The desert and steppe region in Central and West Asia has twenty to twenty-five thousand species of plants. This region stretches from north and northwest China and Mongolia in the east to Turkey in the west and from Kazakhstan in the north to the Arabian Peninsula in the south. This region's vegetation changes from semi desert or desert to the temperate grassland called the steppe.
Central and West Asia contains the largest desert steppe landscape in the Northern Hemisphere. Few plant species grow in the steppe and nearly none in the desert. The herbs and few woody plants that grow in these dry areas are members of the grass, pink, mustard, pea, saxifrage, stonecrops, lignum vitae, forget-me-not, and lily families.
Because the desert environment is so dry, plant species must be able to survive in the arid weather for long periods of time. Central and West Asia with its steppe between the desert in the south and coniferous forests in the north forms one of the world's largest foraging areas, providing food resources for both wild and domestic animals, such as camels, sheep, goats, cows, and horses.
See also: Tropical Rain, Taiga and Tundra, Food Crops, Scientific Value
|
