Country

Tajikistan: 5 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

High, dry, and continental, Tajikistan draws on five Palearctic ecoregions. The Pamir alpine desert and tundra covers the high east, one of the coldest and most arid montane landscapes anywhere. The settled west belongs to the Gissaro-Alai open woodlands and Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe, temperate mountain grassland and woodland country, while the Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert and Paropamisus xeric woodlands bring true lowland aridity along the southern margins. Everywhere the climate is continental, with hot dry summers, cold winters, and moisture concentrated in spring, so planting leans on drought-hardy, cold-tolerant steppe and woodland species, with irrigation carrying the valley oases. Four of the five ecoregions rate Nature Imperiled, making the remaining native woodland and steppe unusually precious.