Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum Volume 2013 Issue 1

We report here the discovery of a gecko species, the Persian leaf-toed gecko Hemidactylus persicus Anderson, 1872 (Gekkonidae) in Qatar that was found on Halul Island. According to the Qatar National Biodiversity Surveys and the available international literature H. persicus was not previously recorded in Qatar. Its known range covers the north east of the Arabian Peninsula, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and south wester Read More

Indeed human resources, national technological projects and energy are the three main pillars for any sustainable social-economical development of all our societies at the national-local, regional and international levels. In a global modern World with already existing means of communication and technologies' transfer, the improvement of the materials and economical welfare could be enhanced in order to show visible results Read More

The mobile Barchan dunes in Qatar are restricted to the southeastern region of the country. They are currently a disappearing natural habitat, due to the northwesterly Al Shamal winds which are scouring the landscape and spreading desertification as they pass. The study's aim was to understand the ecology of an active dune, in terms of resident species and their populations. Traps were placed along three dunes and Read More

Natural waters, permeability reduction in reservoir rocks, groundwater flow and clay rheology [1]. In addition, pyrophyllite clays have a number of industrial applications due to their distinctive surface chemical properties. The edge sites play an important role for pH dependent sorption of ions from solutions of electrolytes. For a full understanding of pyrophyllite formation and properties, a study of the chemistry of the system, t Read More

PROMOTING GROUP: Green Cross Italia Onlus -GCIt (IT) team leader, ENEA (IT), AIDMO (Arab League), Renviron Foundation (EG) BACKGROUND: the high cultivation flexibility of "Jerusalem Artichock", a perennial grass worldwide known as "topinambur", and its adaptability to different and severe climatic conditions lead to the possibility to verify its exploitability in Gulf desert and pre desert areas, more precisely in Qatar, to reduce Read More

Flaring is a recognized environmental issue with multiple implications. Flaring results in economic losses waste of limited material and energy resources, generation of huge amounts of CO2 and other harmful Green House Gases emissions affecting local air quality and contributing to global warming. The bigger impact is on local populations close to industrial cites. Flaring affects their quality of life and health. Yearly, over a 1 Read More

Abstract: Qatar biodiversity is under the pressure by the effects of environmental pollution, overgrazing, desertification as well as the climatic change. In order to rescue wild plant genetic resources of Qatar and in the line of Qatar Strategic action plan of Genetic resources, the present investigation aims at ex-situ conservation of some wild plant genetic resources from Rawdat Umm Al-Kharq. A total number of 17 acces Read More

The Arabian Gulf surrounding Qatar is distinct from other marine ecosystems due to its high salinity, and extreme temperature fluctuations and is underpinned by its massive oil and gas industry. To date, no microbial studies have been performed in Qatari waters to isolates and identify the microbial flora of the marine environment in Qatar. This study is thus planned to assess the microbial diversity of in marine environment Read More

The vast majority of surfactant flood applications to date have been targeted to high permeability sandstone reservoirs containing formation brine with moderate salinity and hardness. Surfactant flooding in oil-wet, low-permeability carbonate rock is only reported sparsely throughout the literature. In the present work we aimed at identifying an efficient enhanced oil recovery strategy using a dilute surfactant solution. The Read More

Owing to the ever increasing oil and gas prices, wood, the oldest fuel known to human beings, is going to experience a renaissance. Plantation firewood is a potential renewable energy source as it can be readily regrown, especially with those species that will coppice from the cut stumps. A good quality firewood needs to possess maximum available heat, higher density, easy to split quality, ready to lit and with minimum wat Read More