During the Cold War,China’s diplomacy failed to treat the Arab states as a whole.It was not until the end of the Cold War that China established diplomatic relations with all 22 Arab states.Since then,a multilateral ...During the Cold War,China’s diplomacy failed to treat the Arab states as a whole.It was not until the end of the Cold War that China established diplomatic relations with all 22 Arab states.Since then,a multilateral cooperation mechanism between China and Arab states has come into existence and become steadily developed.In 2004,the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was established.In 2010,China and the Arab states announced the establishment of a strategic cooperative relationship.After the Gulf War,the Arab world entered a period of fragmentation and division.The situation deteriorated after the drastic changes in the Middle East in 2011,to the point of entering an era of granulation.The ability of The League of Arab States to operate as a single international actor has been greatly impaired.In the era of the fragmentation of the Arab world,the mechanism of multilateral cooperation between China and the Arab States has developed in spite of these great difficulties.In future,the role and function of the multilateral mechanism of cooperation between China and the Arab states needs to be clarified,and efficiency needs to be improved based on the existing mechanisms.展开更多
In this study, we use the ARDL bounds testing procedure suggested by Pesaran (2001) and modified version of the Granger causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test the robustness of the causality e...In this study, we use the ARDL bounds testing procedure suggested by Pesaran (2001) and modified version of the Granger causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test the robustness of the causality effect between military expenditure and economic growth in 4 Asian countries, two industrial countries (South Korea and Malaysia), and others are developing countries (Iran and Saudi Arabia), from 1988 to 2006 years, data series obtained from word development indicator (WDI). With respect to that military expenditure can affect economic growth so increase in GDP can increase or decrease military expenditure, too. We investigate the causality relationship between military expenditure and economic growth because the purpose of military expenditures is to provide national security. The results show that Iran and Saudi Arabia don't have any causality relationship between military expenditure and economic growth. The results of South Korea show a unidirectional relationship from LGDP (Logarithm of real GDP) and LGDPK (logarithm of real GDP per capita) to military expenditure, and in Malaysia there is unidirectional relationship from LGDPK to military expenditure. The comparison of these results, we can say that developing countries don't have meaningful relationship between military expenditure and economic growth, but we can find unidirectional or bidirectional relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in industrial countries.展开更多
Arabs are rising up against the old totalitarian regimes throughout the whole region, from Tunisia to Bahrain and North Africa, covering the Persian Gulf axes. The demonstrations were triggered by the social disconten...Arabs are rising up against the old totalitarian regimes throughout the whole region, from Tunisia to Bahrain and North Africa, covering the Persian Gulf axes. The demonstrations were triggered by the social discontent over the lack of democracy and political freedom, not to mention the corruption, the high unemployment rate among the young population, and poor living conditions for the general public. 1 fear that the Arab revolutions could turn into uncontrollable clashes, leading to further chaos and Islamic radicalization. Turkey has been emerging as an important diplomatic actor in the Arab Street. My argument is based upon the question Can Turkey be a model for the Middle East, following a century-long bumpy-ride on the road to a full democracy. Under the neo-realistic view Turkey is a secular democratic state, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member and also candidate for the EU. In this paper we try, briefly, to understand the possible role of Turkish diplomacy with the Middle East and the Great Powers within international political dimensions.展开更多
This paper argues that there is no real nationalism in the Middle East and if is, then it is an instrumental. The historical process of the region which relates to nationalism has had three stages: (1) the European...This paper argues that there is no real nationalism in the Middle East and if is, then it is an instrumental. The historical process of the region which relates to nationalism has had three stages: (1) the European conquest that forced the indigenous people to battle both for freedom and confront a secular idea such as nationalism; (2) arbitrarily marked borders by the West disregarding ethnic religious and tribal lines and affinity; (3) the creation of Arab nation states with no solid infrastructure of shared national values. This perspective can help understand current political developments in light of the Arab spring upheavals, in Iraq, Syria and Libya.展开更多
