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Acting as a grassy land bridge between mountain ranges, this ecoregion contains a variety of plant and animal species, including several species of birds.
This semi-desert ecoregion stretches east from the Ural Mountains to the mountains of Central Asia. Grasses such as fescue, feathergrass and crested hair grass along with shrubs dominate the vegetative layer. As the dryness increases in this ecoregion, plant diversity decreases.
If you’re lucky, you might spot some of the world’s rarely seen animals here, such as the Bobak marmot, steppe eagle, or endangered saiga antelope. Other animals found here include giant mole rats, marbled polecats, and desmans--a mole-like rodent with a long, flexible snout. The sociable plover, demoiselle crane, and two species of bustards make up some of the rare bird species in this ecoregion. In particular, the Tenghiz-Kurgaldzhino Reserve attracts immense numbers of waterfowl to its lakes each spring. This is the northernmost nesting place of the pink flamingo.
Agriculture, overgrazing, and fragmentation of habitat from human encroachment still threaten steppe communities. A recent economic downturn in this region has had both positive and negative effects. While agricultural land in the dry steppes and semi-deserts has been able to recover from intensive farming pressures, economic difficulties also mean that less money is spent on nature conservation. Uncontrolled poaching of birds of prey, reptiles, and saiga antelopes also represents a challenge to biodiversity. For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report. All text by World Wildlife Fund © 2001
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