The Central Persian desert basins

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of l ...

(WWF ID: PA1313) covers the arid steppe and desert basins of central Iran, stretching into northwestern Afghanistan. The ecoregion extends over the Central Iranian Plateau, which is surrounded by mountain ranges and has no outlets to the sea. Much of the terrain is hot sand-and-gravel desert and large salt flats. The vegetation includes many specialized species of halophytes (salt-tolerant),

xerophytes A xerophyte (from Greek ξηρός ''xeros'' 'dry' + φυτόν ''phuton'' 'plant') is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water, such as a desert such as the Sahara or places in the Alps or the ...

(drought-tolerant), and psammophile (sand-loving) plants.

Location and description

The ecoregion is bounded on the west and south by the Zagros Mountains, on the north by the Alborz Mountains (Elbruz) along the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

, on the northeast by the Kopet Dag mountains on the border with

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan ( or ; tk, Türkmenistan / Түркменистан, ) is a country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the sout ...

, and on the east by a series of lower ranges along the border with

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. Higher elevation mountain ridges of the Kuh Rud and Eastern Iran montane woodlands ecoregion, which intrude into the plateau. In the north of the basin is the large

Dasht-e Kavir Dasht-e Kavir ( fa, دشت كوير, lit=Low Plains in classical Persian, from ''khwar'' (low), and ''dasht'' (plain, flatland)), also known as Kavir-e Namak () and the Great Salt Desert, is a large desert lying in the middle of the Iranian Plat ...

(a salt desert), in the east and south is the

Dasht-e Lut The Lut Desert, widely referred to as Dasht-e Lut ( fa, دشت لوت, "Emptiness Plain"), is a large salt desert located in the provinces of Kerman and Sistan and Baluchestan, Iran. It is the world's 33rd-largest desert, and was included on U ...

(a sand and gravel desert), and there are portions of the plateau covered in large sand dunes. The average elevation is . Some areas receive water run-off from nearby mountains in the spring, but the water is mostly lost to evaporation by summer. In the northwest is Namak Lake, a significant complex of saline lake, salt marsh and salt flats.

Climate

The climate of ecoregion is '' Semi-arid'' (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

(BSh)). This climate is characteristic of steppes, with hot summers and cool or mild winters, and minimal precipitation. The coldest month averages above . The ecoregion experiences great extremes in temperature, ranging from lows of to highs of .

Flora and fauna

The flora of the ecoregion is highly dependent on the soil and moisture characteristics of the locality. In the broad interior basins, the more common ground cover is dwarf scrub of genus '' Artemisia (genus)'' (sagebrush) and '' Astragalus''. In the more arid regions the cover is open, with a rich variety of halophytic and zerophytic species. Areas with more precipitation support the addition of thorn-cushion plants. The sand deserts support '' Ephedra'', '' Calligonum'', and '' Heliotropium''. The margins of the gravel deserts support a wide variety of ''

Tamarix The genus ''Tamarix'' (tamarisk, salt cedar, taray) is composed of about 50–60 species of flowering plants in the family Tamaricaceae, native to drier areas of Eurasia and Africa. The generic name originated in Latin and may refer to the Tam ...

'' plants. On the margins of the salt pans of the Dasht-e Kavir, representative plants include genus '' Halothamnus'', (from the Greek 'hals' (salt) and 'thamnos' (bush)), '' Halocnemum strobilaceum'', ''

Haloxylon ''Haloxylon'' is a genus of shrubs or small trees, belonging to the plant family Amaranthaceae. ''Haloxylon'' and its species are known by the common name saxaul. "Saksaul" is a common Turkic word that entered Russian through Kazakh. Descripti ...

'' (common name saxaul), and '' Salsola '' (from Latin 'salsus' (salty)). Mammals that were once associated with this area are now greatly reduced in number and mostly sighted in protected areas. These include the now-critically endangered Asiatic cheetah ('' Acinonyx jubatus, subspecies venaticus''), the near threatened Striped hyena ('' Hyaena hyaena''), the Argali (''

Ovis ammon The argali (''Ovis ammon''), also known as the mountain sheep, is a wild sheep that roams the highlands of western East Asia, the Himalayas, Tibet, and the Altai Mountains. Description The name 'argali' is the Mongolian word for wild sheep. It ...

''), the endangered Mountain gazelle ('' Gazella gazella''), the vulnerable leopard (''

Panthera pardus The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus ''Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, an ...

''), and the vulnerable Marbled polecat (''

Vormela peregusna The marbled polecat (''Vormela peregusna'') is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus ''Vormela'' within the mustelid subfamily Ictonychinae. ''Vormela'' is from the German word , which means "little worm". The specific name ''peregusn ...

'').

Protected areas

Over 12% of the ecoregion is officially protected. These protected areas include: *

Kavir National Park Kavir National Park is a protected ecological zone in northern Iran. It has an area of 4,000 square kilometers (1,500 mile²). The park is located 120 kilometers south of Tehran and 100 kilometers east of Qom, and it sits on the western end of o ...

* Khojir National Park * Sorkheh Hesar National Park *

Khar Turan National Park Khar Turan National Park or Touran Wildlife Refuge is a National Park in Iran. It is situated in the Semnan province, southeast of Shahrud. With a size of , it is the second largest reserve in Iran. Khar Turan National Park also called the litt ...

References

{{reflist Palearctic ecoregions Ecoregions of Iran Ecoregions of Afghanistan