Our research topic is about the economic situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) oil exporters after the global crisis in 2008. The authors tried to find the answers to the questions such as "How bad o...Our research topic is about the economic situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) oil exporters after the global crisis in 2008. The authors tried to find the answers to the questions such as "How bad or good is the situation there?" and "what is the expectation about the future of the region?" Like other countries around the world, the MENA oil exporters, comprised of Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen were adversely affected by the global crisis. The MENA oil exporters are recently recovering from their recession in 2009 when the global crisis was felt intensively there. GDP in the region has grown by 3.5 percent in 2010 after a low growth of 0.7 percent in 2009. The average real GDP growth excluding Libya is projected to reach 4.9 percent in 2011. Two developments mark the outlook: the unrest in the region and the surge in global fuel and food prices. For most oil exporters, the expected increase in oil prices and production volumes will lead to higher growth in 2011 and stronger fiscal and external balances, notwithstanding recent increases in government spending. The oil exporters' combined external current account surplus is estimated to increase. The effects of the political events in Tunisia and Egypt have spread in varying degrees to the MENA oil exporters in the region, and many of these countries are responding with public spending and job-creation measures to alleviate social tensions. The social unrest also highlights the need to pursue fundamental economic reforms--social policy, fiscal management, governance, business environment, labor markets, and financial sector access to facilitate more inclusive economic growth. While the MENA countries are generally divided into two sub-regions such as "oil exporters" and "oil importers" in the economic literature, the authors will deal with only the MENA oil exporters in this work. The negative effects of the global crisis in these countries on growth, inflation, current account balance, budget balance, and finally financial sector will be reviewed in this work and the expectations and the developments which occurred after the crisis in these countries will be dealt with especially in the context of the IMF reports.展开更多
Monthly abundance of the subclass Copepoda was analyzed from the zooplankton samples collected at Obhur Creek, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during December-2011 till December-2012. Zooplankton samples were collected through s...Monthly abundance of the subclass Copepoda was analyzed from the zooplankton samples collected at Obhur Creek, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during December-2011 till December-2012. Zooplankton samples were collected through surface horizontal tows by a modified WP2 net(via. mouth diameter 50 cm, length 180 cm, 150 μm mesh size). Order Calanoida dominated the abundance with mean annual average of 75.29%. We observed abnormal protuberances on copepods, known as tumour-like anomalies(TLAs). Calanoida showed more frequent and prominent TLAs on its dorsal surface with highest mean percentage occurring during Jun. 2012(1.64%). The percentage prevalence of TLAs on the Copepoda was highest during Jun. 2012(1.36%) and least during Nov. 2012(0.03%). It is suggested that these TLAs might be caused due to the presence of potentially high levels of toxic substances, which weakens the exoskeleton and thereby making them more susceptible to infections or due to wounds from parasites or might be related to the occurrence of symbiotic tantulocarids or might be due to the radiation stress as a control measure. Whatever the reason, these TLAs have become a serious emerging threat to the aquatic food web. Our investigation is the first of its kind in the coastal waters of the Saudi Red Sea, which needs further investigations in order to elucidate the possible reasons for these abnormalities.展开更多
The Berezovsk coal mine in western Siberia has yielded the most diverse Middle Jurassic limnic and terrestrial vertebrate assemblage of Asia. The vertebrate remains were recovered by screen washing from floodplain dep...The Berezovsk coal mine in western Siberia has yielded the most diverse Middle Jurassic limnic and terrestrial vertebrate assemblage of Asia. The vertebrate remains were recovered by screen washing from floodplain deposits on top of a thick coal seam of the Bathonian Itat Formation. A total of 29 vertebrate taxa has been recorded so far,including hybodontiform sharks,acipenseriforms,palaeonisciforms,amiiforms,dipnoans,anurans,caudates,turtles,squamates,choristoderans,crocodyliforms,pterosaurs,dinosaurs,tritylodontids,and a diverse mammaliaform and mammalian assemblage( eleutherodontids,docodontans,? amphilestids,dryolestids,and zatherians). The caudates are among the oldest in the fossil record and the anurans represent the oldest Asian record of this group. Among the mammals,Anthracolestes is the oldest and most basal known member of Dryolestidae and so far the only record from Asia. The vertebrate assemblage from the Berezovsk coal mine is very similar to that from the British Forest Marble Formation( Bathonian) and suggests a limited provincialism in the Middle Jurassic Laurasian landmass.展开更多
