The Caspian lowland desert

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 o ...

(WWF ID: PA1308) covers the north and southeast coasts of the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad s ...

, including the deltas of the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

and Ural River in the northern region. While the region gets relatively low amounts of precipitation (less than 200 mm/year), wildlife is supported by the river estuaries and the sea itself. The wetlands are an internationally important area for bird nesting and migratory resting. The ecoregion 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 ...

, and the

deserts and xeric shrublands Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in thi ...

biome A biome () is a biogeographical unit consisting of a biological community that has formed in response to the physical environment in which they are found and a shared regional climate. Biomes may span more than one continent. Biome is a broader ...

. It has an area of .

Location and description

The ecoregion is approximately contained within the Caspian Depression, a sunken geological region feeding in to the Caspian, the surface of which is itself at below worldwide sea level. The northern section is almost 900 km wide, and stretches up to 300 km inland across Russia and Kazakhstan. The sector along the southeast coast of the Caspian is mostly in Turkmenistan. Elevations throughout the ecoregion range between -28 and +100 meters. The dry areas were once underwater, but as the sea has slowly receded the dry areas have revealed a landscape of sand dunes, ridges, salt domes, salt pans ('shors'), and clay deserts ('

takyr Takir (takyr) (russian: такыр, originally from Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Az ...

s').

Climate

The climate of the ecoregion is represented by that in the Volga delta, in the

Astrakhan Nature Reserve Astrakhan Nature Reserve (russian: Астраханский заповедник) (also Astrakhanskiy) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) covering an area including the islands and wetlands of the Volga Delta, where the Volga River e ...

, where the climate is cool semi-arid (

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 climate is characterized by high variation in temperature, both daily and seasonally; with low precipitation. Average annual precipitation in the Caspian lowlands is 198 mm. Average temperature in January is , and in July is

Flora and fauna

Both dry steppe and coastal wetland floral communities are supported in this ecoregion. The vegetation on the southeast coast in Turkmenistan is relatively sparse, but notable for hosting specialized shrub and semi-shrub halophytes ('salt-loving plants'). Examples include sagebrushes ('' Artemisia'') and tetyr (''Salsola gemmascens''). The latter is a shrub that reaches in height. The Caspian coast is an internationally significant nesting and migratory area for gulls, terns, and other waterfowl in the Asia-Europe migration paths. The birds that cross the area twice a year number in the tens of millions. Over 200,000 of the Eurasian Coot ( Fulica atra) winter in the southern Hazar Reserve.

Protections

A 2017 assessment found that 3,838 km², or 1%, of the ecoregion is in protected areas. 38% of the ecoregion's area is relatively intact habitat. Supplemental material 2 table S1b. There are several significant nationally protected area that reach into this ecoregion: *

, protecting three sections of the islands and marshes of the Volga River delta *

Chyornye Zemli Nature Reserve Chornye Zemli Nature Reserve (russian: заповедник Чёрные земли) (also) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve). The name in Russian means "Black Lands". The main part of the reserve is located in the Caspian Depressi ...

, protecting natural steppe and semi-desert ecosystems of the 'black earth' region of the Caspian lowlands * Hazar State Nature Reserve, an ornithological reserve on the southeast coast of the Caspian Sea, in Turkmenistan. * Alagol, Almagol and Ajigol wetlands, a reserve for many waterfowl in Golestan province, North East of Iran.

References

{{reflist Deserts and xeric shrublands Ecoregions of Iran Ecoregions of Kazakhstan Ecoregions of Russia Ecoregions of Turkmenistan Palearctic ecoregions