Vegetation is an important ecological component of offshore islands in the Arabian Gulf (AG), which maintains long-term resilience of these islands. This is achieved by influencing sediment retention and moisture acquisition via condensation during periods of high humidity and by providing a variety of microhabitats for island fauna. The resilience of offshore islands’ ecosystems in the Saudi waters is important because they host the largest number of nesting hawksbill and green turtles in the AG. This study defines the characteristics and the long-term trends in vegetation cover of the offshore islands used by sea turtles as nesting grounds in the northern AG. To establish a ground-validated baseline for vegetation profiles, a 50 m × 50 m grid system is developed on Karan and Jana islands (Is.) with photo-quadrats taken at each grid intersection. The 1,317 and 444 photo-quadrats, for Karan and Jana Is., respectively, were analyzed for maximum plant height and percent cover of living (green) plants, dead plants, and bare sand. Landsat 7 and 8 satellite top-of-atmosphere reflectance images were used to calculate the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from 1999 through 2018 to analyze the long-term vegetation profiles of the islands. Monthly rainfall data from five meteorological stations along the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) are presented to provide a context of the long-term NDVI time series variability. The ground-validated vegetation profiles provided baseline data during the onset of summer in 2017 and revealed differences in maximum plant height and the extent of living, dead vegetation and sand cover on Jana Is. (28.3 cm, 19.9%, 63.3%, and 16.8%) and Karan Is. (21.7 cm, 20.6%, 48.7%, and 30.7%), respectively. The NDVI data for both islands are grouped into three periods, namely: 2001–2007 - high winter, low summer; 2008–2013 – low winter, low summer; 2014–2018 – irregular high/low winter, low summer. The long-term trend showed a slightly decreasing NDVI when compared in the context of the high NDVI measured for the two islands during the early 2000 s, particularly during the winter time. An extended reduction in winter NDVI was recorded for six years from 2008 to 2013, which coincided with reduced rainfall in the region and prolonged La Niña. Five extreme dips in winter NDVI values coincided with strong (2000, 2008, and 2011) and moderate (2012 and 2018) La Niña events. Long-term vegetation profiles of the offshore islands seemed to be tightly coupled with long-term rainfall patterns.

植被是阿拉伯海湾（AG）海上岛屿的重要生态组成部分，该地区保持了这些岛屿的长期复原力。这是通过在高湿度期间通过凝结影响沉积物保留和水分获取以及为岛屿动物群提供各种微生境来实现的。沙特海域中近海岛屿生态系统的复原力非常重要，因为它们在AG中拥有最多的巢和绿海龟。这项研究确定了海龟用作北部AG筑巢地的近海岛屿植被的特征和长期趋势。为了建立经地面验证的植被剖面基线，在卡兰岛和Jana岛（伊利诺伊州）开发了一个50 m×50 m的网格系统，并在每个网格交叉点拍摄了照片四边形。分析了Karan和Jana Is。分别的1,317和444个照片四倍体，以获取最大植物高度和有生命的（绿色）植物，枯死植物和裸露的沙棘覆盖率。使用Landsat 7和8卫星大气顶反射率图像来计算1999年至2018年的归一化植被指数（NDVI），以分析这些岛屿的长期植被概况。呈现了来自沙特阿拉伯东部省沿途五个气象站的月降雨量数据和海洋尼诺指数（ONI），以提供长期NDVI时间序列变异性的背景。经过地面验证的植被概况在2017年夏季开始时提供了基线数据，并揭示了Jana Is上最大植物高度以及生活程度，死去植被和沙土覆盖程度的差异。（28.3厘米，19.9％，63.3％，和16.8％）和Karan Is。（分别为21.7厘米，20.6％，48.7％和30.7％）。两个岛屿的NDVI数据分为三个时期，即：2001–2007 –冬季高，夏季低；2008-2013年–冬季偏低，夏季偏低；2014–2018年–冬季不规律，高/低，夏季低。与2000年代初（尤其是冬季）在两个岛屿测得的NDVI较高的情况相比，长期趋势显示NDVI略有下降。从2008年到2013年，冬季NDVI记录了六年的持续下降，这与该地区的降雨减少和拉尼娜时间延长相吻合。冬季NDVI值出现五个极端下降，恰逢拉尼娜事件（2000、2008和2011）和中等（2012和2018）。