The wildlife of Mongolia consists of flora, fauna and funga found in the harsh habitats dictated by the diverse climatic conditions found throughout the country. In the north, there are salty marshes and fresh-water sources. The centre has desert steppes. In the south, there are semi deserts as well as the hot Gobi Desert in the south, the fifth-largest desert in the world. About 90% of the landlocked country is covered by deserts or pastures with extreme climatic conditions. Fauna in the wild includes 139 mammal species, 448 bird species (331 of which are migratory and 119 are resident), 76 fish species, 22 reptile species and 6 amphibian species. Grassland and shrubland covers 55 percent of the country. In the steppe zone, forest covers only 6 percent while 36 percent is covered by desert vegetation, and only 1 percent is used for human habitation and agriculture. The vegetation in the eastern steppe region is grassland (the largest of its type in the world).
Geography
Topography The country is bounded by Tibet, Afghan Turkestan, Siberia, and Northeast China. This has resulted in a faunal richness that combines the species from each of the border nations. Habitat distribution consists of grassland, shrubland and forest covering 55 percent of the country, while forest cover is 98 percent in the steppe zone, 36 percent is covered by desert vegetation.
Water resources
The drainage pattern is dictated by Asia's continental divide. This separates areas that drain to the Arctic Ocean from those that drain northeast into the Pacific. The Khangai Mountains form another divide between areas that drain into the oceans and those that drain inland. In the western and southern zones, streams flow seasonally into salt water lakes without outlets. Rivers of the northern region are perennial, rising from the mountains. The two major river systems are the Orkhon River (Mongolia's longest inland river within the country, which joins the Selenge River) and the Selenge River (Selenga in Russian). Lakes in the country are mostly saline. The largest by volume is freshwater Lake Khövsgöl, a natural lake formed in a structural depression. It is the second oldest lake in the world and accounts for 65 percent of the fresh water of Mongolia (2 percent of that in the world). To reduce the burden on water resources, Mongolia is building wastewater treatment plants to use it in industry and prevent discharge into rivers.
Climate The climatic conditions dictated by the oceans on one side and the snow-capped mountains (average peak elevation of 5,180 metres (16,990 ft) in high northern latitudes) on the other side, have a significant bearing on the wildlife distribution in the country. The climate patterns are: continental climate with very cold conditions (anticyclones are formed here over Siberia) and cool to hot summers in the deserts and semi deserts. Temperature records indicate a very wide variation between winter and summer, of the order of 80 °F (44 °C) on average in the northern part of the country, and even on a single day the variation can be as much as 55 °F (31 °C). In the Ulaanbaatar area the typical variation reported is −7 °F (−22 °C) in January and 63 °F (17 °C) in July while in the Gobi Desert area, the average temperature reported for January is 5 °F (−15 °C) and 7 °F (−14 °C) in July.
Precipitation Rainfall and snow are also very uneven, dependent on elevation and latitude. Annual amounts range from low-lying desert areas of the south and west where it is less than 4 inches (100 mm) to northern mountainous areas, where it is reported as about 14 inches (360 mm), while at Ulaanbaatar the reported annual rainfall is 10 inches (250 mm). The number of days the sky remains clear and sunny is between 220 and 260 annually. Fierce blizzards occur in the mountain regions and the steppes. During this period a thin layer of snow totally stops grazing in these pastures.
Legal protection Commercial exploitation increased between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries, necessitating increased legislation. Two laws were enacted in 1995, the Mongolian Law on Environmental Protection and the Mongolian Law on Hunting. The steppe habitat for Mongolian gazelle (Procapra gutturosa), an area of 275,000 square kilometres (106,000 sq mi), is reported to be the "largest remaining example of a temperate grassland ecosystem".
Protected areas
Immediately after Mongolia attained independence in 1990, there was enthusiasm to declare 100 percent of the country as a national park. However, the goal was set at an achievable 30 percent. But due to economic conditions dictating development of mines, the achievement so far has been of the order of 13.8 percent covering an area of 215,200 square kilometres (83,100 sq mi) spread over 60 protected areas. There are four categories of protected areas, and these are: strictly protected areas (prohibiting hunting, logging and development with no human habitation as the defined areas are very fragile); the national parks, with their historical and educational interest providing for ecotourism in identified areas and with limited access to the local nomads for fishing and grazing; natural and historic monuments with restricted developmental activities; and nature reserves of less important regions providing protection to endangered and rare species of flora and fauna and archeological value with limited access for development within prescribed guidelines. The strictly protected areas are Bogd Khan Uul Biosphere Reserve (established in 1966 covering 67,300 hectares (166,000 acres) including buffer and transition areas), Great Gobi Reserve (established as a reserve in 1975 and as a biosphere reserve in 1990 covering 985,000 hectares (2,430,000 acres)), Uvs Nuur Basin Reserve (established 1997 and covering 810,233.5 hectares (2,002,131 acres)), Dornod Mongol Biosphere Reserve (designated in 2005 and covering 8,429,072 hectares (20,828,690 acres)) and Khustain Nuuru Reserve (established in 2003 covering 50,600 hectares (125,000 acres)). They are all under the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme. Some of the other protected are:
Strictly protected areas
Khasagt Khayrkhan (27,400 hectares (68,000 acres)) Khukh Serkhiin Nuruu (65,900 hectares (163,000 acres)) Khan Khentii Uul (1,227,000 hectares (3,030,000 acres)) Otgon Tenger Reserve (95,500 hectares (236,000 acres)) Numrug (311,200 hectares (769,000 acres)) Mongol Daguur Biosphere Reserve (103,000 hectares (250,000 acres)) National parks
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
