The Elburz Range forest steppeecoregion is an arid, mountainous 1,000-kilometer arc south of the Caspian Sea, stretching across northern Iran from the Azerbaijan border to near the Turkmenistan border. It covers and encompasses the southern and eastern slopes of the Alborz Mountains as well as their summits. The Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests ecoregion, with its lush green mountainsides and plains that receive moisture from the Caspian Sea, forms this ecoregion's northern border. The vast Central Persian desert basin ecoregion forms its southern border.
Setting
The Alborz range is composed of a granite core overlain with sedimentary rock including limestones, shales, sandstones, and tuffs. Metamorphic rocks such as schists, marbles, and amphibolite are also widely found. The climate is arid with annual precipitation varying from 150 mm to 500 mm, falling mostly as winter snow. Elevations typically range from, and the highest point in the Middle East, high Mount Damavand, is found here. Mount Damavand is also the tallest volcano in Asia and below its summit crater are found fumaroles and hot springs as well as glaciers.
Flora
Juniper is the most common tree in this ecoregion. It formerly covered south-facing slopes, but logging has greatly reduced its range to inaccessible areas and high elevations. Shrubs in the ecoregion are pistachio, cotoneaster, maple, and almond. Wormwood is a common herbaceous plant.
Fauna
This ecoregion is home to several large mammal species. Syrian brown bear wander the mountains and hillsides while solitary roe deer feed on grass and berries in and around forests. Groups of native wild boar forage at night and beech martens hunt smaller mammals and search for eggs and worms at dawn and dusk. Red deer live in single sex groups most of the year, but rut in the fall, sometimes locking antlers. Canids in this ecoregion are Indian wolf, common jackal, and red fox. Felids are Persian leopard, jungle cat, and Caucasus lynx. Goitered gazelle walk the plains in the southeast. There are also large populations of the globally endangered argali. Notable birds in this ecoregion are honey buzzard, goshawk, black vulture, bimaculated lark and Caspian snowcock. Eagles here are the lesser spotted eagle and the golden eagle. The ecoregion is also a breeding area for the little bustard and black woodpecker.
Logging and agriculture have reduced the range of the forests in this ecoregion, dams have disrupted river flows, and overgrazing has degraded habitat. Protected areas with Elburz Range forest steppe in Iran include Golestan National Park and the Ghorkhod Protected Area, both in Golestan Province and totalling.
