Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve
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Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve () protects one of the three remaining habitats of the
Wild Bactrian camel The wild Bactrian camel (''Camelus ferus'') is a critically endangered species of camel living in parts of northwestern China and southwestern Mongolia. It is closely related to the Bactrian camel (''Camelus bactrianus''). Both are large, doubl ...
, a critically endangered species. The reserve stretches around the north, east, and south of
Lop Nur Lop Nur or Lop Nor (from a Mongolian name meaning "Lop Lake", where "Lop" is a toponym of unknown origin) is a former salt lake, now largely dried up, located in the eastern fringe of the Tarim Basin, between the Taklamakan and Kumtag deserts ...
, a dry lake in a desert known as the "Sea of Death", and one of the most arid regions in the world. The reserve was established in 1986 by
Xinjiang Province Xinjiang Province is a historical administrative area of Northwest China, between 1884 and 1955. Periods during which various boundaries of Xinjiang Province have been defined include: * Xinjiang Province (Qing) (1884–1912). * Xinjiang Provin ...
, and has been modified over the years. The reserve is under pressure from new roads in the area, development of mining interests, and illegal hunting. The area was formerly used as China's nuclear test site. The nuclear testing caused no apparent ill effects on the camels, which continued to breed normally. After China signed the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a multilateral treaty to ban nuclear weapons test explosions and any other nuclear explosions, for both civilian and military purposes, in all environments. It was adopted by the United Nations ...
in 1996, the camels were reclassified as an
endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
. Since then, human incursions into the area have caused a sharp drop in the camel population.


Topography

The reserve is situated in an uninhabited, arid desert of mountains and valleys. The
Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Northwest China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, China." Hydr ...
is to the west, the
Altyn-Tagh Altyn-Tagh (also Altun Mountains, Altun Shan; , Pinyin: ''A'erjin Shan'', Wade–Giles: ''A-erh-chin Shan;'' Uyghur'':ئالتۇن تاغ'') is a mountain range in Northwestern China that separates the Eastern Tarim Basin from the Tibetan Plate ...
mountains form a southern barrier, and the Karum Tagh range (an extension of the
Tien Shan The Tian Shan,, , otk, 𐰴𐰣 𐱅𐰭𐰼𐰃, , tr, Tanrı Dağı, mn, Тэнгэр уул, , ug, تەڭرىتاغ, , , kk, Тәңіртауы / Алатау, , , ky, Теңир-Тоо / Ала-Тоо, , , uz, Tyan-Shan / Tangritog‘ ...
) mountains are to the north. A corridor of sand dunes run north–south on the eastern edge of the site, protecting the camels from eastern influences, as does the dry lake bed of Lop Nur to the west. The
Altun Shan National Nature Reserve Altun Shan National Nature Reserve () (literally, "O You Golden Mountain") is a large, arid area in the southeast of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, on the northern edge of the Tibetan plateau and the southern edge of the Tarim Basin in northwest China ...
borders Lop Nur to the southwest.


Climate and ecoregion

The climate of the reserve has been described as "hostile". Extreme aridity, extreme heat in summer, extreme cold in winter, and abrasive sandstorms create an environment that few plants or animals are adapted to survive. The climate classification is
Cold desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...
" (
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 ...
"BWk" ). Parts of the area receive an average of only 10–20 mm of precipitation per year, with an average 4,000 mm/year evaporation. The Lop Nur Reserve is in the east of the
Taklamakan Desert The Taklimakan or Taklamakan Desert (; zh, s=塔克拉玛干沙漠, p=Tǎkèlāmǎgān Shāmò, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Такәламаган Шамә; ug, تەكلىماكان قۇملۇقى, Täklimakan qumluqi; also spelled Taklimakan and Te ...
ecoregion. Because this region is surrounded by mountains, it is cut off from the Asian monsoon and from Arctic air masses. The result is one of the driest place on earth.


Flora and fauna

Due to the aridity and salinity of the soil, vegetation cover is sparse, varying from 6% in the Kuruk Tagh mountains, up to 30% on flood plains of the Airgin mountains in the south.
Halophytes A halophyte is a salt-tolerant plant that grows in soil or waters of high salinity, coming into contact with saline water through its roots or by salt spray, such as in saline semi-deserts, mangrove swamps, marshes and sloughs and seashores. Th ...
predominate. The north slope of the Arjin Mountains in the south, and the Aqike Valley below, have more vegetation cover and provide the best habitat for the wild camels. The wild camel population of the reserve was estimated at 638 in 2013. Virtually all of them are found in the southeastern third of the area, although they do roam outside the boundaries. The Aqike Valley appears to be the prime breeding ground, as it benefits from more extensive vegetation, snow melt from the mountains, and an underground water table that approaches 2 meters from the surface. The camels have adapted to drinking the salt water of the desert.


Reserve management

In recent years, professional management has been brought to the reserve, with patrols and guard checkpoints, scientific surveys, public education initiatives, and has channeled water from the mountains to prime breeding areas. The population of wild camels appears to be recovering. Poaching is recorded as on the decline, and there are no domesticated camels in the reserve.


References

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External links


Map of Lop Nur Reserve Boundaries, GlobalSpecies.orgMap of Lop Nur Reserve Boundaries, ProtectedPlanet.net
Nature reserves in China Protected areas established in 1986