The desert area of the Hexi Corridor accounts for about 50% of the total area of the corridor and consists of desert and Gobi. Vegetation coverage is less than 5%, composed of small shrubs of xerophytic and ultra-xerophytic, with low herbaceous diversity, increased rainfall in late summer and early autumn, and a large number of short-lived herbaceous plants. The desert is home to many rare plant resources, such as Mongolian almonds, bare fruit trees, cistanche, suoyang and hair vegetables. There are also many vertebrates in the desert, and more than 30 species of mammals, birds and reptiles have been recorded in the middle of the Hexi Corridor, most of which inhabit desert habitats. Mammals include the thrush, the sand fox, the red fox, the tiger ferret, the lynx, the big-eared hedgehog and some rodents. Birds include kestrels, goshawks, black-tailed ground crows, sand birds, desert birds, short-toed larks, longitudinal-bellied owl tails and so on. Reptiles mainly include flower snakes, desert sand lizards, desert hemp lizards, dense spot hemp lizards and sensitive hemp lizards. Large mammals and birds inhabit the northern Gobi and desert interiors, and the edge of the oasis is rich in plant resources as their feeding habitat, and the nests of sand foxes, big-eared hedgehogs and rodents are usually on bubble thorns and white thorn sand piles. Protecting the diversity of ecological engineers such as desert shrubs is beneficial to maintaining the diversity of vertebrates. Frequent human activity at the edge of the oasis changes the daily rhythms of mammals and birds during the growing season, which are active at night, dawn and dusk. Reducing human disturbance is beneficial for the protection of vertebrates.
Goose-throated antelope
corsac fox
common kestrel
Longitudinal striped owl
Hammer tail Berau
Black-tailed ground crow
Sand lizards