Magsar et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2018) 42:4 Journal of Ecology DOI 10.1186/s41610-018-0064-5 and Environment RESEARCH Open Access Medicinal plant diversity in the southern and eastern Gobi Desert region, Mongolia Urgamal Magsar1, Erdenetuya Baasansuren2, Munkh-Erdene Tovuudorj1, Otgonchuluun Shijirbaatar2, Zoltsetseg Chinbaatar2, Khureltsetseg Lkhagvadorj3 and Ohseok Kwon3* Abstract Background: The southern and eastern parts of the Gobi Desert area are a unique dry ecosystem with a diverse regional desert, semi-desert, and mountain dry steppe flora. This area habitat is located at the overlap of different floristic regions; on its northeast side, Central Asian desert flora is dominating, and on the eastern side, East Asian flora is observed. The comprehensive survey was carried out to find the floral diversity of the medicinal plants on the region. Methods: All recorded species in this study were based on the collected voucher specimens between June and August in the year 2017. Results: We recorded 23 families, 57 genera, and 78 species of vascular plants. The families Asteraceae (15 species), Fabaceae (10 species), and Amaranthaceae (10 species) were represented most in the study area, while Caragana (5 species), Salsola (4 species), and Arnebia (3 species) were the most common genera found. Conclusion: Conservation status for remarkable species was also reviewed based on the literature. Around the study area, 24 species as “sub-endemic,” 10 species as “very rare,” 4speciesas“rare,” 1speciesas“alien,” 13 species as “relict,” 10 species as “Red Book,” 2speciesas“endangered (EN),” 3speciesas“vulnerable (VU),” 3speciesas“near threatened (NT),” and 2 species as “least concern (LC)” plants are growing. Keywords: Medicinal plant diversity, Conservation status, Southern and eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia Background by the Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, and by the One of the most exotic and mysterious places in the North China Plain to the southwest. The Gobi mea- world is the Gobi Desert (Fig. 1); it has always sures over 1600 km (1000 mi) from southwest to attracted adventurers and explorers. The Gobi is most northeast and 800 km (500 mi) from north to south. notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, The desert is widest in the west; it occupies an arc and as the location of several important cities along of land 1,295,000 km2 (500,000 sq mi) in area as of the Silk Road. Contrary to the popular belief, Gobi is 2007; it is the fifth largest desert in the world and not a desert in the usual sense; it is a sandy area com- Asia’s largest. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but pletely devoid of vegetation. Mongols talk about many has exposed bare rock. Gobis; in fact, they have 33 Gobis according to soil The Mongolian Gobi, a vast zone of desert and composition and color. semi-desert, occupies almost 30% of the country’ster- The Gobi is a large desert region in northern ritory. One of the harshest environments on earth, China and southern Mongolia. The desert basins of with extreme temperature and seasonal changes, Gobi the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and is surprisingly full of wildlife such as gazelle, wild ass, the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, wild camel, endangered Gobi bear, and special plants (largely endemic and sub-endemic species). The Gobi Desert is a vast, arid region in northern China and * Correspondence: [email protected] 3School of Applied Biosciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, southern Mongolia. It is known for its dunes, moun- Kyungpook National University, Daegu 41566, Republic of Korea tains, and rare animals like snow leopards and Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Magsar et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2018) 42:4 Page 2 of 13 Fig. 1 Map of the Gobi Desert Bactrian camels. In the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National vegetation of grasslands to the east and deserts to the Park, the Khongoryn Els sand dunes are said to “sing” west. It consists of drought-adapted shrubs and thinly when the wind blows. The park also features the deep distributed low grasses. Dominant shrubs include two ice field of Yolyn Am canyon. Dinosaur fossils have Caragana species (Caragana bungei and Caragana been found at the red “Flaming Cliffs” of Bayanzag. leucocephala). Other shrubs include gray sparrow’s The southern and eastern Gobi Desert extends saltwort (Salsola passerina), gray sagebrush (Artemisia from the Inner Mongolian Plateau (China and xerophytica), Potaninia mongolica,andNitraria Mongolia), situated at 1000 to 1500 m elevation, sibirica. Low grasses include needle grass (Stipa gobica