Fig. 4

Sacsaou(Haloxylon ammodendron), a kind of shrub, belongs to the Chenopodiaceae family. Its developed root system is conducive to sand fixation and its leaves provide food for great gerbils (Rhombomys opimus). Great gerbils can climb up the branches and bite off twigs, then take the falling twigs into burrows for storage. Sacsaou-big gerbil-sand fly forms a food chain