Qaidam Saxaul Forest Nature Reserve

Qaidam Saxaul Forest Nature Reserve

The Qaidam Saxaul Forest Nature Reserve is a national-level nature reserve.

The Qinghai Qaidam Saxaul Forest National Nature Reserve is situated in the southwestern part of Delingha City, extending west to the Quanji River in Dachaidan, bordering the Qinghai-Tibet Railway to the north, and bounded by the east-west trending Emunike Mountain to the south. Its geographical coordinates are between 36°00′N to 37°24′N latitude and 95°58′E to 97°52′E longitude. The reserve spans 114 kilometers from east to west and 54 kilometers from north to south, covering an area of 3,105 square kilometers. It was initially established as a provincial-level nature reserve in May 2000 and was upgraded to a national-level nature reserve in July 2013. The primary conservation target within the reserve is the saxaul forest.

Topography and Landforms

The Qinghai Qaidam Saxaul Forest National Nature Reserve features a diverse range of landform types, including fluvial landforms, denuded mountain landforms, lacustrine deposits, and aeolian landforms. Aeolian landforms are mainly divided into erosional and depositional types. In the southwestern part of the reserve near the Emunike Mountain area, there are various types of residual hills such as ridge-like, nose-shaped, overturned boat-shaped, spring-shaped, and cone-shaped formations, creating a spectacular array of wind-eroded "yardang landforms." Additionally, the reserve has widespread distributions of white thorn and tamarisk sand dunes, as well as crescent-shaped dunes, grid-like dunes, and shifting dunes.

Climate

The climate within the reserve is extremely arid, with long hours of sunshine, intense solar radiation, and large annual and daily temperature variations. The annual average temperature is 3.4°C, with annual precipitation ranging from 80.4 to 180.2 millimeters and annual evaporation averaging around 2,500 millimeters. The total annual sunshine duration is 3,352.5 hours. [1-3]

Soil

Due to the influence of local topography, landforms, climate, and vegetation, the soils in the reserve mainly consist of gray-brown desert soil, aeolian sandy soil, marsh soil, and saline soil. Gray-brown desert soil predominates, covering over 90% of the reserve’s soil area. The soil is low in organic matter, deficient in nitrogen and phosphorus but rich in potassium. Soils in the reserve are generally saline and slightly alkaline.

Area Scope

The reserve is located in the southwestern part of Delingha City, between 36°00′N to 37°24′N latitude and 95°58′E to 97°52′E longitude, in the central part of the Qaidam Basin. It stretches 200 kilometers from east to west and 150 kilometers from north to south, spanning the administrative regions of Delingha City, Ulan County, and Dulan County. The total area is 373,391 hectares, including a core zone of 130,289 hectares (34.9% of the total area), a buffer zone of 104,737 hectares (28.0% of the total area), and an experimental zone of 138,365 hectares (37.1% of the total area).