By: Baltasar Pimentel, Collections Gardener
The Living Desert and our partners the Mongolian Conservation Initiative are passionate about protecting and conserving all aspects of the Mongolian Steppe and Gobi Desert, working in the globally important Ikh Nart Nature Reserve. Much of our focus is on the animals there – we are a zoo after all – but these animals cannot exist without thriving, diverse plant communities.
To this end, every year we survey 250 1M2 plots twice a year to measure species richness, density, cover percentage, dry weight, and grazing. This study seeks to answer questions about how grazing patterns and the changing climate affect the ecosystems of the reserve and identify important grazing and forage locations for wildlife and livestock. The individual 1M2 plots are grouped into larger 10M2 five-plot sites which are scattered throughout the reserve into the various ecosystem types that make the reserve so diverse and abundant. There are thirty-two of these ecosystem types in Ikh Nart which are based on the plant communities within them.
The fifty-site sampling process usually takes a small team five days to complete because of the driving time between sites and the tedious task of measuring and counting hundreds of small plants at each site. Each 10M2 site is marked with GPS coordinates and site markers that indicate the corners where four of the plots are located. The fifth plot at each site is randomized within the site by throwing a quadrant over one’s shoulder for variation. Within each plot, each plant is identified to species, measured, and counted regardless of how small it might be. During the second survey team, this process also includes cutting plants within each plot for the recording of dry weight.
2024 is the first year that The Living Desert has sent staff to the Ikh Nart Nature Reserve specifically for vegetation sampling since our partnership began in 2023. This trip was especially significant to me because I am the first member of our gardens team to be sent on a research adventure like this, and because of the exposure to so many new plant species. Another significant factor was that Dr. Mandakh, the botanical ecologist and co-author of the text I was using in the field to identify species in the plots, lead the vegetation sampling.
For me, meeting the author of a botanical collection was like meeting a rockstar. It was a pleasure for me to watch Dr. Mandakh arrive at a survey site and already know which plant species would be present based on the ecology of the location and the many years she has spent studying the plants at Ikh Nart. I was attempting to learn each new plant I encountered as an individual species. When Dr. Mandakh realized this, she explained to me that it’s more important to learn the ecology of a plant community because plant species will be found in specific communities on the reserve. It was also amazing to see that all the Mongolian biology students with us had knowledge of the plants we were studying as well as the ecosystem types they belong to. On one occasion, I asked Pugee (a botany student) the name of a plant we had just observed in one of the sites. Instead of flipping through the text to find the plant like I would have, she first identified the eco-type in the text, found the list of plants associated with that type, and then flipped to the page number of the plant I was curious about. Amazing!
The vegetation sampling process was more efficient on this team than others and we were able to sample all 245 plots — or 49 sites — within 4 days, with the first day being a trial run of 4 sites. The 50th survey site was omitted from this survey for safety concerns raised by loose sand and the potential to be stuck in the sand without water. Yes, botanists do face life-threatening danger!
Our first vegetation sampling team after the trial run consisted of just five people; Dr. Mandakh, Pugee (a botany student from the National University of Mongolia), Ming (an EarthWatch volunteer), Remo (an Ikh Nart park ranger staffed by The Living Desert), and me (a gardens supervisor here at The Living Desert). On our first day of sampling, we surveyed 13 sites in a relatively close 12-kilometer loop around the camp which only took us 10 hours. This was the most exciting day for me as we were exposed to new material all day. I also saw two of the plants that were on my must-see list and a bonus lily (Lilium pumilum) at our last site for the day.
The two plants on my list to see were Ephedra sinica and Thymus gobicus. I took particular interest in the Ephedra because of its history of use as medicine. Species in the genus Ephedra are known for producing the stimulant chemicals Ephedrine and Pseudoephedrine used in pharmacology as bronchodilators and to induce wakefulness. We have five species of Ephedra that grow directly in or around the Coachella Valley. The chemical potency of our local species, however, is much less than that of Ephedra sinica, and one of our Coachella Valley species (Ephedra nevadensis) produces none of the stimulants the genus is known for. Another point of interest is that Ephedra belongs to an ancient group of plants called the Gnetophytes. This group of plants once contained their own phylum within the plant kingdom, and botanists believed they were the link between conifers and flowering plants. This was due to characteristics that some Gnetophytes possess like broad leaves, fleshy fruit, and cones that appear to have petals. Now, thanks to genetic sampling, the Gnetophytes are listed as a subclass called Gnetidae within the Pine tree class Pinopsida. Gnetidae contains three plant orders which each contain just one family, and each of those families contain just one genus. It’s amazing that these genera lived with and outlived the dinosaurs while their relatives perished. Could overgrazing of more desirable plants have led to the reduced number of plants in these families? My interest in the Thymus gobicus was a little less scientific. I wanted to smell it, which I enjoyed very much. Yes, wild Mongolian Thyme is as aromatic, if not more, than English Thyme.
The most abundant species throughout the Ikh Nart Nature Reserve become apparent after surveying just a few sites — Convolvulus amanii, Carex duriuscula, Artemisia frigida, Artemisia rutifolia, Neopallasia pectinata, Allium polyrhizum, and Stipa tianschanica subsp. gobica. This list of plants is representative of one of the concerns caused by over grazing in which members of the genera Artemisia and Neopallasia, which are less desirable forage for wildlife, are becoming more abundant than the Allium and Stipa that both livestock and wildlife desire. This is a trend that will be measurable after our 20 years of survey sampling are compiled and will inspire new conservation efforts at Ikh Nart. These efforts could include working with local herders to develop grazing plans and strategies or initiating habitat restoration projects with a focus on forage vegetation.
Something worth noting is that Ikh Nart is still inhabited by nomadic herders. We saw many yurts and livestock herds around the reserve that belong to families whose ancestors have been living nomadically for thousands of years. Vegetation conservation efforts in Ikh Nart are sensitive to this long history and are aimed at engaging the local community in a way that is beneficial for their livelihood and for wildlife. There is still a lot of work to do in the conservation aspects of this study and in the very important community engagement efforts at Ikh Nart.
The ongoing damage endured by plant communities results in the decline of natural resources that those communities are able to produce. This is true for the tiny Stipa tianschanica subsp. gobica growing in Ikh Nart that needs to support wild argali sheep and goat herds, as much as it is true for the plants growing in the gardens and animal habitats at The Living Desert. This experience has helped me connect these two very different worlds. Although we don’t struggle with true overgrazing in our habitats, we do get plenty of animal-on-plant vandalism (or browsing, from a non-gardener perspective!) as the animals in our care interact with the plants in their habitats. This has inspired me to take new considerations into habitat ecosystem planning. We already consider natural geographic regions during habitat planning here at the zoo.
Our next step is to consider the functionality of the plants within those spaces for the animals, the ecosystem services the plants might provide for each other, and which plants will be resilient to occasional damage. Can we plant mixes of species that will encourage animals to vary in their browsing (vandalism) so that plants have time to recover? Can we find practical ways to amend our soil so that the plants thrive even with ongoing damage?
These are all questions I look forward to answering here at the zoo, and for which I believe our partners in Mongolia will be able to provide insight.
