The Altai Mountains, also spelled Altay Mountains, are a mountain range in Central and East Asia, where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan converge, and where the rivers Irtysh and Ob have their headwaters. The massif merges with the Sayan Mountains in the northeast, and gradually becomes lower in the southeast, where it merges into the high plateau of the Gobi Desert. It spans from about 45° to 52° N and from about 84° to 99° E.
The Tannu-Ola mountains is a mountain range in southern Siberia, in the Tuva Republic of Russia. It extends in an east–west direction and curves along the Mongolian border. Its highest peak reaches 3,061 m (10,043 ft). The Tannu-ola mountains are mentioned in the 13th-century text The Secret History of the Mongols under the name "Tanglu mountains" (唐麓), and also in the JāmiʿAl-tawārīkh of Rashid-al-Din Hamadani (1247–1318) under the name "Toungat mountains" (تنغات). By the Qing dynasty the name has been changed to Tangnu (唐努) mountains, from which the modern name is derived. All names are probably rooted in the old Turkic word taŋ - "wonder, awe, wondrous."
The Mongolian-Manchurian grassland, also known as the Mongolian-Manchurian steppe or Gobi-Manchurian steppe, in the temperate grassland biome, is an ecoregion in East Asia covering parts of Mongolia, the Chinese Autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, and Northeast China.
Uvs Lake Basin is an endorheic basin located on the territorial border of Mongolia and Tuva, a republic of the Russian Federation. The basin is part of the Central Asian Internal Drainage Basin and is named after Uvs Lake, a large saline lake situated in the western part of its drainage basin and is one of the last remnants of the mammoth steppes. Uvs Lake is a shallow lake with an area of 3,350 km2 (1,290 sq mi). Its entire basin, which includes several smaller lakes, is 70,000 km2 (27,000 sq mi).
The Blue Mountains ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Pacific Northwest, mainly in the state of Oregon, with small areas over the state border in Idaho and southeastern Washington. It is also contiguous with the World Wildlife Fund's Blue Mountain forests ecoregion.
The Wyoming Basin shrub steppe ecoregion, within the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, is a shrub steppe in the northwestern United States.
The Altai-Sayan region is an area of Inner Asia proximate to the Altai Mountains and the Sayan Mountains, near to where Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan come together. This region is one of the world centers of temperate plant diversity. Its biological, landscape, historical, cultural and religious diversity is unique. 3,726 species of vascular plants are registered in the region including 700 threatened or rare species, 317 of which are endemic; fauna consists of 680 species, 6% of which are endemic. Its ecosystem is comparatively unchanged since the last ice age, and it is the host of endangered species that include the saiga, nerpa, and snow leopard. It is the focus of ongoing international and regional environmental conservation initiatives.
Saylyugemsky National Park sits at the mountainous "X" where the borders of Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China meet in the Altai Mountains of central Asia. Because of its remoteness and position at the meeting points of mountains, steppes, desert and forest, it is a globally important natural reserve for biodiversity. The park was formally established in 2010–2012, with a particular purpose of protecting the vulnerable Altai argali mountain sheep and the endangered Snow leopard. The component Saylyugem Mountains are a ridge of the Altai, and stretch to the northeast to the Sayan Mountains. The climate is cold and semi-arid. Administratively, the park is located in the Kosh-Agachsky District of the Altai Republic. While ecotourism has a stated role, visits to the territory currently require special passes from park administration, and activities are limited to roads and trails.
The Trans-Baikal conifer forests ecoregion covers a 1,000 km by 1,000 km region of mountainous southern taiga stretching east and south from the shores of Lake Baikal in the Southern Siberia region of Russia, and including part of northern Mongolia. Historically, the area has been called "Dauria", or Transbaikal. It is in the Palearctic realm, and mostly in the boreal forests/taiga biome with a subarctic, humid climate. It covers 200,465 km2 (77,400 sq mi).
