The Altai montane forest and forest 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: PA0502) covers patches of the subalpine forest belt on the

Altai Mountains The Altai Mountains (), also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the ...

, crossing the border region where

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

meet. The region has high biodiversity, as it is located in transition zones between different ecoregions, altitudes, and climate zones. It is in the

Palearctic realm The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Si ...

, with a

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 ...

. It covers .

Location and description

The ecoregion stretches 1,500 km, from the Belukh Range of the Altai mountains on the Russia-Kazakhstan border in the northwest, to the Gobi-Altai in Mongolia to the southeast. The ecoregion slices through the Altai at the sub-alpine elevations, leaving out the alpine peaks above, and the lakes and valleys below. To the south of the Altai are the cold, arid regions of central Asia, and to the north are the forests and wetlands of Siberia.

Climate

Because of its altitude distance from the ocean, the ecoregion has a

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 ...

(

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, nota ...

Bsk). This indicates a local climate characterized by cool summers, and cold, dry winters. These climate regions tend to be found at higher elevations in the middle of continents, with wide differences between day and night temperatures.

Flora

Bands of conifer forests tend to be found on the cooler, wetter northern slopes of the mountains, with desert-steppe vegetation more predominant on the southern slopes. The forests in the southeast of the region include larch and larch-cedar stands. Mid-elevation grasses are dominated by tundra fescue (

Festuca ''Festuca'' (fescue) is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the grass family Poaceae (subfamily Pooideae). They are evergreen or herbaceous perennial tufted grasses with a height range of and a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on ever ...

lenensis) and prairie junegrass (

Koeleria macrantha ''Koeleria macrantha'' is a species of grass known by the common name prairie Junegrass in North America and crested hair-grass in the UK. It is widespread across much of Eurasia and North America. It occurs in many habitat types, especially prai ...

). Desert-steppe vegetation in the south often features European feather grass (''

Stipa pennata ''Stipa pennata'', common name ''European feather grass'', is a flowering plant and arid zone sand grass in the grass family Poaceae, which is grown as an ornamental plant for its feathery flowering spikes. It is one of the most common plants of ...

''), wild onion ('' Allium polyrhizum''), '' Anabasis breviloa'', and fringed sagebrush (''

Artemisia frigida ''Artemisia frigida'' is a widespread species of flowering plant in the aster family, which is known as the sunflower family. It is native to Europe, Asia, and much of North America. In parts of the north-central and northeastern United States ...

''). This is only a representative list, however, as the biodiversity in the area is very high. The World Wildlife Federation notes that the endemism of the area (12%) is higher than that of the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Fauna

As a meeting zone of forest species from the north, and southern species from the south, the Altai mid-elevations exhibits high numbers of species. The most numerous of the southern small mammals are the Gray marmot (''Marmota baibacina''), the Tarbagan marmot (''M. sibirica''), and

Lagomorpha The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae ( pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ ...

(rabbits, hares, and

pika A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...

s). The area is home to several globally threatened species, such as the

Snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia''), also known as the ounce, is a felid in the genus '' Panthera'' native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because the global population is es ...

(''Uncia uncia'').

Protections

Officially protected areas in the ecoregion include: *

Katun Nature Reserve Katun Nature Reserve (russian: Катунский заповедник) (also Katunsky) is a Russian zapovednik (strict nature reserve) located in the highlands of the central Altai Mountains of south Siberia. The Katun River runs down through a ...

("Katunsky"). An IUCN class Ia "strict ecological reserve" (a

Zapovednik Zapovednik (russian: заповедник, plural , from the Russian , 'sacred, prohibited from disturbance, committed o protect committed o heritage; ) is an established term on the territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which ...

) located in the northwest section of the Altai montane forest and forest steppe ecoregion, north of the Russia-Kazakhstan border. This nature reserve is in the highlands of the central Altai mountains; the

Katun River The Katun (, ''Katuń''; , ''Kadın'') is a river in the Altai Republic and the Altai Krai of Russia. It forms the Ob as it joins the Biya some southwest of Biysk.

flowing down its slopes form the headwaters of the

Ob River } The Ob ( rus, Обь, p=opʲ: Ob') is a major river in Russia. It is in western Siberia; and together with Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system, at . It forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun which have their origins ...

. (Area: 150,079 km2). * Munkhkhairkhan National Park. A national park of Mongolia, covering the second-highest mountain in Mongolia, Mönkhkhairkhan Mountain at an altitude of (Area: 5061 km2).

References