Saksaul, Turkmenistan Photograph by Olga Pereladova   Central Asia: Central Turkmenistan stretching into Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Deserts and Xeric Shrublands   218,800 square miles (566,700 square kilometers) -- about the size of New Mexico and Wyoming combined Critical/Endangered

· Desert Riches
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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Desert Riches

The Central Asian Southern Desert is one of the richest desert complexes in Asia, comparable only to the neighboring Central Asian Northern Desert ecoregion. No other desert in the world features the combination of such extremely cold winter temperatures and blistering hot summers. Plants and animals here have had to develop special adaptations to survive these fluctuations. As a result, these organisms are highly specialized and many are endemic. Reptiles, mammals, and insects such as the scarab beetles have all adapted to this ecoregion.

Special Features

The Southern Deserts stretch from the southern Trans-Caspian region to the foothills of the mountains of central Asia. In the summer, air temperatures of 122° F (50° C) have been recorded. Precipitation is low, with only about 4 to 6 inches (110 to 150 mm) falling mostly in March and April of each year. This severe climate has limited vegetation to a few species, each specially adapted to one of four different soil types in this ecoregion. Clay desert plants grow quickly, completing their life cycles before being dried up by the summer sun. Sonochak desert has salt-tolerant plants, while stony deserts have plants that do not need much soil. Sandy deserts, which are most common in the southern regions of Muyun-Kum, Kara, and Kyzul Kum, support white and black saksaul trees interspersed with woody plant communities. Eichwald’s and Karelin’s sand acacias form endemic plant communities in the sandy deserts.

	White and black saksaul trees are one of only a few tree species able to survive in the sandy desert’s soils. They are an important "keystone" species, providing shade and shelter to wildlife and grasses while also preventing erosion by stabilizing the sand with their root systems.

Wild Side

A number of gerbils and related rodents called jerboas live in this ecoregion, including the comb-toed jerboa, three-toed dwarf jerboa, and five-toed dwarf jerboa. Long-eared hedgehogs and tolai hares are common desert mammals. Rare mammals have also found niches in this desert habitat and include honey badgers, sand lynxes, desert cats, onagers, goitered gazelles, marbled polecats, selevenias, and the very rare desert cheetah. Insects, on the other hand, are abundant and include a variety of grasshoppers, ants, termites, butterflies, and beetles. Reptile species are also abundant in this ecoregion, with many species of agamas (toads), geckos, and snakes. One of the largest reptiles in Eurasia, the gray monitor, can be found in these deserts. Desert warblers, golden eagles, Egyptian vultures, coursers, desert ravens, saksaul jays, desert shrikes, Egyptian vultures, and many other birds are found in this dry region.

Cause for Concern

Agriculture (especially irrigated cotton production), hunting, poaching, overgrazing of livestock, and overuse of woody plants for firewood and silk production are some of the greatest threats to this region. Unregulated construction of roads threatens especially fragile desert ecosystems. Reptiles and other forms of wildlife are collected and exported to zoos or sold to collectors, dramatically reducing the populations of both common and rare species such as the cobra and sand echis. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of the current social and economic difficulties in this region is a sharp decrease in funding for nature conservation activities.

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