The Kazakh semi-desert is an ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

 in the Deserts and xeric shrublands

Deserts and xeric shrublands

Deserts and xeric shrublands is a biome characterized by, relating to, or requiring only a small amount of moisture.-Definition and occurrence:...

 Biome

Biome

Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...

, located in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

.

Setting

The Kazakh semi-desert is an ecotone

Ecotone

An ecotone is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland. It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local or regional...

 between the Kazakh steppe

Kazakh Steppe

The Kazakh Steppe or Kirghiz Steppe ecoregion, of the Palearctic Temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands Biome, is a vast region of open grassland in northern Kazakhstan and adjacent portions of Russia, extending to the east of the Pontic steppe and to the west of the Emin Valley steppe,...

 to the north and the Central Asian northern desert

Central Asian northern desert

The Central Asian northern desert is an ecoregion in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, located in the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan-Setting:...

 to the south, running in a band across central Kazakhstan. The climate here is semi-arid and highly continental. Precipitation averages between 160 millimetres (6.3 in) and 240 millimetres (9.4 in) annually. Mean temperatures in January range from -13 °C and -16 °C, while July means are between 21 °C (69.8 °F) and 24 °C (75.2 °F). Annual average temperatures are around 10 °C (50 °F). The region's topography consists of vast, flat plains and salt flats

Dry lake

Dry lakes are ephemeral lakebeds, or a remnant of an endorheic lake. Such flats consist of fine-grained sediments infused with alkali salts. Dry lakes are also referred to as alkali flats, sabkhas, playas or mud flats...

 broken by dissected plateaus (known locally as "melkosopochniki").

Flora

As a transition between steppe

Steppe

In physical geography, steppe is an ecoregion, in the montane grasslands and shrublands and temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biomes, characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes...

s and desert

Desert

A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...

s of Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

, this ecoregion supports flora found in both biomes. Grasses, more dominant in the north, include various Stipa

Stipa

This article is about a type of grass.For Speech Transmission Index for Public Address Systems, see Speech transmission index.For the Italian aircraft designer, see Luigi Stipa...

species (S. lessingiana, S. sareptana, S. kirghisorum and the endemic S. richterana) and tipchak (Festuca valesiaca). To the south, shrubs come to dominate, mainly Artemisia species (A. lerchena and A. lessingiana, A. gracilescens, A. sublessingiana, A. terrae albae semiarida and A. sublessingiana). Vegetation on the saline plains consists of Artemisia pauciflora, A. schrenkiana, A. nitrosa, Atriplex cana, Anabasis salsa, and Camphorosma monspeliaca.

Fauna

Mammals in the ecoregion include the critically endangered

Critically endangered

Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 saiga antelope

Saiga Antelope

The saiga is a Critically Endangered antelope which originally inhabited a vast area of the Eurasian steppe zone from the foothills of the Carpathians and Caucasus into Dzungaria and Mongolia. They also lived in North America during the Pleistocene...

 (Saiga tatarica), Karaganda argali

Argali

The argali, or the mountain sheep is a wild sheep, which roams the highlands of Central Asia . It is the biggest wild sheep, standing at the shoulder, measuring long and weighing , with a maximum known weight of...

 (Ovis ammon collium), goitered gazelle

Goitered Gazelle

The Goitered, Black-tailed or Persian gazelle is a gazelle found in the north part of Azerbaijan, in a large area of central Asia, including part of Iran and southern west Pakistan in the western end of the range, as well as the Gobi desert...

 (Gazella subgutterosa), Pallas's Cat (Otocolobus manul), gray wolf

Gray Wolf

The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...

 (Canis lupus), European Badger (Meles meles) and marbled polecat

Marbled polecat

The marbled polecat is a small mammal belonging to the monotypic genus Vormela within the Mustelinae subfamily. Vormela is from the German word Würmlein, which means "little Worm". The term peregusna comes from pereguznya, which is Ukrainian for polecat...

 (Vormela peregusna). Przewalski's Horse

Przewalski's Horse

Przewalski's Horse or Dzungarian Horse, is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of central Asia, specifically China and Mongolia.At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu...

 (Equus ferus przewalskii) is native to the ecoregion, but has not been seen in it since 1968.

Avian species include the Common Crane

Common Crane

The Common Crane , also known as the Eurasian Crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes.It is a large, stately bird and a medium-sized crane at 100–130 cm long, with a 180–240 cm wingspan and a weight of 4.5–6 kg...

 (Grus grus), Demoiselle Crane

Demoiselle Crane

The Demoiselle Crane, Anthropoides virgo, is a species of crane that breeds in Central Asia and winters in India, with a few found in Cyprus and eastern Turkey as well. The crane annually migrates to Africa and South Asia in winter...

 (Anthropoides virgo), red-headed bunting

Red-headed Bunting

The Red-headed Bunting, Emberiza bruniceps, is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.It breeds in central Asia. It is migratory, wintering in India...

 (Emberiza bruniceps), lark

Lark

Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. All species occur in the Old World, and in northern and eastern Australia; only one, the Shore Lark, has spread to North America, where it is called the Horned Lark...

s (Alaudidae), wheatear

Wheatear

The wheatears are passerine birds of the genus Oenanthe. They were formerly considered to be members of the thrush family Turdidae, but are now more commonly placed in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae...

s (Oenanthe), pipit

Pipit

The pipits are a cosmopolitan genus, Anthus, of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. Along with the wagtails and longclaws, the pipits make up the family Motacillidae...

s (Anthus spp.), Black-bellied Sandgrouse

Black-bellied Sandgrouse

The Black-bellied Sandgrouse is a medium large bird in the sandgrouse family.The nominate race breeds in Iberia, northwest Africa, the Canary Islands, Turkey, Iran, Cyprus and Israel. The eastern form P. o. arenarius is found in Kazakhstan, western China and northern Pakistan...

 (Pterocles orientalis), Pallas’s Sandgrouse (Syrrhaptes paradoxus), Steppe Eagle

Steppe Eagle

The Steppe Eagle is a bird of prey. It is about in length and has a wingspan of . Females, weighing 2.3–4.9 kg , are slightly larger than males, at 2–3.5 kg . Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae...

 (Aquila rapax), Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

 (Aquila chrysaetos), Peregrine Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

The Peregrine Falcon , also known as the Peregrine, and historically as the Duck Hawk in North America, is a widespread bird of prey in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-gray back, barred white underparts, and a black head and "moustache"...

 (Falco peregrinus) and the Saker Falcon

Saker Falcon

The Saker Falcon is a very large falcon. This species breeds from eastern Europe eastwards across Asia to Manchuria. It is mainly migratory except in the southernmost parts of its range, wintering in Ethiopia, the Arabian peninsula, northern Pakistan and western China...

(Falco cherrug).

Conservation status and threats

Agriculture, overgrazing, and fragmentation of habitat from human encroachment are the main threats to this ecoregion's integrity, and it's conservation status is listed as "Critical/Endangered". However, recent and dramatic reductions in the number of livestock in Kazakhstan have resulted in large areas having a greater chance for rehabilitation. No areas in this ecoregion are strictly protected, and some refuges do not adequately preserve local ecosystems.