Nazgül İMANBERDİYEVA

Article | 2015 | Climate Change Impacts on High-Altitude Ecosystems

In this chapter, the flora and vegetation of Kyrgyzstan’s At-Bashy valley and inner Tien Shan, together with the vegetational changes due to climatic impacts, are presented. The data presented covers the period between 2000 and 2014. More than 50 % of the higher plants in Kyrgyzstan grow on a very small territory. There are more than 4100 species distributed in the country and 1600 of these possess economic and practical value. Flora in At-Bashy valleys is represented by 222 species of higher plants belonging to 130 genera and 35 families. Steppes are a dominant vegetation type in the study area. The pasture degradation is observed . . .more intensively in the vegetation cover of Tien Shan than in the plain. High anthropogenic pressures exclude the possibility for natural recovery of indigenous vegetation. Intense solar radiation and high wind velocity, combined with low air humidity, lead to high evaporation, which ends up in the lack of moisture. Therefore, inner Tien Shan and hence At-Bashy valley are dominated by xerophytic vegetation and gray desert soils. The plants start their phenological cycle in late April–early May and end in late August–early September. The main vegetation types at At-Bashy valleys are subnival, cryophyte low grass (alpine) meadows, cryophyte herbal (subalpine) meadows, cryophyte steppe, cryophyte bunchgrass steppe of middle mountains, dark coniferous forests, tall grasslands, mountain bunch gramineous and herb-bunchgrass steppe, cheegrass (Achnatherum splendens) steppe, and floodplain forests. Original vegetation of the middle and high mountains of Tien Shan in Kyrgyzstan is of great scientific interest. It is of great national economic importance for animal husbandry. However, expected climate change scenarios are presenting a dark picture for the future plant diversity in the republic. The glaciers are melting and thus water will become a much bigger problem in future. All these developments are evaluated in this chapter. - Keywords: Plants Vegetation Ecosystems At-Bashy valleys Kyrgyzstan Tien Shan Climat More less

Zeki SEVEROĞLU

Article | 2015 | Climate Change Impacts on High-Altitude Ecosystems

Kaz Dağı, the ancient Mount Ida, is a mountainous area and one of the important biodiversity spots, located in the north of Edremit in northwestern Anatolia. The area abounds in fertile soils, wetlands, underground resources, favorable climatic conditions, interesting geomorphological characteristics, and several world famous archeological and cultural places. Southwestern part of the mountain has been declared as a national park in 1993, which hosts a very rich and diverse flora including many endemic and rare species; a majority of these are of great economical and ethnobotanical significance. Attempts were therefore made to inves . . .tigate the changes in the soil mineral elements at different altitudes within the park, in order to evaluate their potential effects on the flora of Kaz Dağı high-altitude ecosystem. Soil samples were thus collected from different localities at every 100 m elevation on the road to the national park and along the path leading to Sarıkız Hill inside the park. It was observed that B, Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, and Ni have lower concentrations at lower elevations; however, with increasing elevations the concentrations increase to a certain point and then show a decrease again reaching the lowest values at the elevations of 1600–1700 m. Our studies have revealed the fact that the altitudinal variations (100, 600, 1000, and 1600–1700 m) have great relevance to the elemental distribution in the soils of Kaz Dağı. Keeping in view different climate scenarios put forward, there will be interferences on the plant diversity as well as soil–plant interactions related to this aspect. The topic has been evaluated in the light of these expectations. - Keywords: Kaz Dağı Plant diversity Soils Climate impact More less