Country

Kazakhstan: 19 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Nineteen ecoregions cross Kazakhstan, and most of them are open country: the Kazakh steppe, forest steppe, and upland steppe grade southward through the Kazakh semi-desert into the Central Asian northern and southern deserts and the Caspian lowland desert. Along the southeastern rim, the Altai and Tian Shan bring montane conifer forests, alpine meadow and tundra, and foothill arid steppe. The overall character is strongly continental, with grasses and drought-hardy shrubs defining the flat interior and trees largely confined to mountains and the Central Asian riparian woodlands along rivers. Gardening here means working with cold winters, dry summers, and wind: steppe perennials, hardy shrubs, and irrigation-dependent trees near watercourses, with true forest conditions only in the mountain fringe.