The paper analyses the market of Arabian countries, and Sino-Arab trade, and technology relations. In the recent years, Sino-Arab trade, investment, engineering contracting, Project Contracting, and technology coop...The paper analyses the market of Arabian countries, and Sino-Arab trade, and technology relations. In the recent years, Sino-Arab trade, investment, engineering contracting, Project Contracting, and technology cooperation developed very quickly. The paper also gives some recommendations to enhance Sino-Arab trade and technology relations.展开更多
In Jurassic sediments of Siberia, remains of Lycopodites are rare in occurrence. They are represented by two species : Lycopodites tenerrimus Heer, and L. (.9) trichiatus Pryn. This paper presents an emended diag- ...In Jurassic sediments of Siberia, remains of Lycopodites are rare in occurrence. They are represented by two species : Lycopodites tenerrimus Heer, and L. (.9) trichiatus Pryn. This paper presents an emended diag- nosis of the species L.(.9) trichiatus Pryn., and the descriptions of two new species: Lycopodhes subulifolius sp. nov., and L. baikalensis sp. nov. from the Early-Middle Jurassic sediments of the Irkutsk coal basin, Eastern Siberia, Russia. As part of the research effort, it was found that the ecological preference of the new species was different: Lycopodites subulifolius sp. nov. grew in wet and open spaces, while Lycopodites baikalensis sp. nov. preferred to colonize young growth of bog forests.展开更多
Aiming at the deficiency of diagnosis method based on vibration signal,a novel method based on speed signal with singular value decomposition and Hilbert transform(SVD-HT)is proposed.The fault diagnosis mechanism base...Aiming at the deficiency of diagnosis method based on vibration signal,a novel method based on speed signal with singular value decomposition and Hilbert transform(SVD-HT)is proposed.The fault diagnosis mechanism based on the speed signal is obtained by constructing the shaft misalignment fault model firstly.Then the SVD-HT method is applied to the processing of the speed signal.The accuracy of the SVD-HT method is verified by comparing the diagnosis results of the order spectrum method and the SVD-HT method.After that,the diagnosis results based on vibration signal and speed signal under no-load and load patterns are compared.Under the no-load pattern,the amplitudes of the speed signal components f_(r),2f_(r) and 4f_(r) are linear with the misalignment.In addition,under the load pattern,the amplitudes of the speed signal components f_(r),2f_(r) and 4f_(r) have a linear relationship with the load.However,the diagnosis result of the vibration signal does not have the above characteristics.The comparison results verify the robustness and reliability of the speed signal and SVD-HT method.The method presented in this paper provides a novel way for misalignment fault diagnosis.展开更多
The political upheavals in the Arab world during 2011 challenged the political status quo and have irrevocably paved the way toward transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), The longstanding structu...The political upheavals in the Arab world during 2011 challenged the political status quo and have irrevocably paved the way toward transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), The longstanding structural impediments to equitable growth and social justice afflicting the Arab world came to a head through a combination of persistently poverty, high unemployment, particularly among educated youth, rampant corruption, deficit of democratic governance, and essential freedoms. Yemen is the third country of the Middle Eastern countries which turmoil sparked in. All the uprisings connote of social, political and economic discontent and frustration. The main question and issue of this paper is to answer: What conditions breed change to Yemen? The paper spotlights "relative deprivation" of Ted Robert Gurr as the most relevant theory to illustrate roots of the Yemen uprising. Relative deprivation theory holds that instead of an absolute standard deprivation, a gap between expectations and reality leads men to political violence. Therefore, this study is to utilize relative deprivation theory to explain how socio-economic shortages (such as high unemployment and education, along with poverty) and political inefficiencies of the Yemen's authoritarian regime led to public and collective discontent and upheaval. The intervened variables such as "ethnicity, race, religion, and sexuality" and international parameters have not been considered,展开更多
