Near Dalanzadgad, Mongolia Photograph by Hessberg and Schulze   Asia: China and Mongolia Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   260,000 square miles (673,400 square kilometers) -- about the size of California and Colorado combined Vulnerable

· Dry Patchy Plateau
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Dry Patchy Plateau

If you were to walk from the Tibetan Plateau northward toward Mongolia's Gobi Desert, you'd cross a broad stretch of dry land surrounded by mountains known as the Alashan Plateau. Here, shifting sand dunes alternate with patches of shrubs, tree-lined rivers, flooded reed beds, and occasional meadows. Inhabiting these arid habitats are a remarkable diversity of animals, including rare camels and wild horses.

Special Features

The Alashan Plateau is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. That factor, combined with its great distance from the sea, generally makes conditions extremely dry. Increased rainfall in the mountains can turn the desert green for short periods of time, and mountain snowmelt does feed a number of wet oases, especially in the south. But in the drier areas of the Gobi Desert, several years may pass with no measurable precipitation. The climate of this region is severe, with temperature varying greatly from day to night and season to season.

	Przewalski's horse is the last species of wild horse in the world. It's similar to a domestic horse, but is smaller, more robust, and has stripes on its back and shoulders.

Wild Side

You'll find fascinating arid communities in this ecoregion: shifting sand dunes where no vegetation can grow, shrub-dotted desert where the sands are more stable, and shrubby semi-desert that develops after other plants have stabilized the sand and soil has developed. One large reserve in the area--the Southern Altai Gobi reserve--is known to harbor one of two remaining populations of wild bactrian camels, as well as Asiatic wild asses, goitered gazelles, Gobi geckos, Tatar sand boas, and about 30 Gobi brown bears. Przewalski's horses were last seen in the wild in this reserve. Elsewhere in the ecoregion, snow leopards, brown bear, and wolves stalk ibex, Gobi argali, and other hooved animals.

Cause for Concern

The Chinese part of the Alashan Plateau is experiencing rapid population increases because of government-sponsored translocation programs. Population increases have generated more hunting and trapping of wildlife, including the illegal capture of falcons for export to the Middle East. Irrigation and fencing for livestock, as well as livestock overgrazing, threaten the survival of wild ungulate populations.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.