Sayano-Shushenski Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' reserve in a remote area of the West Sayan Mountains of south Siberia. It is on the southern bank of the Yenisei River along the Sayano-Shushenskoye reservoir. The reserve thus protects a large section of the wooded, mountainous territory above the reservoir created by the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, the largest power plant in Russia. Both the reserve and the dam were established 1976, and a major purpose of the reserve besides conservation is the study of the ecological effects of a large reservoir on the local ecology. The reserve covers an area of 390,368 ha (1,507.22 sq mi). It is situated in the Shushensky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai.
Privolzhskaya Lesostep Nature Reserve is a Russian zapovednik situated in the watershed midway between the Volga River and the Don River. The reserve is divided into 5 sectors, all in the western part of the Volga Uplands. Three of the sectors are steppe terrain, and two are forests. Rivers with upper reaches in the reserve flow into both the Don and the Volga. Administratively, the reserve is situated in the Kuznetsky District of Penza Oblast. The reserve was formally established in 1989 with the stated purpose of protecting representative habitat of the northern steppes, and the transition zone from steppe to forest. Some sections of the reserve, however, have been protected since 1919. In all, the reserve sectors cover an area of 8,373 ha (32.33 sq mi), and has additional buffer zones out to 1 km from the reserve borders.
Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve is the second largest grassland in China, located in the Bayanbulak Basin of the Tian Shan mountains in northwest China. The terrain is mostly flat, and encompasses a middle section of the Kaidu River. The reserve is 200 km northwest of Korla in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
The Sayan montane conifer forests ecoregion covers the mid-elevation levels of the Sayan Mountains, the high mountain range between the taiga of Siberia, Russia to the north, and the steppes of Mongolia to the south. The slopes of the mountains at the mid-altitudes are covered by Temperate coniferous forest. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a cold semi-arid climate. It covers 35,741,835 km2 (13,800,000 sq mi).
The Daurian forest steppe ecoregion is a band of grassland, shrub terrain, and mixed forests in northeast Mongolia and the region of Siberia, Russia that follows the course of the Onon River and Ulz River. The region has been described as a “sea of grass that forms the best and most intact example of an undisturbed steppe ecosystem and is also one of the last areas in the Palearctic that still supports stable herds of larger vertebrates” in a semi-mountainous area. The area also has flat wetlands that are important to migratory birds. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a dry-winter subarctic climate that borders on a very cold semi-arid climate (BSk) in its southwestern parts. It covers 209,012 km2 (80,700 sq mi).
The East European forest steppe ecoregion is a patchwork of broadleaf forest stands and grasslands (steppe) that stretches 2,100 km across eastern Europe from the Ural Mountains in Ural, through Povolzhye, Central Russia to the middle of Ukraine.There are also isolated areas of similar character off the western end in eastern Romania, Moldova, and Bulgaria. The region forms a transition zone between the temperate forests to the north, and the steppe to the south. The forest-steppe is an area of Russia in which precipitation and evaporation are approximately equal. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate. It covers 727,269 km2 (280,800 sq mi).
The Kazakh forest steppe ecoregion is a long thin strip of transition zone between the forested taiga of Siberian Russia, and the Kazakh steppe to the south. The ecoregion stretches over 2,000 km from the southern Ural mountains in the west to the foothills of Altai mountains in the east, yet averages only 200 km from south to north across its length. Because the region is farther inland than European forest steppe, and some 300 to 500 km farther north, the climate is more continental and with less precipitation the tree cover more sparse. The ecoregion is in the Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome, and the Palearctic realm, with a Humid Continental climate. It covers 420,614 km2 (162,400 sq mi).
The Great Lakes Basin desert steppe ecoregion covers the enclosed basin centered on Uvs Lake, a saline, endorheic basin in northwestern Mongolia. A portion of the ecoregion stretches across the region into Russia. The lake district is important for migrating birds, waterfowl, and seabirds. The ecoregion is in the Palearctic realm and the deserts and xeric shrublands biome. It has an area of 157,212 square kilometres (60,700 sq mi).
The Pamir alpine desert and tundra ecoregion covers the high plateau of the Pamir Mountains, at the central meeting of the great mountain ranges of Central Asia: Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush, Kunlun, and Tian Shan. It is a region of relatively high biodiversity due to its central location and high elevation differentials, but it also acts as a barrier between the climate and habitats of north and south Asia.
