Gobi Lakes Valley Desert Steppe on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe
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 ...
(WWF ID: PA1315) covers the narrow, flat valley in southwestern Mongolia that lies between the Khangai Mountains (to the north), and the Gobi-Altai Mountains (to the south). The region is known as the " Valley of the Lakes" because runoff from the mountains collect in lakes that have no outlet to the sea. Although the valley is a semi-arid desert steppe, it has areas of wetlands near the lakes that are important habit for water birds.
Location and description
The Gobi Lakes Valley is about 500 km west-to-east, and 150 km north-to south, at elevations of 1,000-1,400 meters. The region is desert steppe, with rivers from the Khangai Mountains on the north providing most of the water to the lakes. On the south the region is bounded by the Gobi-Altai range, the easternmost extension of the Altai. A chain of shallow, saline lakes include Böön Tsagaan Lake (Lake Buuntsaagan), Taatsiin Tsagaan Lake, Adgiin Tsagaan Nuur, and Lake Orog. The lake's depths fluctuate with the variable precipitation. Some have large wetlands where the waters recede.
Climate
The climate of the ecoregion is ''Cold semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi-ar ...
'' (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 ...
BSk BSK is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to:
Sports
* OFK Beograd, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Borča, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Batajnica, Serbian football club
* FK BSK Banja Luka, Bosnian-Herzegovinian football club
* FK BSK L ...
). This climate is characteristic of steppe climates intermediary between desert humid climates, and typically have precipitation is above evapotranspiration
Evapotranspiration (ET) is the combined processes by which water moves from the earth’s surface into the atmosphere. It covers both water evaporation (movement of water to the air directly from soil, canopies, and water bodies) and transpi ...
. At least one month averages below . Annual precipitation ranges from 50 to 200 mm.
Flora and fauna
Dominant plants of the desert steppe include feather grass (''Stipa
''Stipa'' is a genus of around 300 large perennial hermaphroditic grasses collectively known as feather grass, needle grass, and spear grass. They are placed in the subfamily Pooideae and the tribe Stipeae, which also contains many species for ...
gobica''), wild onion (''Allium polyrhizum
''Allium polyrhizum'' is a species of wild onion widespread across Zabaykalsky Krai, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and China ( Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi and Xinjiang) at elevations 1 ...
''), anabasis
Anabasis (from Greek ''ana'' = "upward", ''bainein'' = "to step or march") is an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. Anabase and Anabasis may also refer to:
History
* ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''Anabasis of Alexander''), a ...
, and ajania. Around the lakes are shrubs such as ''Caragana
''Caragana'' is a genus of about 80–100 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to Asia and eastern Europe.
They are shrubs or small trees growing tall. They have even-pinnate leaves with small leaflets, and solitary or clu ...
'' and salt-tolerant ''Salsola
''Salsola'' is a genus of the subfamily Salsoloideae in the family Amaranthaceae. The genus ''sensu stricto'' is distributed in central and southwestern Asia, North Africa, and the Mediterranean. A common name of various members of this genus and ...
'' and saxaul (''Haloxylon ammodendron
''Haloxylon ammodendron'', the saxaul, black saxaul, sometimes sacsaoul or saksaul ( rus, саксау́л, r=saksaúl, which is from kk, сексеуіл, r=seksewil), is a plant belonging to the family Amaranthaceae.
Description
The saxaul ra ...
''). Water birds in the wetlands include the great cormorant
The great cormorant (''Phalacrocorax carbo''), known as the black shag in New Zealand and formerly also known as the great black cormorant across the Northern Hemisphere, the black cormorant in Australia, and the large cormorant in India, is a w ...
, greylag goose
The greylag goose or graylag goose (''Anser anser'') is a species of large goose in the waterfowl family Anatidae and the type species of the genus ''Anser''. It has mottled and barred grey and white plumage and an orange beak and pink legs. A ...
, ruddy shelduck, mallard and Eurasian coot
The Eurasian coot (''Fulica atra''), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-bla ...
. Small mammals throughout the region include the midday jird, Gobi jerboa (a rodent of temperate grasslands and deserts), winter white dwarf hamster
The winter white dwarf hamster (''Phodopus sungorus''), also known as the Russian dwarf hamster, Djungarian hamster, striped dwarf hamster, Siberian hamster, or Siberian dwarf hamster, is one of three species of hamster in the genus '' Phodopus' ...
, and long-eared hedgehog (''Erinaceus
''Erinaceus'' is a genus of hedgehog from the family of Erinaceidae. There are four main species of ''Erinaceus''. The range is all across Europe, throughout the Middle East, parts of Russia, and extending to northern China and Korea. The Europ ...
'').
See also
* List of ecoregions in MongoliaReferences
{{Reflist Palearctic ecoregions Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Mongolia Gobi Desert