Group size variations of the Arabian sand gazelle Gazella subgutturosa marica were studied during a period of drought at the Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area in central western Saudi Arabia. Significant differences in m...Group size variations of the Arabian sand gazelle Gazella subgutturosa marica were studied during a period of drought at the Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area in central western Saudi Arabia. Significant differences in median group sizes were observed between all seasons except summer. Single animals were observed mainly during summer while group sizes ex- ceeding 10 individuals were observed mainly during winter. Solitary male and female groups were typically observed during winter and mixed groups mainly during the autumn rutting period. Most mixed groups were two to four times larger during winter than summer. The adult sex ratio (male: female) for all seasons combined was in parity and highest during autumn (1:1.23), probably as a result of prolonged drought conditions. The variability in group structure related to environmental conditions may be one factor permitting G. s. marica to adapt to hyper-arid habitats and climatic regimes in central western Saudi Arabia. The value of continuous monitoring of the gazelle population is emphasised for this drought prone region展开更多
文摘During the Cold War,China’s diplomacy failed to treat the Arab states as a whole.It was not until the end of the Cold War that China established diplomatic relations with all 22 Arab states.Since then,a multilateral cooperation mechanism between China and Arab states has come into existence and become steadily developed.In 2004,the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum was established.In 2010,China and the Arab states announced the establishment of a strategic cooperative relationship.After the Gulf War,the Arab world entered a period of fragmentation and division.The situation deteriorated after the drastic changes in the Middle East in 2011,to the point of entering an era of granulation.The ability of The League of Arab States to operate as a single international actor has been greatly impaired.In the era of the fragmentation of the Arab world,the mechanism of multilateral cooperation between China and the Arab States has developed in spite of these great difficulties.In future,the role and function of the multilateral mechanism of cooperation between China and the Arab states needs to be clarified,and efficiency needs to be improved based on the existing mechanisms.
文摘In this study, we use the ARDL bounds testing procedure suggested by Pesaran (2001) and modified version of the Granger causality test proposed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) to test the robustness of the causality effect between military expenditure and economic growth in 4 Asian countries, two industrial countries (South Korea and Malaysia), and others are developing countries (Iran and Saudi Arabia), from 1988 to 2006 years, data series obtained from word development indicator (WDI). With respect to that military expenditure can affect economic growth so increase in GDP can increase or decrease military expenditure, too. We investigate the causality relationship between military expenditure and economic growth because the purpose of military expenditures is to provide national security. The results show that Iran and Saudi Arabia don't have any causality relationship between military expenditure and economic growth. The results of South Korea show a unidirectional relationship from LGDP (Logarithm of real GDP) and LGDPK (logarithm of real GDP per capita) to military expenditure, and in Malaysia there is unidirectional relationship from LGDPK to military expenditure. The comparison of these results, we can say that developing countries don't have meaningful relationship between military expenditure and economic growth, but we can find unidirectional or bidirectional relationship between military expenditure and economic growth in industrial countries.
文摘Arabs are rising up against the old totalitarian regimes throughout the whole region, from Tunisia to Bahrain and North Africa, covering the Persian Gulf axes. The demonstrations were triggered by the social discontent over the lack of democracy and political freedom, not to mention the corruption, the high unemployment rate among the young population, and poor living conditions for the general public. 1 fear that the Arab revolutions could turn into uncontrollable clashes, leading to further chaos and Islamic radicalization. Turkey has been emerging as an important diplomatic actor in the Arab Street. My argument is based upon the question Can Turkey be a model for the Middle East, following a century-long bumpy-ride on the road to a full democracy. Under the neo-realistic view Turkey is a secular democratic state, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member and also candidate for the EU. In this paper we try, briefly, to understand the possible role of Turkish diplomacy with the Middle East and the Great Powers within international political dimensions.
文摘This paper argues that there is no real nationalism in the Middle East and if is, then it is an instrumental. The historical process of the region which relates to nationalism has had three stages: (1) the European conquest that forced the indigenous people to battle both for freedom and confront a secular idea such as nationalism; (2) arbitrarily marked borders by the West disregarding ethnic religious and tribal lines and affinity; (3) the creation of Arab nation states with no solid infrastructure of shared national values. This perspective can help understand current political developments in light of the Arab spring upheavals, in Iraq, Syria and Libya.