northward into Mongolia. It is a broad ecotone. and Stipa glareosa)andbridlegrass(Cleistogenes Boundaries are determined to the east and north by soongorica). the relatively moist grasslands of Mongolia and Mongolia occupies an ecological transition zone in Manchuria and to the west and south by the exten- Central Asia where the Siberian Taiga forest, the Altai sive semi-deserts of the Alashan Plateau. This Mountains, Central Asian Gobi Desert, and the grass- ecoregion includes the Yin Shan, a mountain range lands of the eastern Mongolian steppes meet. that rises to an elevation of 1500 to 2200 m and Systematic exploratory studies including those on many low-lying areas with saltpans and small ponds. medicinal plant resources were undertaken from the Although the region appears rather desolate, it 1940s when the Government of Mongolia invited provides a potential habitat for many wildlife species Russian scientists including Drs. I. A. Tsatsenkin, A. and a human population of semi-nomadic herders. A. Yunatov, and V. I. Grubov who focused on rare The climate here is continental. Summers are warm and useful plant species giving emphasis on plant to hot, depending on elevation, and winters are species of medicinal value. A Joint Russian- intensely cold. Winter conditions are harsher here Mongolian Complex Biological Expedition conducted than the other parts of China at similar altitude and since 1970 followed this. latitude because there are no mountains to shelter the Currently, it is estimated that about 3160 species region from cold northerly winds. The mean annual (included 133 subspecies and 33 varieties), 684 genera, temperature varies from − 2to− 6°C,withJanuary and 108 families of vascular plants exist in Mongolia mean temperatures of − 20 to − 28 °C. Annual pre- (Urgamal et al. 2016). Of these, about 1100 species are cipitation here is about 100 to 150 mm, although total medicinal plants, 150 species are rich sources of precipitation varies considerably from 1 year to the vitamins, 200 species contain essential oils, 250 spe- next. Most of this precipitation falls during summer. cies contain tanning matter, more than 200 species are Vegetation tends to be homogenous across vast plants that can be used for dyeing, 231 species are rich areas of the eastern Gobi Desert and distinct from the in flavonoid, 200 species are useful in many industries, Magsar et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2018) 42:4 Page 3 of 13 Fig. 2 Locations of our study route and site areas more than 480 species are ornamental plants, 280 spe- of Mongolia and record their distribution across the cies contain alkaloids, 65 species contain coumarin, study area. The study also aimed to determine the and 68 species are used to control sand movement species composition of vascular plants in the study (Ulziykhutag 1989). About 32% of the total vascular area and compare their floral analysis, conservation plants found in Mongolia are registered as medicinal status, ecological groups, the habitat type in which plants, of which more than 200 plants species could they were found, their distribution, and their useful- be used for manufacturing modern western medicine. ness based on traditional knowledge. The plant speci- Although substantial work has been undertaken to mens were collected in joint surveys with our identify and record the distributions of medicinal Mongolian partners in the southern and eastern Gobi plants in Mongolia, studies in the Khuvsgul and Khan- Desert regions of Mongolia and taken to Korea for gai mountains are incomplete. botanical investigations. Information on traditional Thepurposeofthisstudywastoidentifythemedi- knowledge was also collected in collaboration with cinal plants in the southern and eastern Gobi Desert our Mongolian partners. Fig. 3 Photos of our study sampling sites in the Gobi Desert, Mongolia. 1—Umnugobi, Tsogt-Ovoo sum, Onkhiin toirom; 2—Umnugobi, Dzunsaikhan mountain, Yoliin am; 3—Umnugobi, Bulgan sum, Bayanzag; 4—Umnugobi, Bulgan sum, Kholboogiin tal; 5—Dundgobi, Delgerkhangai sum, Delgerkhangai mountain; 6—Dornogobi, Khuvsgul sum, Khetiin tal; 7—Dornogobi, Khatanbulag sum, Ergen shand; 8—Dornogobi, Khatanbulag sum, Ergeliin Zoo Magsar et al. Journal of Ecology and Environment (2018) 42:4 Page 4 of 13 Fig. 4 Photos of our field surveys to the Gobi Desert, Mongolia Methods Resources (NIBR) of Korea, our botanical field survey We conducted our field surveys in the southern and to the Gobi Desert region in Mongolia has been eastern Gobi Desert areas of the Umnugobi, carried out. The field research route went through Dundgobi, and Dornogobi provinces of Mongolia, two the provinces of southern and eastern Gobi with different time points to cover the full vegetation altogether eight sampling sites (Figs.