View source for Ordos Desert

{{Short description|Desert in Inner Mongolia}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2008}}

{{Infobox ecoregion
|name = Ordos Desert<br/><small>Ordos Plateau steppe</small>
|image = 20130801内蒙鄂托克旗镇北山梁S313省道边盛夏晴日草场 - panoramio.jpg
|image_size =
|image_alt = 
|caption = Ordos steppe landscape
|map = 
|map_size = 
|map_alt = Ecoregion territory (in purple)
|map_caption = Ecoregion territory (in purple)
|biogeographic_realm = [[Palearctic realm|Palearctic]]
|biome = [[montane grasslands and shrublands]]
|border = [[Alashan Plateau semi-desert]]
|border1 = [[Central China loess plateau mixed forests]]
|border2 = [[Helanshan montane conifer forests]]
|border3 = [[Mongolian–Manchurian grassland]],
|border4 = [[Southeast Tibet shrub and meadows]]
|animals = 
|bird_species = 
|area = 215,952
|country = [[China]]
|state = [[Gansu]]
|state1 = [[Inner Mongolia]]
|state2 = [[Ningxia]]
|state3 = [[Shaanxi]],
|state4 = [[Shanxi]]
|region_type = [[Provinces of China|Provinces]] 
|elevation = 
|coordinates = 
|geology = 
|seas =
|rivers = 
|climate = 
|soil = 
|conservation = Critical/endangered<ref name=wwf>{{WWF ecoregion|id=pa1013 |name=Ordos Plateau steppe}}</ref>
|global200 =
|habitat_loss = 
|habitat_loss_ref =
|protected = 0.04
|protected_ref = <ref name=dopa>"Ordos Plateau steppe". Dopa Explorer. Accessed 4 March 2021. [https://dopa-explorer.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ecoregion/81013]</ref>
}}

[[File:Nomad Theater Xiangshawan.jpg|thumb|Xiangshawan ({{lang|zh-hans|响沙湾}}), a desert tourist attraction in Ordos Desert]]
[[Image:Location of Ordos Prefecture within Inner Mongolia (China).svg|thumb|The region of Ordos]]
The '''Ordos Desert''' ({{zh|s={{linktext|鄂|尔|多|斯|沙|漠}}|t=鄂爾多斯沙漠|p=È'ěrduōsī Shāmò}}) is a [[desert]]/[[steppe]] region in [[Northwest China]], administered under the [[prefectures of China|prefecture]] of [[Ordos City]] in the [[Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region]] (centered ca. {{coord|39|N|109|E|}}). It extends over an area of approximately {{convert|90650|km2|abbr=on}}, and comprises two sub-deserts: China's 7th-largest desert, the [[Kubuqi Desert]], in the north; and China's 8th-largest desert, the [[Mu Us Desert]], in the south. Wedged between the arable [[Hetao]] region to the north and the [[Loess Plateau]] to the south, the [[soil]] of the Ordos Desert is mostly a mixture of dry [[clay]] and [[sand]], and as a result is poorly suited for [[agriculture]].

==Location==
The Ordos Desert is almost completely encircled in the west, north and east by a great rectangular bend of the middle [[Yellow River]] known as the [[Ordos Loop]]. [[Mountain range]]s separate the Ordos from the [[Gobi Desert]] north and east of the Yellow River. The northern border serves as the southern border of the [[Mu Us Desert]].{{clarify|date=January 2015}} The mountain chains separating the Ordos from the central Gobi in the north of the great bend of the Yellow River are: the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and the [[Yin Mountains]], which link on to the south end of the [[Greater Khingan|Greater Khingan Mountains]].{{sfn|Bealby|1911|p=168}} In the south and east, the [[Great Wall of China]] separates the Ordos from fertile [[loess]] lands. The Ordos covers the southern section of [[Inner Mongolia]], an [[Autonomous entities of China|Autonomous Region of China]]; [[Ningxia]], an [[Autonomous entities of China|Autonomous Entity of China]]; and the [[Province of China|Chinese Provinces]] of [[Shaanxi]] and [[Gansu]].

==Relief==
The Ordos Desert forms an intermediate step in the descent from the [[Himalayas]] to the lowlands of eastern [[China]]. Towards the south it rises to an altitude of over 1,500 m, and in the west, along the right bank of the [[Yellow River]], the Arbus or Arbiso Mountains, which overlie the steppe by some 900 m, serve to link the [[Helan Mountains]] with the [[Yin Mountains]]. The northern part of the great bend of the Yellow River is filled with the sands of Kuzupchi River, a succession of [[dune]]s, 12–15 m high. In some places these sand dunes approach close to the Yellow River; in others they are parted from it by a belt of sand, intermingled with clay, which terminates in a steep [[escarpment]], 15 m and in some localities 30 m above the river.{{sfn|Bealby|1911|p=167}}

Eventually the sand dunes cross over to the left bank of the Yellow River where they are threaded by the beds of dry watercourses. The Yin Mountains, which stretch from 108[[Degree (angle)|°]] to 112° E in the north of the great bend of the Yellow River, have a wild alpine character and are distinguished from other mountains in the southeast of Mongolia by an abundance of both water and vegetation. In one of their constituent ranges, the bold Muni-uul, {{cvt|113|km}} long and nearly {{cvt|32|km}} wide, they attain elevations of {{cvt|2200|to|2600|m|-2}}, and have steep flanks, slashed with rugged [[canyon|gorges]] and narrow [[glen]]s.{{sfn|Bealby|1911|p=168}}

==Climate==
The desert receives less than 250&nbsp;mm of precipitation annually, and most of this is in the form of summer [[thunderstorm]]s. The region has many [[salt lake (geography)|salt lakes]] and intermittent [[stream]]s. Winters are bitter cold, with cold winds blowing into the region from the north and west, and January temperatures ranging from {{cvt|−13|to|−10|C}}.