文摘Our research topic is about the economic situation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) oil exporters after the global crisis in 2008. The authors tried to find the answers to the questions such as "How bad or good is the situation there?" and "what is the expectation about the future of the region?" Like other countries around the world, the MENA oil exporters, comprised of Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates, Yemen were adversely affected by the global crisis. The MENA oil exporters are recently recovering from their recession in 2009 when the global crisis was felt intensively there. GDP in the region has grown by 3.5 percent in 2010 after a low growth of 0.7 percent in 2009. The average real GDP growth excluding Libya is projected to reach 4.9 percent in 2011. Two developments mark the outlook: the unrest in the region and the surge in global fuel and food prices. For most oil exporters, the expected increase in oil prices and production volumes will lead to higher growth in 2011 and stronger fiscal and external balances, notwithstanding recent increases in government spending. The oil exporters' combined external current account surplus is estimated to increase. The effects of the political events in Tunisia and Egypt have spread in varying degrees to the MENA oil exporters in the region, and many of these countries are responding with public spending and job-creation measures to alleviate social tensions. The social unrest also highlights the need to pursue fundamental economic reforms--social policy, fiscal management, governance, business environment, labor markets, and financial sector access to facilitate more inclusive economic growth. While the MENA countries are generally divided into two sub-regions such as "oil exporters" and "oil importers" in the economic literature, the authors will deal with only the MENA oil exporters in this work. The negative effects of the global crisis in these countries on growth, inflation, current account balance, budget balance, and finally financial sector will be reviewed in this work and the expectations and the developments which occurred after the crisis in these countries will be dealt with especially in the context of the IMF reports.
基金funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR) at King Abdulaziz University under grant (No. G-389-150-36)DSR for technical and financial support
文摘Monthly abundance of the subclass Copepoda was analyzed from the zooplankton samples collected at Obhur Creek, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during December-2011 till December-2012. Zooplankton samples were collected through surface horizontal tows by a modified WP2 net(via. mouth diameter 50 cm, length 180 cm, 150 μm mesh size). Order Calanoida dominated the abundance with mean annual average of 75.29%. We observed abnormal protuberances on copepods, known as tumour-like anomalies(TLAs). Calanoida showed more frequent and prominent TLAs on its dorsal surface with highest mean percentage occurring during Jun. 2012(1.64%). The percentage prevalence of TLAs on the Copepoda was highest during Jun. 2012(1.36%) and least during Nov. 2012(0.03%). It is suggested that these TLAs might be caused due to the presence of potentially high levels of toxic substances, which weakens the exoskeleton and thereby making them more susceptible to infections or due to wounds from parasites or might be related to the occurrence of symbiotic tantulocarids or might be due to the radiation stress as a control measure. Whatever the reason, these TLAs have become a serious emerging threat to the aquatic food web. Our investigation is the first of its kind in the coastal waters of the Saudi Red Sea, which needs further investigations in order to elucidate the possible reasons for these abnormalities.
基金Financial support was provided by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) (grant MA 1643 /14-1. 2)the Board of the President of the Russian Federation ( MD-802 . 2009 . 4 )+1 种基金the Russian Foundation for Basic Research ( projects 07 -04 -00393 ,10 -04 -01350 ,13 -04 -01401 ,and 11 -04 -91331 -NNIO)the Program of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences “Origin of the Life and Establishment of Biosphere
文摘The Berezovsk coal mine in western Siberia has yielded the most diverse Middle Jurassic limnic and terrestrial vertebrate assemblage of Asia. The vertebrate remains were recovered by screen washing from floodplain deposits on top of a thick coal seam of the Bathonian Itat Formation. A total of 29 vertebrate taxa has been recorded so far,including hybodontiform sharks,acipenseriforms,palaeonisciforms,amiiforms,dipnoans,anurans,caudates,turtles,squamates,choristoderans,crocodyliforms,pterosaurs,dinosaurs,tritylodontids,and a diverse mammaliaform and mammalian assemblage( eleutherodontids,docodontans,? amphilestids,dryolestids,and zatherians). The caudates are among the oldest in the fossil record and the anurans represent the oldest Asian record of this group. Among the mammals,Anthracolestes is the oldest and most basal known member of Dryolestidae and so far the only record from Asia. The vertebrate assemblage from the Berezovsk coal mine is very similar to that from the British Forest Marble Formation( Bathonian) and suggests a limited provincialism in the Middle Jurassic Laurasian landmass.
