Living Resources 92 Central Asia Atlas of Natural Resources aintaining our living resources, Biodiversity the countless types of plants and animals that exist on earth, is vitally iological diversity, or biodiversity, simply important for our own survival. We Bmeans the variability among living organisms wherever they are found. It is usually measured as Mdepend on this biological diversity, or biodiversity, numbers of species in a locality, but it also means not only for food but also as sources of enzymes, the variability within species, known as genetic genes, chemicals, resins, and fibers that we can diversity. Biodiversity also applies to habitat diversity—the variety of places where life exists. exploit to cure disease, provide substances, and create economic wealth—not to mention the essential ecological services that plants ecosystems: areas where the interactions between especially provide, such as keeping enough oxygen the different residents—animals and plants—are in the air and absorbing carbon dioxide that much stronger than their interactions with would otherwise quickly poison us. To maintain nonresidents that is, residents of neighboring biodiversity, we must also conserve the areas ecosystems. Central Asia contains a wide range of where plants and animals live, their habitats. aquatic, wetland, desert, and montane ecosystems. Central Asia is amazingly diverse in its habitats, At a higher level are ecoregions, groups of from inland seas and deserts below sea level to interacting ecosystems in which there are shared fertile valleys to snow-covered mountains that are species and similar ecological processes and among the tallest in the world. Its wide biodiversity environmental conditions. To represent the original reflects this variety of habitats. Some parts of the distribution of plants and animals on earth, the region can be considered “crossroads” for Asian World Wildlife Fund (WWF) divided the entire and Mediterranean species; other areas are unique planet into 867 terrestrial ecoregions. In Central centers of endemic species, those that occur Asia, 112 ecoregions were identified: 30 in naturally nowhere else in the world. mountainous and hilly areas in desert zones, 5 in mountainous areas in steppes, 29 in desert plains, The region’s fauna include over 900 vertebrate 39 in steppe plains, and 7 in river valleys. species—172 of them mammals, 540 birds, 106 reptiles, 14 amphibians, and about 150 fishes. Worldwide, WWF selected 200 ecoregions—the More than 20,000 types of invertebrates have Global 200—deemed the most outstanding for been documented, and this is believed to be only their biodiversity and other attributes. WWF Global a portion of the total fauna present. Some well- 200 ecoregions that are within, or fall partially, in known animals in the region are the snow leopard, Central Asia are Tien Shan (Himalayan brown) bear, Marco Polo sheep, and Przewalski’s horse. • Middle Asian montane steppe and woodlands, Global 200 No. 111, which includes the Central Asia is home to about 7,000 higher plant terrestrial ecoregions Gissaro-Alai open (angiosperm) species. Best known are the region’s woodlands (PA0808), Pamir alpine desert and fruits and nuts. Many fruits and nuts now farmed tundra (PA1014), Tien Shan montane conifer worldwide have their origin in wild varieties of forests (PA0521) Alai-Western Tien Shan steppe Central Asia—think of almonds, cherries, pears, (PA0801), Tien Shan montane steppe and plums, and walnuts, to name only a few. meadows (PA1019), and Tien Shan foothill arid steppe (PA0818) • Central Asian deserts, Global 200 No. 134, Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax Ecosystems and Ecoregions which include the terrestrial ecoregions carbo) in the Amu Darya tugai forest. Central Asian riparian woodlands (PA1311), Inset: Sunset over Lake Sultankeldi in The habitats that underpin the survival of Central Asian northern desert (PA1310), and Korgalzhyn Nature Reserve. the world’s biodiversity can be grouped into Central Asian southern desert (PA1312)) Living Resources 93 94 55°0'E 75°0'E 5 Central AsiaAtlas ofNaturalResources Ecoregions of Central Asia 1:10 000 000 Ecoregions in Central Asia 200 100 0 200 N Kilometers RUSSIAN FEDERATION 6 50°0'N 1 ra U l 11 50°0'N Ishim 5 Irtysh ASTANA 4 12 8 21 a r u 22 N 6 17 Sarysu KAZAKHSTAN ba m E 2 16 Lake Balkhash Syr Darya PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC 19 Ili OF CHINA 7 Ili Aral Sea 10 19 A m Chui Lake u BISHKEK D Issyk-Kul a Caspian Sea r y a 17 13 40°0'N UZBEKISTAN Naryn KYRGYZ n ry a N REPUBLIC 40°0'N TASHKENT AZERBAIJAN 9 National capital TURKMENISTAN 3 Rivers and canals 15 24 International boundaries Sumbar 20 TAJIKISTAN 23 DUSHANBE 14 Boundaries are not necessarily authoritative. ek tr A 17 Karakum C ASHGABAT anal h z d n a i Data source: P WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature. IRAN 18 Global Ecoregions, 2004 Projection: Lambert Conformal Conic Datum: WGS 1984 AFGHANISTAN GIS/Cartography: V. Sibagatulin, GIS-Service Ltd. Kyrgyz Republic, 2009 55°0'E 75°0'E Ecoregions Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands 1 Kazakh steppe (PA0810) 2 Emin Valley steppe (PA0806) 3 Gissaro-Alai open woodlands (PA0808) 4 Pontic steppe (PA0814) 5 Kazakh forest steppe (PA0809) 6 Kazakh upland (PA0811) 7 Tien Shan foothill arid steppe (PA0818) 8 Altai steppe and semidesert (PA0802) Ecoregions 9 Alai-Western Tien Shan steppe (PA0801) Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands Temperate Conifer Forests 1 Kazakh steppe (PA0810) 10 Tien Shan montane conifer forests (PA0521) 2 Emin Valley steppe (PA0806) 11 Altai montane forest and forest steppe (PA0502) 3 Gissaro-Alai open woodlands (PA0808) Montane Grasslands and Shrublands 4 Pontic steppe (PA0814) 12 Altai alpine meadow and tundra (PA1001) 5 Kazakh forest steppe (PA0809) 13 Tien Shan montane steppe and meadows (PA1019) 6 Kazakh upland (PA0811) 14 Pamir alpine desert and tundra (PA1014) 7 Tien Shan foothill arid steppe (PA0818) 15 Kopet-Dag woodlands and forest steppe (PA1008) 8 Altai steppe and semidesert (PA0802) Ecoregions 9 Alai-Western Tien Shan steppe (PA0801) Deserts and Xeric Shrublands 16 Central Asian northern desert (PA1310) Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands Temperate Conifer Forests 17 Caspian lowland desert (PA1308) 1 Kazakh steppe (PA0810) 10 Tien Shan montane conifer forests (PA0521) 18 Badghyz and Karabil semidesert (PA1306) 2 Emin Valley steppe (PA0806) 11 Altai montane forest and forest steppe (PA0502) 19 Central Asian riparian woodlands (PA1311) 3 Gissaro-Alai open woodlands (PA0808) Montane Grasslands and Shrublands 20 Central Asian southern desert (PA1312) 4 Pontic steppe (PA0814) 12 Altai alpine meadow and tundra (PA1001) 21 Junggar Basin semidesert (PA1317) 5 Kazakh forest steppe (PA0809) 13 Tien Shan montane steppe and meadows (PA1019) 22 Kazakh semidesert (PA1318) 6 Kazakh upland (PA0811) 14 Pamir alpine desert and tundra (PA1014) 23 Kopet Dag semidesert (PA1319) 7 Tien Shan foothill arid steppe (PA0818) 15 Kopet-Dag woodlands and forest steppe (PA1008) 8 Altai steppe and semidesert (PA0802) Rock, Ice Deserts and Xeric Shrublands 9 Alai-Western Tien Shan steppe (PA0801) 24 Rock and ice 16 Central Asian northern desert (PA1310) Temperate Conifer Forests 17 Caspian lowland desert (PA1308) conservation. conservation. further enormousconsequencesfor had and economiclifeoftheregion,thathave inthesociopolitical changes 1991 ledtodramatic Unionin dissolutionoftheSoviet The destroyed. been habitatshave of the20thcentury;many landscapesincethesecondhalf the region’s altered hasdrastically development Agricultural • • recently vanished in recently vanished ( Asian cheetah the declaredextinctwithinthelastcenturyand was famedCaspiantiger( The and rare already threat, withmany of thewild putmuch anthropogenicpressureshave These 10 Tien Shan montane conifer forests (PA0521) endemism, varieswidelyamong them. suchasrichness and of parameters, magnitude becausetherelative compared sharing type thesamemajorhabitat were Only the • • • • • parameters: based onthefollowing chosen, type majorhabitat were agiven for most distinctiveof examples the represent that Ecoregions type. habitat andmarine major freshwater, terrestrial, T Global 200 The 18 Badghyz and Karabil semidesert (PA1306) of China, India, Pakistan, and of China,India,Pakistan, Republic Afghanistan, thePeople’s Himalayas: includes which PlateauSteppe(Global200No.110), Tibetan andpartiallyin Federation a freshwater Delta,Global200No.157, River Volga from outstanding examples ofeach outstandingexamples from he Global200 11 Altai montaneglobal rarity type. ofthemajorhabitat and vertebrates); oflarge migrations assemblages, intact vertebrate large radiations, extraordinary adaptive phenomena (e.g., forestextraordinary orevolutionary ecological lineages; primitive or communities, and relict species orfamilies, unique genera uniqueness(e.g., higher taxonomic forestendemism; species richness; steppe (PA0502) 19 Central Asian riparian woodlands (PA1311) biodiversity values of values biodiversity flora and flora Montane Grasslands and Shrublands 20 Central Asian southern desert (PA1312) Junggar Basin semidesert (PA1317) ecoregion 12 Altai alpine meadow and tundra (PA1001) chosen were ecoregions 21 Acinonyx jubatus Acinonyx Central Asia, northofthe Central Central Asia. Central fauna of 13 Tien Shan montane steppe and meadows (PA1019) 22 Kazakh semidesert (PA1318) Panthera tigrisvirgataPanthera (intheRussian 14 Pamir alpine desert and tundra (PA1014) biodiversity 23 Kopet Dag semidesert (PA1319) Central Asia under Central ecoregions ecoregions Kazakhstan) 15 Kopet-Dag