The Tian Shan foothill arid steppe wraps the northern and western approaches of the Tian Shan mountains across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and a small section of western Xinjiang in China, centered on Lake Issyk-Kul and running roughly 1,000 km along the lower slopes. Vegetation shifts along an east-to-west moisture gradient: western areas hold steppe-meadow dominated by feather grass (Stipa), fescue (Festuca), and Artemisia, while drier eastern sections grade into semi-desert with salt-tolerant tamarisk (Tamarix), thorny legumes such as Alhagi camelorum, and groves of desert poplar. The climate is predominantly cold semi-arid (Koppen BSk), drawing more moisture from Central Asia than the deserts to the south and so supporting greater plant and animal diversity. Wildlife includes black-tailed gazelle and the Asian steppe wildcat, and two bustard species breed here, among them the vulnerable MacQueen's bustard. Conservation coverage is limited, with the Xinjiang Tianshan UNESCO World Heritage site protecting four nature reserves within the wider range.

At a glance

About the temperate grasslands, savannas & shrublands biome

Temperate prairies, steppes, and pampas of grasses and forbs with few trees, under continental climates of hot summers and cold winters. Their deep, fertile soils have made them among the most extensively converted biomes for agriculture.

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