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The Vegetation of the Pamir-Alay Mountainous System in Middle Asia

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Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability in Asia

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Abstract

The Pamir-Alay mountainous system is in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and the People’s Republic of China. It is located north of the Hindukush and the Himalayas. The flora of the Pamir can be treated botanically as an outpost of the Tibetan flora. However, the flora and vegetation of the western part of the Pamir-Alay belongs to the Afghan-Turkestan botanical-geographical province and Bactrian sub-province. The vegetation of this region consists of at least 10 florocenotypes (= vegetation types) and can be characterized by two florocenotypes of Juniper forest, namely one inhabiting the thermophile part Juniperus polycarpos var. seravschanica and the other inhabiting the microthermic Juniperus pseudosabina (=J. turkestanica). Within these communities, plant formations of tragacanth spiny shrubs are common, which can also be observed in Iran and Afghanistan. Other forest types are the xerophytic tree-shrub florocenotype also known as shiblyak, which is also widespread in the Mediterranean mountains. One of the most unique vegetation types is the relic gypsaceous florocenotype, which consists of aggregates of ancient taxa belonging to endemic genera with an Afro-Arabian origin.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences, Tashkent, Republic of Uzbekistan

    Furkat O. Khassanov, Orzimat Turginov, Uktam Khudzhanazarov & Mukaddas Tirkasheva

Authors
  1. Furkat O. Khassanov
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  2. Orzimat Turginov
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  3. Uktam Khudzhanazarov
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  4. Mukaddas Tirkasheva
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany and Center for Environmental Studies, Ege University, Izmir, Türkiye

    Münir Öztürk

  2. Department of Plant Sciences, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Shujaul Mulk Khan

  3. Biology Department, Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Antakya-Hatay, Türkiye

    Volkan Altay

  4. Department of Geography, Balıkesir University, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Recep Efe

  5. Faculty of Biology, National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Dilfuza Egamberdieva

  6. Institute of Botany, Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

    Furkat O. Khassanov

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Khassanov, F.O., Turginov, O., Khudzhanazarov, U., Tirkasheva, M. (2022). The Vegetation of the Pamir-Alay Mountainous System in Middle Asia. In: Öztürk, M., Khan, S.M., Altay, V., Efe, R., Egamberdieva, D., Khassanov, F.O. (eds) Biodiversity, Conservation and Sustainability in Asia. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-73943-0_4

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