Flora and Fauna
Natural vegetation is sparse in the region and poor in the number of species. A scientific expedition to the Lop Nor region in 1979-1982 collected only 36 species of plants, belonging to 13 families (mainly Chenopodiaceae and Compositae) and 26 genera. The expedition also collected only 127 species of animals (23 mammals, 91 birds, 7 reptiles, and 1 amphibian).
Archaeologist Sven Hedin who travelled in the region in the late nineteenth as well twentieth century was able to travel by boat up the rivers to the lake and saw a multitude of wildlife. However, many wild animals, such as tiger, wolf and wild hog which had been found by former explorers, have now disappeared. Nevertheless, it is still the one of the last refuges of wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus) in the world. These wild camel may be found in the reed oases on the north edge of the desert. Poplars forests and tamarix shrubs used to be extensively distributed along the lower Tarim River Valley forming the so-called 'Green Corridor', but with the drying up of the lower Tarim River since 1972 due to the building of dams, they have greatly deteriorated and some have disappeared. The Lop Nur Nature Sanctuary biodiversity conservation project was launched in 1999 to preserve Bactrian camels and other wildlife in the region.
Read more about this topic: Lop Desert
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