Country

Armenia: 2 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Two ecoregions divide Armenia, and the split runs between forest and steppe. The Caucasus mixed forests, a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion, reach the country's wetter northern and eastern mountain slopes, while the Eastern Anatolian montane steppe, ranked Nature Imperiled, covers the high, open volcanic plateaus that make up much of the rest. Both are mountain systems; almost nowhere in Armenia is lowland. The climate is continental and dry-summered, with cold winters sharpened by elevation. Gardeners work with a short but intense season: hardy deciduous trees and forest-edge species suit the wooded north, while the steppe country favors deep-rooted perennials, drought-tolerant shrubs, and the bulbs and grasses that highland steppes do best.