The Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe occupies a narrow, flat valley in southwestern Mongolia, hemmed between the Khangai Mountains to the north and the Gobi-Altai range to the south, and threaded by a chain of shallow, saline lakes such as Böön Tsagaan and Orog. Its desert-steppe vegetation is dominated by needlegrasses (Stipa gobica and Stipa glareosa), saxaul trees (Haloxylon ammodendron), and salt-tolerant dwarf shrubs including Salsola and Anabasis, with Caragana around the lake margins. The climate is cold semi-arid (Köppen BSk), with annual precipitation of roughly 50 to 200 mm and at least one month averaging below freezing. Siberian ibex range the rocky heights while goitered gazelle graze the flats, and the lakes are important stopovers for migrating birds such as the endangered Pallas's fish eagle, saker falcon, and demoiselle crane; the Daurian pika is the flagship species, yet very little of the ecoregion is protected. For gardeners, hardy ornamentals native here include peashrub (Caragana), wild onion (Allium polyrhizum), and Ajania.

At a glance

About the deserts & xeric shrublands biome

Arid and semi-arid lands where low, erratic rainfall and high evaporation limit vegetation to drought-adapted shrubs, succulents, and sparse grasses. Day-to-night temperature swings are large, and life is finely tuned to water scarcity.

Catalog plants suited to this ecoregion

Computed from each plant's stated USDA zone range against this ecoregion's CHELSA-derived current zone range, with the CHELSA mid-century warming delta applied for the projection. Plants whose stated range falls outside both the current and projected zone end up dropped; the rest land in one of the three buckets below.

Collections for this ecoregion

Curated multi-plant collections whose members all fit this ecoregion's zone range — no won't-grow members smuggled in. Overall fit class shown per collection is the weakest link across its members.

Related ecoregions