文摘The paper analyses the market of Arabian countries, and Sino-Arab trade, and technology relations. In the recent years, Sino-Arab trade, investment, engineering contracting, Project Contracting, and technology cooperation developed very quickly. The paper also gives some recommendations to enhance Sino-Arab trade and technology relations.
文摘In Jurassic sediments of Siberia, remains of Lycopodites are rare in occurrence. They are represented by two species : Lycopodites tenerrimus Heer, and L. (.9) trichiatus Pryn. This paper presents an emended diag- nosis of the species L.(.9) trichiatus Pryn., and the descriptions of two new species: Lycopodhes subulifolius sp. nov., and L. baikalensis sp. nov. from the Early-Middle Jurassic sediments of the Irkutsk coal basin, Eastern Siberia, Russia. As part of the research effort, it was found that the ecological preference of the new species was different: Lycopodites subulifolius sp. nov. grew in wet and open spaces, while Lycopodites baikalensis sp. nov. preferred to colonize young growth of bog forests.
基金National Key Research and Development Program of China(No.2017YFF0108100)。
文摘Aiming at the deficiency of diagnosis method based on vibration signal,a novel method based on speed signal with singular value decomposition and Hilbert transform(SVD-HT)is proposed.The fault diagnosis mechanism based on the speed signal is obtained by constructing the shaft misalignment fault model firstly.Then the SVD-HT method is applied to the processing of the speed signal.The accuracy of the SVD-HT method is verified by comparing the diagnosis results of the order spectrum method and the SVD-HT method.After that,the diagnosis results based on vibration signal and speed signal under no-load and load patterns are compared.Under the no-load pattern,the amplitudes of the speed signal components f_(r),2f_(r) and 4f_(r) are linear with the misalignment.In addition,under the load pattern,the amplitudes of the speed signal components f_(r),2f_(r) and 4f_(r) have a linear relationship with the load.However,the diagnosis result of the vibration signal does not have the above characteristics.The comparison results verify the robustness and reliability of the speed signal and SVD-HT method.The method presented in this paper provides a novel way for misalignment fault diagnosis.
文摘The political upheavals in the Arab world during 2011 challenged the political status quo and have irrevocably paved the way toward transformation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), The longstanding structural impediments to equitable growth and social justice afflicting the Arab world came to a head through a combination of persistently poverty, high unemployment, particularly among educated youth, rampant corruption, deficit of democratic governance, and essential freedoms. Yemen is the third country of the Middle Eastern countries which turmoil sparked in. All the uprisings connote of social, political and economic discontent and frustration. The main question and issue of this paper is to answer: What conditions breed change to Yemen? The paper spotlights "relative deprivation" of Ted Robert Gurr as the most relevant theory to illustrate roots of the Yemen uprising. Relative deprivation theory holds that instead of an absolute standard deprivation, a gap between expectations and reality leads men to political violence. Therefore, this study is to utilize relative deprivation theory to explain how socio-economic shortages (such as high unemployment and education, along with poverty) and political inefficiencies of the Yemen's authoritarian regime led to public and collective discontent and upheaval. The intervened variables such as "ethnicity, race, religion, and sexuality" and international parameters have not been considered,
文摘Group size variations of the Arabian sand gazelle Gazella subgutturosa marica were studied during a period of drought at the Mahazat as-Sayd Protected Area in central western Saudi Arabia. Significant differences in median group sizes were observed between all seasons except summer. Single animals were observed mainly during summer while group sizes ex- ceeding 10 individuals were observed mainly during winter. Solitary male and female groups were typically observed during winter and mixed groups mainly during the autumn rutting period. Most mixed groups were two to four times larger during winter than summer. The adult sex ratio (male: female) for all seasons combined was in parity and highest during autumn (1:1.23), probably as a result of prolonged drought conditions. The variability in group structure related to environmental conditions may be one factor permitting G. s. marica to adapt to hyper-arid habitats and climatic regimes in central western Saudi Arabia. The value of continuous monitoring of the gazelle population is emphasised for this drought prone region