==Fauna and flora==
The vegetation of the Ordos region is made up of [[montane grasslands and shrublands]]. Among the sand dunes in the north, shrubs including ''[[Hedysarum scoparium]]'' and ''[[Calligonum arborescens]]'' grow in scattered patches. Native grasses and herbs include ''[[Bromus inermis]], [[Agropyron mongolicum]], [[Agropyron cristatum|A. cristatum]], [[Festuca arundinacea]], [[Elymus dahuricus]], [[Melilotus albus]], [[Melilotus officinalis|M. officinalis]], [[Lotus corniculatus]], [[Pugionium cornutum]], [[Astragalus laxmannii|Astragalus adsurgens]],'' and ''[[Filifolium sibiricum]]''.<ref>Kang Mu-Yi ''et al.'' (2003). "Ecological Regionalization of Suitable Trees, Shrubs and Herbages for Vegetation Restoration in the Farming-Pastoral Zone of Northern China". ''[[Acta Botanica Sinica]]''  2003, 45 (10): 1157-1165.</ref> The belt of sand and clay which separates the sand dunes from the Huang He in places is studded with little mounds (up to 1.2 m high), mostly overgrown with wormwood ''([[Artemisia campestris]])'' and the Siberian pea-tree ''([[Caragana]] spp.)''; and here too grows one of the most characteristic plants of Ordos, the liquorice root ''([[Glycyrrhiza uralensis]])''. On the left bank of the Huang He, level spaces amongst the dry river beds are studded with little mounds (9&nbsp;cm to 1.8 m high), on which grow stunted ''[[Nitraria schoberi]]'' and ''[[Zygophyllum]].''{{sfn|Bealby|1911|pp=167-168}} Towards the south, sparse scrub vegetation is found. Forest thickets thrive along the river margins.

In the Yin Mountains, forests begin at altitudes of 1,600 m and wild flowers grow in great profusion and variety in summer, though with a striking lack of color. In this same border range there is also a much greater abundance and variety of animal life, especially among the [[bird]]s.{{sfn|Bealby|1911|p=168}}

Rare bird species also breed in the saline lakes of the Ordos, among them [[relict gull]]s (''Larus relictus'') breeding at [[Yulin, Shaanxi#Lake Hongjiannao|Lake Hongjiannao]]; for this species the Ordos is home to the world's largest breeding colony.<ref name=IUCN>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Larus relictus'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22694447A119398496 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22694447A119398496.en |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>

The present status of large mammals in the region is largely unclear. In the past, it was inhabited by wild two-humped [[Bactrian camel]]s, [[snow leopard]]s, [[Przewalski's gazelle]]s, and [[Przewalski's horse]]s.

==History==
{{main|Ordos culture}}
[[Image:BronzeManOrdos3-1stCenturyBCE.JPG|thumb|Bronze statuette of a man, Ordos, 3rd–1st century BCE. [[British Museum]]]]
Chinese names of the Ordos region were He-tau and – later – He-nan{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} ("the country south of the river"). It was occupied by horse nomads for many centuries, and these were very often at war with China. In the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, it was occupied by the [[Xiongnu]]. It was almost depopulated during and after the [[Dungan revolt (1862–1877)|Dungan revolt]] of 1869.{{sfn|Bealby|1911|p=168}}

This region was a desert during the [[Late Glacial Maximum]]. During the [[Holocene Climatic Optimum]] the [[monsoon]]al rains that reached the [[Loess Plateau]] in the modern era pushed the desert back to the Yellow River. Since then, [[overgrazing]] at various periods and in the modern period, the lack of rainfall, has resulted in a return to desert conditions. However, the most disastrous damage to the environment was caused by the political movements launched by [[Mao Zedong]], namely the [[Great Leap Forward]] and the [[Cultural Revolution]], during which the thin line of fragile vegetation separating the Kubuqi and Maowusu deserts was destroyed. Subsequent pressure of population and the increase in sheep/goats/cattle further damaged the already weakened local environment to the point of no return, and as a result, the two deserts finally linked up in the 1990s, forming the larger current-day Ordos.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}}

==Economy==
The [[alkaline]] soil allows for some [[nomad]]ic [[Mongol]] herders to raise [[sheep]] and [[goat]]s. Heavy grazing by goats has done damage to the grasslands in the region and led to [[desertification]]. The [[oasis]] in the region support small-scale [[farming]]. The area contains large [[Sodium carbonate|soda]] deposits which are heavily [[mining|mined]].

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==References==
* Sun Jimin, Ding Zhongli, Liu Tungsheng. "Desert distributions during the glacial maximum and climatic optimum: Example of China". Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
'''Attribution:'''
* {{EB1911  |last=Bealby|first=John Thomas |wstitle=Gobi |volume=12 |pages=165-169}}

==External links==
* {{NatGeo ecoregion|id=pa1013|name=Ordos Plateau steppe |ref=none}}

{{Deserts}}
{{Coord|39.588|109.727|display=title}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Deserts of China]]
[[Category:Geography of Inner Mongolia]]
[[Category:Geography of Shaanxi]]
[[Category:Geography of Gansu]]
[[Category:Geography of Ningxia]]
[[Category:Ecoregions of China]]
[[Category:Montane grasslands and shrublands]]
[[Category:Palearctic ecoregions]]
[[Category:Ergs]]