OccidentalIran cuenta con aprox. 200 areas protegidas de diversas categorias; un mapeo cientifico reciente identifico que proteger el 20% adicional del territorio protegeria mas del 70% de la distribucion de peces, anfibios, reptiles y aves endemicas

Climate

•Arido y semiarido (BWh/BSk) en la meseta central (Dasht-e Kavir, Desierto de Lut)
•Templado humedo (Cfa) en la costa del Caspio (bosques hircanos)
•Mediterraneo y de montaña en los Zagros y el Alborz

Main biomes

•Bosques hircanos del Caspio (relictos terciarios, 7% del territorio, 44% de la flora del pais)
•Desierto central (Dasht-e Kavir, Lut)
•Bosque y estepa de montaña de los Zagros y Alborz
•Humedales costeros del Caspio
•Bosque hircanio subtropical
•Desierto salino interior
•Montaña del Zagros
•Manglar del golfo Pérsico
•Estepa árida
•Lago hipersalino
•Alta montaña del Alborz

Marine and coastal ecosystems

•Costa del Mar Caspio (norte) y del Golfo Perico/Mar de Oman (sur), con humedales de importancia para aves migratorias

Flagship wildlife

•Guepardo asiatico (unica poblacion mundial superviviente)
•Leopardo persa (mas de dos tercios de la poblacion mundial)
•Salamandra de montaña de Gorgan (endemica, En Peligro Critico)
•Onagro asiatico
•Gamo persa
•Oso pardo sirio
•Íbice del Zagros
•Flamenco común
•Tortuga carey
•Gacela de Persia
•Foca del Caspio

Notable endemic species

•Salamandra de montaña de Gorgan, endemica de los bosques hircanos del Caspio
•Vibora de Latifi, endemica de la estepa forestal del Elburz
•Iran alberga mas de dos tercios de la poblacion mundial de leopardo persa (550-850 individuos)
•Guepardo asiático
•Gamo persa
•Ciervo rojo del Caspio
•Víbora cornuda persa

Notable threatened species

•Guepardo asiatico (En Peligro Critico, aprox. 17-30 individuos remanentes en 2025, unica poblacion mundial de la especie, restringida a los desiertos centrales)
•Leopardo persa (En Peligro, principal refugio mundial de la subespecie)
•Esturion persa y esturion beluga (En Peligro Critico, Mar Caspio)

Notable protected areas

•Parque Nacional Golestan (primer parque nacional de Iran, bosques hircanos)
•Reserva de la Biosfera de Touran (principal bastion del guepardo asiatico)
•Refugio de Vida Silvestre de Miandasht
•Parque Nacional de Golestán
•Parque Nacional de Kavir
•Reserva de Turan
•Lago Urmía
•Reserva de Miankaleh
•Parque Nacional de Lar

Main conservation threats

•Fragmentacion de habitat por carreteras e infraestructura energetica en el rango del guepardo asiatico
•Caza furtiva de ungulados presa, que reduce la disponibilidad de alimento para grandes carnivoros
•Mortalidad de leopardos por atropello y conflicto con ganaderos, mayoritariamente fuera de areas protegidas

Notable natural phenomena

•Los bosques hircanos del Caspio son bosques relictos terciarios de gran valor evolutivo, sobrevivientes de la vegetacion que cubria gran parte de Eurasia hace millones de años

Conservation

Lake Urmia, one of the largest salt lakes in the world, has shrunk drastically through irrigation and dams, affecting flamingos and the brine shrimp they feed on. The Persian fallow deer was believed extinct until it was rediscovered in Khuzestan in the 1950s.

Where and when to watch wildlife

Turan and Kavir in winter for Asiatic cheetah and onager. The Hyrcanian forests in autumn for woodland birds and deer. Miankaleh between November and February for wintering waterbirds.

Sources: phys.org - Mapping Iran's biodiversity hotspots | biologyinsights.com - Notable Iranian Animals | biorxiv - Alarming circumstances Asiatic cheetah Iran | BioDB.com - Iran

Desert Mountain Grassland Freshwater