Biogeography and Ecology of Turkmenistan

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

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2. Introduction: One Hundred Years of Natural History in Turkmenistan

   • Victor Fet

   Pages 1-4

3. Landscapes of Turkmenistan

   • Agadzhan G. Babaev

   Pages 5-22

4. Climate of Turkmenistan

   • Nikolai S. Orlovsky

   Pages 23-48

5. Paleogeography of Turkmenistan

   • Khabibulla I. Atamuradov

   Pages 49-64

6. Desertification of the Arid Lands of Turkmenistan

   • Nikolai G. Kharin

   Pages 65-76

7. Vegetation of the Deserts of Turkmenistan

   • Igor G. Rustamov

   Pages 77-104

8. Flora of Kopetdagh

   • Dzhumamurad Kurbanov

   Pages 105-128

9. Kopetdagh-Khorassan Flora: Regional Features of Central Kopetdagh

   • Galina L. Kamakhina

   Pages 129-148

10. Vegetation of Southwest Kopetdagh

    • Galina N. Fet

    Pages 149-172

11. Trees, Shrubs, and Semishrubs in the Mountains of Turkmenistan

    • Konstantin P. Popov

    Pages 173-186

12. Ecosystem Structure of Subtropical Arid Pistachio Woodlands in Southern Turkmenistan

    • Roman I. Zlotin

    Pages 187-196

13. Biogeographic Position of the Khorassan-Kopetdagh

    • Victor Fet

    Pages 197-204

14. Vertebrates in the Red Data Book of Turkmenistan

    • Anver K. Rustamov, Ovez Sopyev

    Pages 205-230

15. Ecology of the Bearded Goat (Capra aegagrus Ersleben 1777) in Turkmenistan

    • Vladimir M. Korshunov

    Pages 231-246

16. Ecology of Birds in the Karakum Desert

    • Anver K. Rustamov

    Pages 247-263

17. Ecological Structure of the Bird Population in the Transcaspian Region: Cartographic Analysis and Problems of Conservation

    • Eldar A. Rustamov

    Pages 265-280

18. Kidney Structure and its Role in Osmoregulation in Desert Birds

    • Maral B. Amanova

    Pages 281-294

19. On the Evolution of Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus L.) in Middle Asia

    • Alexander V. Solokha

    Pages 295-306

20. Zoogeographic Analysis of the Reptiles of Turkmenistan

    • Nikolai N. Shcherbak

    Pages 307-328

remnants of gene pools of these species. Badghyz Natural Reserve, established in 1941, became a refuge for the last existing population of the Turkmen onager (Equus hemionus onager) and a unique pistachio woodland. A new generation oflocal Turkmen scientists, many of whom were trained by the Russian researchers in the graduate schools of Moscow and Leningrad arose from the 1930s through the 1950s. The Turkmen Academy of Sciences and its journal, Proceedings (including the monthly biological series), served to record the results of diverse biological studies in the republic. While basic science in the Middle Asian republics rather gained from the Russian "colonial" influence, natural resources, in contrast, were severely damaged by the Soviet way of handling the economy and social issues. Severe environmental problems have been inherited by the now independent Turkmenistan, including overgrazed desert pastures, deforested mountains, depleted water resources, accumulated pesticides in cotton fields, declining populations of endangered species of animals and plants, and - worst of al- progressing, human-caused desertification (Kharin this volume). In order to approach a solution to these problems, scientists and officials in the republic will need the close attention and help of the international scientific community.

• Fauna
• Flora
• Orthoptera
• Osmoregulation
• Vegetation
• ecology
• ecosystem

`... the work ... occupies a unique place in science. It offers, for the first time, a thorough glimpse into a fascinating and important region. The editors and authors should be congratulated on their monumental effort. Further, the book is well edited, and includes many interesting plates. It deserves a place in most research libraries and on the shelves of all who consider themselves to be desert scholars or who are interested in the Middle East.'
Journal of Arid Environments, 33 (1996)

• Dept. of Biological Sciences, Loyola University, New Orleans, USA

  Victor Fet

• Natural Conservation Society, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

  Khabibulla I. Atamuradov

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