Succulent Karoo 115 reptile species, 48 are endemic and 15 are strict endemics. The Sperrgebiet region is a hotspot for an unusual tortoise, the Nama padloper. Endemism is present, but less pronounced, among the Succulent Karoo’s bird and mammal populations. The ecoregion has been designated a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International. Succulent Karoo The Succulent Karoo is a desert ecoregion of South Africa and Namibia. The Succulent Karoo stretches along the coastal strip of southwestern Namibia and South Africa's Northern Cape Province, where the cold Benguela Current offshore creates frequent fogs. The ecoregion extends inland into the uplands of South Africa's Western
Kazakh semi-desert in livestock numbers in Kazakhstan is allowing the native plants a greater opportunity to regenerate. The Kazakh semi-desert is an ecotone between the Kazakh Steppe to the north and the Central Asian northern desert to the south, running in a band across central Kazakhstan. The climate here is semi-arid and highly continental. Precipitation averages between and annually. Mean temperatures in January range from and , while July means are between and . Annual average temperatures are around . The region's topography consists of vast, flat plains and salt flats broken by dissected plateaus (known locally as ""melkosopochniki""). As a transition