Botanic research on the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra has a long tradition in Berlin and at the Free University. Recent research on the flora, phytogeography and vegetation has partly been a collaborative effort of the Institute of Biology (Harald Kürschner & co-workers) and the BGBM (Norbert Kilian & co-workers).

• The Compositae / Asteraceae (sunflower family) on the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra
• Vascular plant flora and phytogeography of the southern governorates of Yemen (Al-Mahra, Hadhramout, Shabwa, Abyan, Lahj, Aden)
• Phytodiversity and vegetation of representative palaeo-African refugia (fog oases) in the southern coastal mountains of the Yemeni mainland and on Socotra
• Ausstellung "Inseln in der Wüste" , about fog oases in southern Yemen and on Socotra